Of course it could spell trouble for teachers and educators. There is a simple lesson to all of this, one that we may not want to accept. Our lives are lived in public, our interests/hobbies are public, and what we do must reflect well on who we are as people. Is this bad? I do not believe it is…shouldn’t our lives be lived as examples of people seeking perfection? While mistakes will inevitably happen, it’s important we embrace who we are as a whole person, not just slip on a role or mask at work.

This past week, I overheard a story of a teacher driving down the highway. The teacher displayed some road rage when the car in front of her continued to move at a snail’s pace. Imagine what might happen if the other driver had snapped a picture (inappropriate link) or recorded a video of that teacher with her middle finger extended then shared it on Flickr/YouTube? Worse, what if someone knew that person was a teacher and labelled it, then shared it via Twitter?

Would such an image–Road Rage Teacher–cause repercussions for that teacher at work? It would all depend on the perceptions of the Community–students, administrators, teachers and parents. Would this teacher be an appropriate role model for children?

It makes me reflect on my own tweets. I am sometimes chided by colleagues, “You’re always on task online.” This means that I’m always writing, sharing about things I’m interested in or that might be considered “work-related.” As a writer, everything is grist for the mill, everything is worthy of being written about and I’m always considering what I can share. It is one of the effects of being a committed blogger. “Is this bloggable?” But now, Twitter makes everything incredibly easy to share. It’s no longer a matter of reflection, but a matter of sharing. So, educators should consider asking themselves, not “What are you doing?” but rather, “What are you learning relevant to teaching, learning and leading?”

The problem is, many still see a divide between “personal” and “professional.” Personal is stuff I don’t share. I’m not going to tweet or make phone calls from restrooms and I abhor those actions when I have the unfortunate privilege of being present. I’m not going to tweet or make phone calls about family events, medical procedures unless there is some benefit to me and that won’t be misconstrued.

One example of medical procedures was when I wrote blog entries the entire week my Dad was in the hospital, dying, back in October, 2006. The “reporting” of my Dad’s passing helped me reflect and manage my grief, so that each day I could face the awful truth that Dad wasn’t coming back home, that his last days would be spent in the hospital.

I also had another desire–immortalize Dad online, to share his picture with thousands of people, the video tribute (an example of digital storytelling) with as many people as I could.

And, it worked for me. Such openness and, dare I say, transparency, about that helped me tremendously. Twitter, blogging aren’t just ways to communicate with friends. They are ways of learning from people infinitely more intelligent than I, people that I have long admired like Doug Johnson and Wes Fryer, to people like Dr. Scott McLeod and Stephen Downes and many, many more.

As an education professional, I see it as my responsibility to:

• Reflect on leadership and learning in education
• Challenge expenditures in education for technology-based, curriculum interventions that have little last impact on student achievement and innoculate children against technology use.
• Share what I’m learning with as many people as possible so what is learned isn’t wasted on just me

Could Twitter spell trouble for teachers? Of course it could…but if a teacher does something that is an expression of who they are, and that gets them fired, maybe, they shouldn’t have been a teacher in the first place? What do you think?

• NZ Interface Magazine | Could Twitter spell twouble for teachers?
  • Twitter’s great isn’t it! It’s a fun, quick and easy way to communicate with friends. Twouble is, what happens when others are watching, too?
  • What exactly is it? Well, the service describes itself as “a social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time”. What that actually means is that you can use it to send and receive text messages – known as ‘tweets’. It’s a bit like SMS for the Internet (and sometimes referred to as micro-blogging). Messages can be up to 140 letters in length and are automatically (and instantly) posted not only on the author’s profile page but also delivered to the author’s subscribers, who are known as ‘followers’.
  • • Teachers’ guide to Twitter: http://shuurl.com/Z5857
    • Five steps for better Tweeting: http://shuurl.com/V5858
    • Twitter explained: http://tweeternet.com
  • a recent report in New Scientist showed that instant messaging systems like Twitter did a “better job of getting information out during emergencies than either the traditional news media or government emergency services”. Indeed, media are increasingly using Twitter as both as a means to distribute information and as a source of public sentiment on issues.
  • Some people are publishing stories and full-length novels using Twitter – it’s called Twiction. You can read ‘Twillers’, a thriller posted in tweets, or indulge in Twitterature, which is the act of reproducing classic literature in 20 tweets or less.
  • However, there are risks to using the service – or ones like it – not least for teachers and others in positions of authority and responsibility, as Maidstone School’s Andre Kneepkens discovered:
  • “A couple of weeks ago I joined Twitter, although I didn’t use my real name. All fairly harmless … or so I thought. A week later I was walking across the playground when a student happened to pass me and call out ‘Hey, Mr Kneepkens, great comment on Twitter last night!’ It stopped me dead in my tracks! It hadn’t occurred to me that students from my school were following what I was saying! Not that any comment I’ve posted gives me any concern but it got me thinking. How easily someone could post comments that are completely inappropriate, particularly for teachers.

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