Twitter Chatting

Before I jumped in and participated in a Twitter Chat, I decided to observe one a few days earlier.  I observed a #flipclass chat and was surprised at the speed of the comments.  It moved very quickly and seemed like there were several different conversations going on.  It made it a little difficult to follow but I am glad I tried the experience as an observer before I became a participant.

The chat I choose to participate in was the #1to1techat which meets on Wednesday nights.  I chose that group because I was hoping to gain some insight on being in a 1:1 classroom.  This week's chat was about distractions in a 1:1 classroom and some possible solutions - exactly a topic I was looking for.  It took me a while to get up to speed with the conversation.  I would get interested in a conversation going on, follow it and then forget to respond or if I responded, would forget the #.  I guess that is just a learning curve in using this tool.  The participants seemed to all be truly encouraging about the 1:1 environment and offered several helpful ideas for me.  They also talked about some of the same issues that I was concerned with, which made me think that I may be on the right track.

Discussions were about what constituted a distraction due to technology over distractions that aren't related to technology.  Kids have been distracted in class forever - things are just changing.  Possible solutions/consequences were shared.  Most schools seem to have some type of discipline for misuse of technology already in place before the 1:1 classroom so it just involves some fine tuning of current policies.  One of the main things discussed was that regardless of what causes a distraction, classroom management by the teacher is still important.  Teachers with effective classroom management skills will adjust to incorporating 1:1.   I picked up several ideas and will use them as I try to adjust to my 1:1 classes.

I used TweetDeck to follow the chat.  I preview TwitterChat but went with what I already knew this time.  I think that if I learn to use the TwitterChat site it might be easier for me to follow and respond.  Also I think I just need to learn to use Twitter more.