Sharing my voice

Amongst my teaching colleagues I would be the most prolific user of social online networks.  From TKI to the NZ Teachers Facebook page (among others) to the VLN to POND to Pinterest to G+ and Twitter for making teaching connections and providing momentum to my own professional development.  But in reality I am an introvert and a slow processor of new information.  I like to look at things from different points of view and work things through in my head before contributing which can come across in group situations as having nothing to offer.  By belonging to a variety of social networking sites I have been able to find my own voice and am becoming more able to share these, both online and face to face.  I thoroughly enjoy the collaborative nature of teaching, which seems in opposition to identifying as an introvert, but sharing my knowledge or ideas with others to develop my own learning is something that I've always done - now I can do that with a technology spin and a wider group of connections.  Receiving the same from others has made the biggest impact on my practice and by involving myself in online social networks I have been able to challenge myself further rather than just from the group that I see everyday who might not always have the same philosophy as myself.

Although there are familiar faces that pop up in all of these spaces, each site offers something different.  From the more formal closed groups in the VLN, to sharing resources and ideas in POND and Pinterest, to snippets in Twitter that provide a starting point for further delving and digging deeper into readings and the latest from conferences from across the globe.  These social networking sites keep me up to date with the latest information coming out from the Ministry of Education and the latest ERO publications.  The enabling eLearning TKI sites keeps me up to date with what is happening in eLearning around the country.  I don't always fully engage in these but I know where to find things when they become relevant to my practice or if I need back up for my ideas.

I have become more discerning over the years I have been using social networking sites as the more people I follow the more information is coming at you.  I have use tweetdeck to limit the flow and to narrow the focus to posts or hashtags that are relevant.  It has also helped to focus in on well known leaders in education or leadership to ensure quality as there is a vast amount of quantity.  Through completing the MindLab course I have become more aware of the need to use research and ensure that information I am sharing or retweeting comes with this background.

Next steps...

Making connections in these online networks for my own growth has been invaluable.  It has opened doors, provided resources and experiences for the children I teach.  We have won competitions and shared some of our learning but this has all been through my personal accounts.  We have a team blog so a next step could be to have a team twitter account.  Our blog is shared with family members overseas but we rarely get comments and have interactions on them, even when involved with quadblogging classes.  Twitter could be a way to have these interactions as the audience is wider and the children can see other classes their age having similar experiences.

References:

Melhuish, K. A. V. (2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning (Doctoral dissertation, University of Waikato).