Twitter

 When Twitter first became popular several years ago, I was dismissive of its value.  I felt that with such limited communication (140 characters), there was really no reason to use it.   Once I began working on my Master’s degree through Sam Houston’s library science program and was encouraged to use Twitter for my courses, I was amazed at how the educational community has embraced Twitter.   There are so many educators from all over the world on Twitter having powerful, meaningful discussions and sharing wonderful resources.   In this post, I highlight my experience reading through the tweets of some of the biggest names in technology on Twitter. 

Kathy Schrock (@kathyschrock) is a well-known technology expert who posts often about conferences and presentations as both attendee and presenter.  Many of her tweets highlight new or emerging technologies, or promote useful features of existing technologies.  One of Kathy Schrock’s tweets that I really liked links to a neat feature that can be used with Chrome to provide the reading level of any web page.  This technology would help a librarian find appropriate web resources to meet the needs of students with diverse reading abilities such as ELLs, students with disabilities, dyslexic students, and students at risk in reading.

A Chrome extension by @crafty184 to compute the Flesch-Kincaid readability of any Web page: http://t.co/KfctSq0jy2. Thx, Chris!

— Kathy Schrock (@kathyschrock) May 31, 2015

Linda Braun (@lbraun2000), a former president of YALSA, seems to frequently post links to articles, and videos about how technologies are being used by librarians, students, and educators.  Her posts are very relevant and useful for librarians; my favorite was a link to an article from School Library Journal.  This article explores 3D printing, the amazing possibilities with this new technology, and the librarian’s role in interpreting legal issues for patrons related to 3D printing such as copyright infringement. 

3-D Printers: Understanding Copyright, Fair Use, and More http://t.co/BXWzRAQYKG

— Linda W Braun (@lbraun2000) May 27, 2015

Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent) is a former teacher currently working as a technology consultant for schools in the United States and around the world.   He is an extremely prolific poster on Twitter, with tweets about technology, conferences, lessons, guides, and applications of technology.  One of my favorite tweets of Tony’s was an article about excuses people use when stealing photos from the Internet.   This was meaningful to me because I’ve seen many teachers and students use some of these same excuses when copying and pasting images, and I feel this article would be great for a librarian to share with faculty members. 

💩 10 bogus excuses people use when stealing photos from the internet → http://t.co/L6b9LbFK7F #iste1000 #iste2015

— Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent) July 1, 2015

Buffy Hamilton (@buffyjhamilton) is a librarian who runs a blog called “The Unquiet Librarian.”  Though she frequently tweets about things of a more personal or political nature, she also posts relevant articles, links to blog posts, and interesting thoughts about librarianship.  As I was scrolling through her tweets, I noticed that she had retweeted a story with video from Library Journal.  The story was about a school being built in Abilene, TX that will feature library pods staffed by teachers and librarians rather than a centralized library.  I lived in Abilene for several years so this really caught my interest.   After watching the video from one of the news stations in Abilene, I think that this is a funding issue and that the school board is trying to save money by going to a model that will eventually phase out the librarian position (even though they claim it isn’t).  This was definitely alarming to me.

What a stupid idea. How about a LIBRARIAN for every pod instead? https://t.co/wSnOdkCyiK

— Buffy J. Hamilton (@buffyjhamilton) May 30, 2015

The Daring Librarian (@GwynethJones) is a librarian and technology expert.   I noticed that she frequently tweets about educational technology, makerspace, and reading, and responds often to peers and colleagues who have tagged her in a tweet.   One tweet that I really liked is shown below:

It’s OK to Date New Technology, You don’t have to Marry it! http://t.co/3VPtiJ5mhF via @lynch39083 pic.twitter.com/XYc9e5nYjk

— The Daring Librarian (@GwynethJones) June 16, 2015

The tweet linked to this article: http://www.theedadvocate.org/its-ok-to-date-new-technology-you-dont-have-to-marry-it/ 

I really liked this article because it discusses implementing new technologies in a library program in small doses (i.e. pilot programs), rather than jumping into all the latest trends immediately.  I think this approach would be beneficial so you can determine what is working or not working for your students before you commit too much time or funding.

Jim Lerman (@jimlerman) is an author and technology leader.  As I read through his profile and tweets, I noticed a lot of posts about educational technology and digital tools.  There are also links to tools that help teachers integrate technology in meaningful ways, and many references to Makerspace.  I was able to have experience implementing Makerspace during my library internship, so I was interested in these articles and videos I found in his tweets.  One that I especially liked was a link to an article that discusses how Makerspace empowers and inspires confidence in students. 

What We Learn from Making ^ Usable Knowledge ^ by Bari Walsh http://t.co/YTf1RnJ8Cq pic.twitter.com/ysfkS9oh5G

— Jim Lerman (@jimlerman) June 22, 2015

Twitter is a very dynamic and useful tool for librarians and educators.  I am looking forward to continue making connections with other librarians, teachers, and literacy organizations.  I would definitely recommend that librarians use Twitter to network with colleagues.   There are many opportunities to build knowledge by joining in chat sessions about technology and literacy where great discussions occur.  Librarians could also create a Twitter account for the school library and tweet out book recommendations, newly arrived materials, contests, book trailers, and other items of interest to students and teachers.   Twitter is a great resource for librarians to learn more about new technologies and their implications for a library program, to make connections with colleagues, learn what is going on in other libraries, and to stay up to date with current practices.