Book Update - Microblogging
This weekend, I did the last bit of touch-up work for the book on RSS. I had to update the standards mentioned in the book to “ISTE NETS-S 2007″ from their previous version. While the previous and current standards are both six in number, the new standards break-down each standard into 4 “micro” standards, i.e., 1a, 1c, etc. So many different standards are numbered/identified in different ways. I don’t like “1a” because I don’t know what 1a is. I’d prefer they had simple one-word labels. “Citizenship-Leadership.” Oh well, I can stand using things like 1a, 3c, etc., right?
This morning I finally signed up for Twitter. I’ve been holding out. I very much like the idea behind Twitter, and that is, at any time, you or anyone else can ping me online and see what I’m up to. But I’m much against having to do this myself. I’m looking for something far less intrusive.
Let’s say I’m driving to work. I want that to appear, sure, but I don’t want to report it. I’m working on a report, okay, but I don’t want to take time out of report-writing to see that appear. I’m on the treadmill at the gym. Great. Somehow, report that for me.
I’m also interested in geo-tweets, or the idea that my physical location can appear in Twitter. I’d find it interesting to automatically report my whereabouts for the day, and be able to see this on Google Earth, or Google Maps. But the automatic part isn’t here yet for any of this. So I question my success with using Twitter.
Then, I began to think about the idea of microblogging for education and how it was “missed” in the book! The book was written really before microblogging took hold, and now, before it’s published, it’s a big deal. Oh well, if Thomas Freidman can write versions of his book, I could too. It’s just sad that the book isn’t even printed yet, and it’s already missing the latest developments.
I think we’re a ways-off. But some teachers out there who embrace this stuff are likely already thinking about exploring and using these microblogging tools in their classrooms. I’m guessing some type of eyeglasses with student tweets appearing in the display/lens someday might be how this manifests. Who knows! Will it be a big company like Pearson delivering this type of solution? Or will we put it together ourselves with these free, simple-to-configure tools?
The future will be interesting!
February 6th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
[...] I’ve had an odd relationship with Twitter. It was not that long ago that I actually began to use it. I even have written about it and how it could be used. Yes, this week, the blogging meme was “Twitter is unreliable and lets me down a lot.” And while I have never used it (or Pownce) enough to notice, there’s something I don’t like about it, too. I like the concept, but am not an active cheerleader. Ultimately, I find tweeting very distracting from other work I’m engaged in on the computer. [...]