Tech Task #6 - Twitter
For this Tech Task, we are asked to discuss our Twitter experience! (Click here for my educator account, in case you are not following me already...!)
I use Twitter as a platform to share the small thoughts I have that I don't think are "important" enough to constitute as a Facebook status (read more about that here under the "My Digital Identity" heading). Facebook is for things I want to share with a wider circle of family and friends, and Twitter is for things I may want to just share out into the open for anyone to see.
So, after my PD session with her, I went and I made my educator twitter account. I have followed many music educators and teacher-librarians, as well as other educational resources and associations. I usually share technology integration ideas, library things, music education ideas, and etc.
Sometimes I struggle with identifying myself as a musician, or an educator. They both intersect, but sometimes I think I lose aspects of myself being a "musician" in favour to being an educator, or even a music educator. Some institutions view music education students as lesser musicians than someone who is a music performance student. As someone who was a performance student and then switched into the education program, I wanted to make it clear to my peers, but also to myself, that I am still a performer, and I am still a musician who works hard in what I do. Because of this, sometimes my educator twitter will also have thoughts about music performance, and what kind of musical things I am working on at the time. I think it is important for music educators to not lose the idea of (likely) why they became music educators - because of the music. This is the reason why I decided to write a blog post about the Brandon University New Music Ensemble's trip to perform in Winnipeg, and share it to my Twitter account.
I think Twitter works well for professionals, but I think Instagram works really well also. You can attach images on Twitter but I like that Instagram is focused on photos, and that's what really draws me into posts - the image catches my eye!
I believe I will continue to use Twitter as an educator, because of the accessibility of information I mentioned earlier. There are so many great people to follow and wonderful things to learn from the platform. I do favour Instagram's attention to photos, but Twitter can have the same sort of functionality... something I should strive to do in my own tweets!
Thanks for reading!
Personal Use
I've had my personal twitter account since 2009 and now have a collection of 16,000 tweets from over the years. I couldn't tell you how I managed to tweet that much, other than the character count used to be much shorter than it is now. I liked Twitter for the simplicity - the short little thoughts that someone may be having. For example, here is a screenshot of the first tweet in my feed at the moment: |
| This is the quality material I enjoy from Twitter |
I use Twitter as a platform to share the small thoughts I have that I don't think are "important" enough to constitute as a Facebook status (read more about that here under the "My Digital Identity" heading). Facebook is for things I want to share with a wider circle of family and friends, and Twitter is for things I may want to just share out into the open for anyone to see.
Professional Use
My professional, educator account has been around since October 2018. I was inspired to make the account after a conference I went to hosted by the Manitoba School Library Association that had educator, author, and teacher-librarian Jennifer Casa-Todd speaking. She discussed all the great ways to use Twitter (and the internet/social media in general) to connect with other educators but for students to connect with other students. Casa-Todd also mentioned that if you know the hashtag being used at a professional development event, you can follow the hashtag from home (or wherever) and find good information from the day that way!So, after my PD session with her, I went and I made my educator twitter account. I have followed many music educators and teacher-librarians, as well as other educational resources and associations. I usually share technology integration ideas, library things, music education ideas, and etc.
People still picture a white man in a puffy wig when they think of a “composer.” Are we as music educators doing enough to counteract this image? What resources can help us to do so? Read about women composers in the K–5 Music Classroom” by @mrscapellan https://t.co/1Vq6YRVfbc pic.twitter.com/O5B7YtDNoW— NAfME (@NAfME) February 10, 2020
Sometimes I struggle with identifying myself as a musician, or an educator. They both intersect, but sometimes I think I lose aspects of myself being a "musician" in favour to being an educator, or even a music educator. Some institutions view music education students as lesser musicians than someone who is a music performance student. As someone who was a performance student and then switched into the education program, I wanted to make it clear to my peers, but also to myself, that I am still a performer, and I am still a musician who works hard in what I do. Because of this, sometimes my educator twitter will also have thoughts about music performance, and what kind of musical things I am working on at the time. I think it is important for music educators to not lose the idea of (likely) why they became music educators - because of the music. This is the reason why I decided to write a blog post about the Brandon University New Music Ensemble's trip to perform in Winnipeg, and share it to my Twitter account.
Click to read about the Brandon University New Music Ensemble's trip to Winnipeg to partake in the Winnipeg New Music Festival! https://t.co/eX1jRsx3T6— Kayla Hay (@kaylahay_) February 5, 2020
Twitter - Yay or Nay?
I enjoy using Twitter both in my personal life, and as an educator. Sometimes, especially on my educator account, I get overwhelmed with the amount of reading there is to do. But, this shows that there is such a great amount of information out there to really dive into! Often, I will retweet these ideas for me to refer to later, but also share with my followers. I think I will keep using Twitter, though how often I do may be up in the air. I like to browse Twitter when I have time, but often I will check other social media applications first.I think Twitter works well for professionals, but I think Instagram works really well also. You can attach images on Twitter but I like that Instagram is focused on photos, and that's what really draws me into posts - the image catches my eye!
I believe I will continue to use Twitter as an educator, because of the accessibility of information I mentioned earlier. There are so many great people to follow and wonderful things to learn from the platform. I do favour Instagram's attention to photos, but Twitter can have the same sort of functionality... something I should strive to do in my own tweets!
Thanks for reading!
I'm glad that you're able to utilize and enjoy this platform; I'm not one for social media, but I know that if I find a practical use for twitter, I will use it more often.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree! If you don't see the purpose/benefit of using it, it would feel pointless
DeleteI think that if you are going to use any social media platform as an educator, Twitter is the best one. It's easy to follow and connect with other educators to learn and benefit from their experiences.
Delete