Twittering

Last week during in-service, the administration (after going to some conferences) of Erin's school was really pushing incorporating new technology in the classroom. They suggested that teachers make blogs, join MySpace, etc...

What is funny here is that when I was consulting for the school two ago, the administration wanted access to all that kind of information blocked. Now, they want to use it.

I think it is a futile idea because as soon as adults move into a student community, the students migrate away. As soon as something becomes mainstream enough that teachers use it, the students find some other technology or place to socially network.

The key, then, is to be ahead of the main stream adults. I told Erin if she really wants to be ahead of the curve, then she needs to begin using Twitter, because that is the next "big" social-networking type application. I am going to play with the service and see how it can be used for business and maybe how Erin can use it for school.

She can be the cool teacher for using it. It hasn't made it main stream yet, so it'll be a year or two before the school Administration gets wind of it. Of course, I fully expect them to want to block it first.