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Perhaps there's a link between the myth of Australian egalitarianism and anti-intellectualism.

Academics are often timorous folk who specialise in showing the complexity of issues, not offering tweet-sized solutions. Social media doesn't democratise debate. It limits it to the resilient. Snark triumphs over insight, and commentary is reserved for those with voluminous folds of scar-tissue. Sensitive thinkers rarely fit this bill.

Twitter can be a great way to capture the small nuggets of information you glean while at a conference.  If possible don’t worry about trying to post everything from a single slide, but try to find the fact or theme that resonates with you. 

After the conference look back through your stream of posts and see a good journal of what you found inspiring. 

 1. Link to a website -- a blog post, online story from a mainstream media organization, any kind of website -- and criticize it. If you can provide evidence that the facts presented in the criticized website are wrong, then do so, but your criticism doesn't have to be about factual inaccuracy. Debate the logic or possible bias of the author. Make a counter-argument. Point out what the author leaves out. Voice your own opinion in response.

 1. Pick a position about a public issue, any public issue, that you are passionate about. Immigration. Digital rights management. Steroid use by athletes. Any issue you care about.  2. Make a case for something -- a position, an action, a policy -- related to this public issue. You don't have to prove your case, but you have to make it. It doesn't have to be an original position, but you need to go beyond quoting the positions of others. Provide an answer to your public's question: "What does the author of this blog post want me to know, believe, think, or do?"  3. Use links to back up or add persuasiveness to your case. Use links to build your argument. Use factual sources, statements by others that corroborate your assertions, instances that illustrate the point you want to make.

Brooks is arguing for a teaching that prioritizes inquiry, analysis, and process rather than mastering basic skills and learning the classics

inquiry based approach where students discuss and debate ideas, understand the importance of critically examining accepted wisdom, seek out new information and new sources and put them into the mix, construct their own answers and put them into play against other perspectives, deepening their understanding as they build their cases and accumulate more evidence for their point of view, yet still respectfully recognizing the possible validity of other points of view.

any environment where students and teachers are on the same inquiring side, exploring ideas and making meaning together.