Today is the first day of February! It is crazy how fast a month of this semester has flown by, and I think everyone is starting to feel the stress of midterms and assignments. This past month we have been building our Personal Learning Network (PLN). Klingensmith defines a PLN as "the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online." We have been developing a PLN through our blogs, and Feedly, and this week we were introduced to Twitter.
Twitter is one of my most frequently used social media tools. For those who have never used Twitter, it is like a mini blog where you "tweet" your thoughts/opinions in 140 characters. This tool allows you interact with people to follow others and keep up with their tweets that will appear on your timeline. On the right is an image of my Twitter profile- feel free to follow me @heidiADED and do not forget to use the hashtag #ADED1P32 when you create your own tweets!
I have always used Twitter as a way to interact with friends and family, as well as keep up with celebrity gossip. However, this week I learned that this is a powerful educational tool to build knowledge. It allows you to communicate with classmates about important information, and connect with others about a topic through a common hashtag. Twitter can be used to keep up with global events in any industry- it all depends on the people you follow. I began to follow several news stations such as @CP24 and @TorontoStar so I can receive updates on what is happening around the world.
Twitter was a tool that was already included in my PLE from Week 2's session. I included it under the 'Social' category as I mainly used it to interact with friends and family. After learning more about this tool, I would also categorize it as an educational tool along with other curation tools like Feedly and LiveBinders.
After this week's session, I am learning a lot about gaining digital literacy. Twitter is an innovative way to gain knowledge outside of a classroom. Digital technology is a great alternative to traditional learning styles and I think that this tool a great way to get started. It includes all aspected of digital literacy such as communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. I am excited to see what else we could possibly explore in the digital world these upcoming weeks!
Article of the Week
This week we had the option of building a PLN through LinkedIn. This article about LinkedIn appeared on my Feedly, and I found it very appropriate to share for this week's session. LinkedIn is good for Business describes how this tool is the largest professional networks in the world. It allows you to build connections with people all around the world and great for businesses who are wanting to grow their business. I highly suggest that everyone create a LinkedIn profile as it acts like a digital resume and great for networking.
Until next week,
Heidi
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