digital writing · professional development

Twitter as PLN

Ruth Ayres

I joined Twitter at the beginning of October. What began as an experiment in learning a new genre has become one of the best professional development experiences of my entire career. I’ve been envisioning a post about the professional development offered (free) on Twitter, when I came across “Making the Most of Twitter” by Franki Sibberson. How did I come across this article? Why, through Twitter, of course!

The article is a basic overview of Twitter, as well as the way it is genuinely a Personal Learning Network (PLN). If you aren’t using Twitter you are missing out on some exceptional professional development. More can happen than you can imagine in 140 characters or less. And just to be clear, you do NOT have to be “techy” to tweet. Seven year olds can do it; senior citizens can do it; YOU CAN DO IT! Just click here to get started.

Franki ends her post with these words. I couldn’t agree more.

For me, Twitter has been a key to my professional learning network.  I don’t know exactly when it happened or how, but I know I am learning more every day than I could ever have imagined. And I am learning from people I never had access to before. Twitter seems to be one of the best ways for educators to begin to create their own network.

— Franki Sibberson

Published by Ruth Ayres

Unhurried. Finding the magic in the middle of living. Capturing a life of ridiculous grace + raw stories.

4 thoughts on “Twitter as PLN”

  1. I agree! I love Twitter although lately I haven’t been on very much except to retweet an occasional article or two. I find so many great resources from the educators that I follow that it has become a PLN of sorts. If you don’t have a Tweet account I encourage everyone to get one, soon.

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  2. Thanks! I am excited to add more of these tools to my toolkit to push my learning. Thank you for encouraging and challenging us to do this. I am wondering if I could create book talks among our classrooms with hashtags…just brainstorming. Maybe on certain days we could all focus on one picture book and then share our thoughts and questions. I think my class might really like this and maybe others would too.

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  3. Ruth,
    I have been very hesitant with Twitter. I’ve had an account for about a year (and yes, Franki was the reason I joined too). After NCTE this year, I decided to get back into it. I look forward to learning from you in 3 ways now (Twitter, your book, and Two Writing Teachers). Happy Thanksgiving!

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