What if you find no purpose for  using social media?

On April 6, 2013, Grant Lichtman posted Twitter: I Know…But Just Do It. On April 11, 2013, I posted PBL PD: Integrating Formative Assessment, Twitter, & Brain-based Research #ettipad #ettlearns – reflection. On April 19, 2013, Jenn Scheffer posted Ten Minutes on Twitter.

While there is much to learn and share, how will we know if it is making an impact on my learning and the learning of others?  I am learning that you have to engage – use social media for two-way communication – in order to understand, observe, and experience impact.  Here are some examples of what I’ve been prompted to learn and think about from a quick read of my Twitter stream this afternoon.

Just a few notes from some of the people I follow on Twitter prompted me to look at ideas for using Twitter in the classroom, investigate the iPad apps Storybird and TypeDrawing.  I’ve also noticed Twitter being used for communication to foster collaboration among colleagues.

Two of my favorite uses of Twitter are to share information and to highlight bright spot work of others.

While Twitter can seem frustrating and confusing at first, it can be an interesting tool for professional learning.  If it’s about learning, what questions should we be asking? What actions do we now take to learn and grow? For what purpose could you use social media?

Learner, Thinker, Writer: Jill Gough serves as Director of Teaching and Learning at Trinity School.  She risks, questions and seeks feedback to improve. You can follow her on Twitter at @jgough.

[Cross posted on Experiments in Learning by Doing.]