When I first read about the Community Involvement aspect in Course 5 I thought to myself that would be an easy 25%. However, with the May 10th deadline fast approaching, I’ve come to the harsh reality that hasn’t been the case for me. Here is why.
For one, I have to change my mindset on the whole conversation in a public forum. I have never been big on sharing my thoughts online, be it Facebook or Twitter. I guess you could add Google+ in there as well. Sure, I share the odd commentary, or tweet out something I found interesting, but for the most part I lurk in the bushes. My Twitter stats say it perfectly:
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Out of those 722 followers, probably half of them are companies. Not sure why, but the most random of companies find me interesting. Even guys selling socks…who knows why.
Over the past 5 courses I have found it a bit stressful when researching topics to only stumble across yet another wonderful teacher-created blog site that is detailed, thorough and helpful. It makes me wonder why I haven’t done that yet; why I’m not working that hard to share my best practice and my thoughts regarding edtech. Or anything else for that matter. I think that was one of the first things that threw me off Twitter when I joined 5 years ago. I found the content overwhelming. I felt like I was always behind, like a dog chasing his tail. Reading other people’s tweets became obsessive, to the point that I had to disengage for a while and just get on with what I was doing. I needed to remind myself that I was on my own career path, not that of someone else. Sounds funny, but I’m sure there are quite a few people out there who feel the same.
Twitter can sometimes seem to take on a life of itself. News is instantaneous now, almost to the point of passing you by. If you’re a boxing fan and ponied up $90 to watch the Mayweather v. Pacquio fight on HBO this past weekend then I’m sure you’d be pretty ticked to know it was streaming live, for FREE, on Twitter’s Periscope. There seems to be no stopping the “Twitter Machine” (like they say on @TSN1200 sports radio in Ottawa). When I read that some people have 67.5k tweets, I just wonder if they’re missing out on conversations with people standing right in front of them. For me, I think it’s been a sort of fear of being rejected or called out. That’s probably why it took roughly 5 years to get to 700 tweets…but now follow some 1,818 people. I’m a Taurus, so by nature I’m stubborn. Asking for help is sometimes akin to failing, or the last resort. Just ask my fiance. I know it’s not the same, but often it feels that way when throwing ideas out there where you could use instant feedback beyond your colleagues at the office. Don’t get me wrong, I think Twitter is the BEST Professional Development available. The many resources that are being created, shared and discussed is just incredible. I guess I’m still dipping my toes in the water, afraid that my water wings won’t do the job. I know it’s high time to just jump in the lake.
But what does all of this have to do with me in Course 5? Well, by looking at the Community Engagement Rubric, it’s pretty clear to me that I have some work to do in building my PLN and extending my relationships going forward. I know that I have tried to share ideas and concepts that are COETAIL-inspired, but just haven’t done enough sadly to bridge those gaps and extend those conversations. I’m just not consistent enough in my approach yet to make it valuable for myself and others. Here is a look at some of my attempts in Course 5…sadly, just not enough.
Of course Twitter is not the only communication tool out there. I am on Google+ and have joined many communities thus far. Do I actively engage in them? Well, more of the same…crickets chirping. However, I do wake up each morning with an inbox full of tips, tricks, news and tech information that I find valuable and should make an effort to contribute. I’ve only enjoyed Google+ more recently, always found it a bit messy and confusing to be honest. Having switched my browser to Chrome over the past year, it has allowed me to better manage my Google profiles – work, studies, personal and business related. Keeping everything separate really helps. In an effort to become a Google Certified Teacher and Trainer, it is one area that I will be focusing more on as I head into my second year as Digital & Information Literacy Leader.
Outside of those two platforms, I have been in frequent contact with Jay Prohaska in this unit, via SMS and Whatsapp. We’re Hong Kong buddies from way back. We’ve shared ideas, thoughts and frustrations throughout the 5 COETAIL courses…and hockey updates! Alicia Kennedy, who I worked with at VSA in HK years ago, have used the COETAIL site to communicate back and forth from time to time. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to meet up with her when she’s in town, but I know we can always count on each other for sound advice of how we’re planning to apply the learning to our own environments. And Vivian, who everyone is in contact with, has been nice to connect with. Mostly about sports up until now, but will hopefully collaborate with her on future projects. All of those conversations have been good at keeping me going, keeping COETAIL in my mind and making me want to do the best job I can.
It would be daft not to say that social profiles are part of the new resume, if not the whole thing. Often they have more accurate, updated information about a person’s expertise and provide companies, or in my case schools, a more complete picture than a résumé does alone. It’s not what you’re saying, it’s actually evidence of what you’re doing. For that very reason, it is one area that I need to work on being more consistent at.
All in all, I know what I need to work on and how to improve. Like I read on #KchatAP the other day, FAIL = First Attempt in Learning. Spot on.
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