On Wednesday this week I was talking into the mic. Not too unusual given I often broadcast on Radio #EDUtalk on Wednesday evenings.
This week however I was talking to [Ian Guest](@IaninSheffield ) for his research on Twitter for CPD.
Being even less prepared than usual I missed a few things. I was probably more negative about some aspects of twitter than some other folk.
What I did not talk about enough was the positive communities that build up on Twitter. For me #ds106 is a particularly good example, but there are lots more.
This morning when I looked at my notification I see this:
@mdvfunes @johnjohnston @ronald_2008 @VivienRolfe @JaapSoft HUGS to you all Time passes, but all still close Enjoy! Best- close to heart
— Kathy Onarheim (@konarheim) February 4, 2017
After breakfast with the radio news, a lovely contrast. Sometimes tweets are not just passing leaves in the stream and are worth grabbing.
Hi John. Firstly, let me record on your blog my gratitude for contributing to the project; really enjoyed our chat.
I’m not sure I’d say your views were more negative than other folks; although I’ll have a better idea when I transcribe it 😉 However, I’m grateful that you thought it important enough to revisit, to make this post, and to emphasise the positive aspects. That in itself says things.
A cynic might dismiss the ‘positive communities’ as the happy, clappy brigade, or as you mentioned in the interview in another context, just a bunch of folks who’ve spent too long at the Kool-Aid fountain. I’m pretty sure there’s far more to it than that and we should not lightly dismiss the effects that exposure to positive communities can bring. I won’t ask you to say here how Kathy’s tweet made you *feel*, but I do think that’s worth reflecting on and it’s something I’m keen to explore further as my research continues to unfold.
(I wonder how traditional CPD makes people *feel* or whether they or those involved in providing/facilitating it would even bother to consider that?)
As a side note, I was re-listening to an Edutalk podcast with Kenny Pieper & Neil Winton (https://www.edutalk.info/radio-edutalk-pedagoo-kenny-pieper-and-neil-w/) as I came back from the shops this morning, just prior to reading this post. I was wondering the extent to which #Pedagoo, as one of those positive communities, perhaps serves similar needs?
Thanks again John.
via Twitter Hugs — John’s World Wide Wall Display
Although I added a comment on John’s post above, I was minded to think more about what he describes as ‘positive communities.’ I perhaps need to tease out further what a positive community is. Are they simply like-minded people? Or people who celebrate and value each other’s contributions? Do they produce a warm and fuzzy feeling it’s hard to express more clearly?
There are two (at least) aspects I’d like to explore further: what do these communities look like and how would we recognise one. Essentially, what characterises them? Secondly what do they do? What are the effects those communities produce in participants that (I assume) makes them want to keep returning?
I’m also obliged to consider that maybe these places are so comforting because they don’t challenge? They’re gentle, kind, undemanding, supportive and provide the feel-good factor. If that’s the case, perhaps they don’t provide the stretch that professional learning actually requires? They don’t move you beyond your comfort zone and so help you to develop and become better? Do they provide an antidote to traditional CPD, or sit alongside it and provide balance?
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Hi Ian,
Kathy\’s tweet made me feel pretty good, especially in contrast to the morning news.
As well as Pedagoo I am minded of a comment that Robert Jones posted on the value of teachmeet as CPD. I can\’t recall exactly what he said, or where he said it, but the gist was if you measured TM success in impact on class it perhaps was not as much as we think. The positive effects might be seen more on the presenters, allowing them experience of presenting and leading CPD?
update: http://fkelly.co.uk/2016/03/teachmeetscot/#comment-28133