Last week (July 26-30), I attended SETLA - the Special Education Teacher Leadership Academy - in Charleston, WV. Three other professionals from my school district attended. Over 300 professionals (special education teachers, technology integration specialists, central office staff, and special education directors) were there to participate from across the state.
One of the things we did was live tweet the event. What does that mean? And why would we do that?
To "live tweet" an event means that you have your Twitter account open and you post comments (or "tweets," in the vernacular of Twitter users) as the event progresses. Probably you also employ a #hashtag in your tweets, a #word preceded with a number sign that informs Twitter that your post should be cataloged in its search engine under a particular topic.
Why? There are a couple of answers. First, it creates a background conversation where participates at an event can discuss a speaker's ideas or a workshop's content while things are actually happening (instead of later, when it's over). Second, it allows the outside world a glimpse of what's going on at the event. Third, it creates a permanent record of your thoughts that you (and others) can refer to later - like putting your notes on an event online. And final, I suppose it gives you something to do if you're a little hyperactive or you have a case of hypergraphia.
Hashtags only show up in a Twitter search for one week, so the #SETLA tag will disappear from the search engine over ther next few days. But the posts themselves can still be found by visiting the individual pages of event tweeters.
I counted about 400 posts using the #SETLA hashtag. In no particular, here's a list of the 17 event participates who used the tag:
WVTIS wasn't there, but commented on the event a couple of times and used the #hashtag. Keri Baldwin, a Kanahwa County algebra teacher used the tag to comment on the event, but I don't think she was actually there. Tracy Rosen, a Canadian teacher, blogger and friend of mine did the same.
Of course, that doesn't count individuals who commented on the event without using the #hashtag, like
- Jonathan Becker, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Sally Boone, a WV technology integration specialist who was on vacation in Australia when the event started
- Angie Abbot another WV technology integration specialists in the state.
I think the live tweeting of #SETLA 2009 was a successful experiment for those involved in what can be done with Twitter. It will be interested to see how what we learned gets applied down the road at future events.
Perhaps the biggest lesson was that it helps to have the support of the event and to announce a hashtag for the event. Without that, most of our 17 participants wouldn't have known about each other... (Thanks, Val).
I completed a technology course recently that clarified a couple of ideas for me. One important idea that I’d never really articulated for myself was technology integration.
Technology integration is a term you hear a lot. But I don’t think most people have a clear idea of what it means. We took a big step in our district toward understanding the concept last year when a phrase was circulated that created some context for technology use. The phrase: Using technology to learn, not learning to use technology.
As long as technology itself is a focus, technology integration hasn’t taken place. It’s only when the technology begins to be taken for granted that you can claim that it is really integrated into your classroom and curriculum.
In reflecting on the idea of technology integration, I came to realize that it is not something that you ever finish with. Technology integration is a continuing process, not an achievable goal. That’s because technology changes. We had the SMART board pretty well integrated into our classes when the smaller, student held chalkboard became available. We had to develop some proficiency with it, introduce it to students, and begin using it regularly enough for it to lose its novelty. Now it’s almost integrated into the curriculum.
It’s the same with everything. I remember Windows 3.0. I loved it. Then it seems like Windows 95 replaced it and, eventually, I became comfortable with it. Next, along came Windows 98. And then there was Windows XP. I’ve full integrated Windows XP into my life. Occasionally I am forced to use Vista. I’ve been making a conscious effort not to integrate Vista into my life because I hope it will be replaced with something better. But I know that one day I’ll have to give up XP and do the work involved in learning to us a new operating system again.
I could point out other examples. New technologies are constantly emerging. Old ones get updated. The process of technology integration has to be pursued in order for those things to become learning tools. The goal for a fourth grade student is not for them to learn to use a word processor. The goal is for a word processor to help them learn to write – to plan and compose a well constructed essay or story. I suspect that about the time we become comfortable with that process, someone will want us to augment the process with speech-to-text software that does away with much of the work of keyboarding.
Technology integration is a continuing process. The tools available to promote student learning and preserve the products of their learning are multiplying quickly. A successful school simply must be prepared to evaluate a new piece of technology to determine its usefulness and then integrate that technology (if its useful to them) quickly into the classroom.
