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Focusing on the use of Twitter in a PLN, a study was conducted involving seven educators. The results were encouraging as Twitter provided an excellent medium for personalizing their PLN and having immediate access. Although much of the article goes on to explain how Twitter works in a roundabout way, it does explain the merits of open and public forums for collaboration and discussion.

This article covers a small scale research project done to see how important the use of Twitter was within a personal learning network. It was interesting to see how impactful Twitter could be within a PLN.

I love how this article validates the effectiveness of Twitter in the building of one's PLN. I have engaged in numerous Twitter chats with like-minded educators and found great benefit in building my PLN. Thanks for linking a great article!

The study in the paper was interesting as it looked at K-12 educators and their use of Twitter to research, relate and form PLNs. Twitter and other social medias have allowed teachers to form networks that are specific to their needs and wants in terms of their own professional growth. In the "End of Isolation" the researchers findings touched on the fact that "over 82% of the time, the educators in this study chose to follow other educators or content experts related to their field of teaching so they were able to create a personal learning network meaningful to their professional needs." Now I just need to work with teachers at my school site to help them realize the individualized professional potential!

This study underscored the benefits of Twitter for the educational community. The article shared the advantages to new teachers in particular, where one participant stated it changed her vision and practice in the classroom. Very powerful!

Of all the resources I have read thus far on PLNs, this particular article forced me to think deeper and reconsider my interpretation of this concept. First of all, I found that the article provided a picture of the quality of interaction that can occur within Twitter. The data collected by researchers provides an in depth look at Twitter as a PLN - a feat that few other resources I have read have accomplished. By detailing the amount, quality, and type of interactions and connections, a tangible conception of a PLN emerges, even for someone who has little to no experience with Twitter. Of the 10 surveyed, a majority of their connections and tweets were professionally related. According to Nussbaum-Beach (video I posted), the difference between a PLN and a CoP is the familiarity of the people and the connection to an idea or problem. However, this study provides a different perception of a PLN that is largely professionally based with strong two-way connections. These conclusions made me wonder if it is possible for facets of a PLN on Twitter to transform into a CoP. Further, at what point can one argue that a PLN has successfully transform into a virtual CoP? Thanks for sharing. This was an excellent read!

I thought that this personal learning network resource was a great fit for our class. This article discusses how schools are using social media to engage students and real-world relevance, for professional development, and school, district, and teacher collaboration. They used Twitter to document and share a paper tower challenge with schools and teachers from all over the world. Twitter was used to connect with experts and students got to see that not all scientists agree on certain topics. They also connected with the community.

I like that this article looks at how Twitter can be used for students and for educators. The idea of Twitter for educators as professional development fits very well with the ideas of COP's and PLN's. While I haven't been a true part yet of a structured Twitter session for PD, I have lurked in many formal PD discussions with hashtags for our public school system and benefitted from what I gleaned.

What an awesome video. It makes me excited to go back in August and really challenge myself to use Twitter or Facebook to showcase my students. Our school district uses a hashtag #bsdpride for teachers to showcase things going on around the district and it's starting to take off. It's awesome that teachers are encouraging each other to use Twitter and begin challenges that involve students. You can tell from this video how important these students feel when their work or projects re used on social media, and are getting attention from other schools.

Upon trying to find an article specific to CoP's and Twitter, I came across this study that utilizes Twitter to create CoPs. It is an interesting read, with the following quote laying a foundation to the context of article: "Twitter was not meant for building communities. Its original design - 140 character limit; postings accessible for a short time; and its prompting "What's happening" - were focused on immediate responses amongst those who already knew each other. But its enhancements such as improved search and the adoption by its users of conventions such as the hashtag and "@" symbol for communication have provided capabilities which can be used for conversation and collaboration (Gruzd, Wellman, and Takhteyev 2011).

This article talks about the evolution of Twitter and how recent enhancements like the hashtag (#) and the @ sign have made it a good tool for collaboration and conversations. The article gives a great overview of CoPs and Personal Networks as well. Twitter can now be used for what's trending in education and is more that only what is trending in social media news.

What an interesting article, I love how they are researching and analyzing social media tools such as Twitter. The graphs and data made this article easy to understand and helpful to those of us who are not so Twitter savvy. I especially love how it addressed the evolution of Twitter to address the users needs...THIS is education! :) Thanks for sharing @Katie Swanson Sathre

Stevens, V. (2008). Trial by Twitter: The rise and slide of the year's most viral microblogging platform. TESL-EJ: Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 12(1). This article did not focus just on Connectivism or just on communities of practice but provided a clear example of both after my previous readings. If you think about the basic fundamental of twitter it would be easy to discount at first whether or not it would be successful. I'm sure along the way some may have even felt that it was a fad destined to fail or fade. Who would want to be limited to only one hundred and fifty characters to get out a complete thought and why would anyone be interested. Well right now according to this article twitter is the most popular microblogging tool that has existed. I found it interesting if you have read my previous articles especially about linguistics in communities of practice that twitter type has made its way into our everyday vernacular, such as saying hash tag in actual dictation. Interesting that a change in our speech and actions are indicators of belonging to a certain community of practice, much like how some groups say 'lol' instead of actually laughing out loud. This article draws these dots that are easily linked together to show Connectivism. The author spends time explaining when he "got" twitter, or when it dawned on him this is an excellent tool. From there he uses some great analogies to describe the connected world twitter produces for millions of users a day. My favorite quote from his article "To 'get' twitter, you have to have your finger on the pulse of what is pumping lifeblood through the Internet, and that is the people on it and how they come together (Connectivism), connect, and relate to one another (communities of practice) in virtual learning networks". (Stevens,2008)

I didn't realize Twitter had been around as long as it has - I also didn't know it's origins. Lost most of the social media sites it's changed a lot since the beginning!

Great post and I was cracking up at "The Twitter Curve" image. It gave a good explanation to me about what makes Twitter so powerful and its benefits but am also glad it touched on things to be leery of.

This study observed and surveyed undergraduate students in a teacher certification program use Twitter to form personal learning networks. Researchers were interested in how students perceived Twitter before and after group discussion. Additionally, researchers wanted to know if Twitter was an effective medium for group discussion. Although some students had frustrations with Twitter's structure, most had a positive experience in using it for networking.

I like this article because it shows how social media is rapidly transforming all aspects of our professional lives. At first when I started reading it, I wondered what are the benefits of Twitter over the chat function in many Learning Management Systems. But then I realized students are more likely connected to Twitter with several devices. The chat session would stay around longer than the course page in the LMS. Additionally, the PLN created by the synchronous chat session exists outside of the classroom walls and can continue long after the class is over. The article was correct to cite that one of the drawbacks is the lack of critical thought that goes into Twitter feeds. The low number of characters allowed limits the ability to express thoughts clearly. However, if it is used to organize PLNs it becomes an effective tool as the participants in the study all attested.

The study supported the belief that Twitter chats provide a place where learners can be exposed to widely differing perspectives, not limited by geographical or socioeconomic constraints: "Twitter chats . . . to communicate to other professionals you may not even know but you will absolutely learn from them and what they have to say." I enjoyed the anecdote of the student who found himself in the same chat room as his school principal father!

This article discusses the use of Twitter outside the classroom to keep the conversation going. I like Twitter for this use because in large classrooms, not all students are heard. Using Twitter allows the shy students to have their say without having to voice an opinion in front of many others.

Great use of Twitter in a 3rd grade classroom. Students tweet concise summaries, but the class also follows discovery education on Twitter to stream videos that DE links to in it's Twitter posts. I love Twitter as both a discussion/summary forum and a resource for materials.

This presentation doesn't follow a specific project, but it has some great ideas for using Twitter in the classroom. I particularly like Twitter book club, and Twitter as a backchannel.

This study looked at how Twitter-using educators were using Twitter to collaborate, network, or engage in professional development

Molly, I really enjoyed this article. It is especially relevant with this course. Honestly, I could never image using Twitter as any kind of professional resource, but after reading this and using Twitter for this class and one other, I can see how it would benefit educator to collaborate. It is also very easy to use. Thank you for sharing this article!

Hi Molly, This is very appropriate for our class, especially since we are using Twitter to share articles and resources with each other - - in our own personal learning environment. I focused on the discussion portion of this article. I noticed that for educators, personal learning networks are important and useful for professional development. It was interesting that the study found greater use in high school environments (maybe because we are influenced by our students?). The benefits of Twitter and professional development, is that one can access and participate at any time and any location - - it is self-directed! I would be interested in finding out how to promote this type of professional development within a school. What type of training is needed for educators to get started? How would one track satisfaction and learning?

Here are some great Twitter Chat's taking place at different times. I am looking forward to hopefully finally taking part in some chats through this class and beyond!

I love this idea, I have not played around with Twitter chats too much. But I think they are an excellent idea and great ideas to add an element of fun and interaction.

I've tried Twitter chats before. However, the free flow of ideas and different response rates make it hard to follow and respond to. I think I'd do better in a moderated, specific Twitter chat

Learn to be concise by using Twitter. Daniel Clinghard uses Twitter as a summary tool to help students understand the power of words. Students have to summarize political texts in the 140 character limit and write a good summary.

Daniel Klinghard, a political science professor, uses Twitter to force students to write precisely about a particular reading.

After placing students into one of two social network groups, this study finds that Twitter was more effective. One group used Ning to interact with lecturers and the other used Twitter. The Twitter group scored on average one grade higher than Ning users.

This is another example of a secondary school using Twitter effectively. This feed updates students and parents on all things related to its iPad Revolution and is a brilliant example of using Twitter to offer tech support on integrated technology.

Edutopia is one of my favorite resources. This is a great article on using Twitter for professional development.

Thanks for sharing this Mary! I had never heard of Edutopia before this, I will have to look into this more as it seems to be a popular social network platform among our group.

I love reading articles from Edutopia and this was no exception. It is amazing how much knowledge can be gained by the use of Twitter. I participated in a few PD type discussions and have found them very useful. The tips provided are very helpful. Thank you for sharing this article.

I am a big believer in the power of social media to grow and power a PLN - especially Twitter. This article provides a great starting point for learning how Twitter can be used to connect educators.

The article discusses the reasons you may want to "tweet" and what the process is for using twitter as an educator. I like how simple it is, and think it is helpful for someone who has never used twitter before (like myself.)

This resource I came across provides resources for all types of social media. Within this specific page, the topic addresses the best practices for Twitter used in the classroom. It provides information on the use of Twitter within primary and secondary schools as well as higher education. Statistics are presented to show usage within the school amongst scholars and faculty. This site is also an interactive social media network system for questions and comments.

I don't know if this link will actually work- I'm trying to bookmark #organellewars because this brilliant teacher set up a way for his students to collaborate with real scientists who work on organelles. Together the scientists and students collaborate via twitter. The conversations are amazing. If nothing else, put #organellewars in a Twitter search.

In this study, the role of a PLN using Twitter in a teacher preparation program. Teachers who were already using Twitter found that the power of Twitter as a PLN came not from the sharing of resources, but from the collaboration and conversations of other educators. Many new teachers were initially hesitant to use Twitter as a PLN, but with virtual mentors and an explanation as to the power of a PLN, new educators were more likely to use it as a powerful tool to develop their teaching practice.

I found this study particularly interesting as recently read a blog post by Etienne and Bev Wenger about whether or not colleges are utilizing the ideas of community of practice in their teacher prep programs. The findings of the study are not particularly surprising, teachers are hesitant to use Twitter but find the collaboration worthwhile. Both control groups were graduate students, I would be interested to find out if this is being implemented in any capacity at the undergrad level.

This study discusses the concept of using PLNs during teacher preparation programs. It discusses how newer teachers are more hesitant to use social media like Twitter and do not understand how valuable the tool can be. The studies findings emphasizes how PLNs promote professional development and allow for instant feedback through conversations and collaboration. The study also discusses how some teachers are hesitant at first, which I think is common thread for new and veteran teachers.