New Teachers Discover EdTech Resources, Ideas During Twitter Chat

Alternate Route teacher candidates at Rutgers-GSE took part in a social media chat addressing the use of technology tools for teaching and learning. The program wide chat complements the instruction candidates receive at their individual sites and demonstrates the professional use of social media, making collaboration with colleagues easier, and expanding the geography of their professional learning network. Teachers are able to quickly share resources, collect ideas for classroom challenges, and connect easily with others who can support their goals as educators.

Prior to the chat, the overwhelming majority of candidates, ninety-five percent, reported being somewhat or very knowledgeable about education technology use, and they reported favorable perceptions about its effectiveness for various aspects of teaching and learning. Eighty-eight percent of teacher candidates agreed that technology is an effective way for teachers to connect to professional content, people, ideas, and conversations. The same percentage believed that technology tools are helpful in promoting knowledge sharing and provide an effective way for teachers to communicate with parents. When it comes to the usefulness of technology for students and/or teachers to find and share educational resources, ninety percent of teacher candidates believed technology can be effective for this purpose.   
 

These comments reflect the enthusiasm expressed by some of edtech staunchest candidate supporters. They showed up for the chat already convinced of the benefits of technology for learning and teaching.

• I love technology and will continue to incorporate it into my lessons. I do have backup lessons in case technology fails. I am definitely and will continue to be one of those techy teachers!!! -Elementary School Teacher, Mercer Site  
• I am a big fan of technology; it is an integral part of my school's curriculum. I see much more student involvement and an increase in attending skills when technology is integrated into my lessons. -Elementary School Teacher, Essex-Hudson Site  
• I have always been a big advocate of tech in the classroom. -Music Teacher, Somerset Site
• I firmly believe that technology plays an integral part in education and must be treated with respect and used accordingly. -Art Teacher, Essex-Hudson Site    

Following the hour-long synchronized group discussion, candidates reflect and share insights based on the professional exchange with their teaching peers. Consistent with the experience of past candidates, this year's cohort left the chat with heightened awareness of new practices and tools shared by other chat participants. Many suggested plans to change their practices and begin incorporating resources and ideas gleaned during the chat.  

• My lessons are already interactive but I need to use some resources like Pear Deck and Nearpod to make them even more interactive.  -Social Studies Teacher, Passaic Site
• I have a lot of catching up to do in integrating technology into my teaching. I will be attending some technology and software related courses for professional development at my school in January. -Music Teacher, Bergen Site  
• I definitely want to incorporate more of the translation techniques in my classroom. I have a few ELLs and would love for them to feel more included and remove part of that language barrier. -Mathematics Teacher Atlantic-Camden Site  
• I do think I could use Google classroom more often and encourage parents to check there for information about what the students are learning. Someone had posted about that, and I want to incorporate it.  -Elementary School Teacher, Mercer Site    
• I have never thought about sending out a weekly newsletter to parents and though the idea does seem tedious, it also seems like a good way to keep parents involved.  -Chemistry Teacher, Somerset Site  
• I will investigate if we have access to Securly which was shared during the session today. Thank you! - Mathematics Teacher, Somerset Site  
• I often feel as though the parents/guardians of ELL students get left in the dust when it comes to classroom communication due to the language barrier. I will definitely look into using Talking Points and Class Dojo for communicating effectively with ELL families! -Art Teacher, Morris-Sussex Site  
• I need to come up with more ways to share student success with their families for making an online gallery available for them to view this content.  -Art Teacher, Atlantic-Camden Site
• After today, I think I am going to trust myself and my students to focus more on technology in the classroom. We’re not going to over-rely on it, though. -Elementary School Teacher, Morris-Sussex Site 

As might be expected, some candidates new to Twitter take issue with the use of social media as part of the course experience. Their no-holds-barred comments express their irritation with the character limits, pace of communication, and public posting.

• I also learned today that I utterly despise Twitter's character limit. -Social Studies Teacher, Essex-Hudson Site  
• This twitter session felt stressful like I was trying to take in a fire hose. It was impossible for me to be reflective during the chat. And I felt a great deal of empathy for our students who have multiple streams of google classroom data and assignments flying at them every day. -Physics Teacher, Bergen Site  
• To be truthful, the format of this session was confusing for me, and I didn't know how to utilize Twitter to find information on technology, or to connect with the guests. More clarity around expectations for this session would be helpful in the future! -English Teacher, Essex-Hudson Site
• The one thing I do not like is being forced to use social media.  Prior to taking these classes, I did not use any social media.  I was forced to make a LinkedIn account in the pre-service course and now I was forced to make a Twitter account.  The use of social media should be a suggestion, not a requirement. -English Teacher, Mercer Site
• Not sure if I like using Twitter as a platform.  Wasn't comfortable with how to use it, or if I was actually posting appropriately.  I felt exposed since it seems like my responses were available for all to see, not just the people attending the discussion.  -Elementary School Teacher, Somerset Site  

Candidates also express appreciation for the connection opportunity the coordinated chat facilitates. Current teaching candidates access the ideas of their teaching peers, course instructors, and guest commentators selected for their education expertise and savvy use of social media. With such a vast network of educators to engage, it's no wonder that most teaching candidates respond so favorably to the experience.  

• I feel that being able to share ideas online with other people is very helpful, and I like finding new ideas and resources online.  -Spanish Teacher, Passaic Site  
• It was great to connect with other World Language teachers today. Guest Commentator Kristine Keefe gave me recommendations for workshops to attend at upcoming conferences, and I hope to continue our collaboration as we both teach the same classes. It was helpful to learn about current resources that other teachers are currently using in their classrooms. - Spanish Teacher, Bergen Site
• It was nice to see all the types of technology that others are using in their classrooms.  -Social Studies Teacher, Morris-Sussex Site  
• I enjoyed being able to see the thoughts, opinions, and resources of my colleagues within the #EdTech chat.  -Psychology Teacher, Mercer Site  
• I enjoyed getting suggestions for online resources that I had not seen before and want to try with my class. -Biology Teacher, Bergen Site  
• I am excited to begin exploring many of the technology tools that are available to me as a teacher. It was great to see so many people engaged in the discussion, and I will spend some time reading their responses and comments as a part of my professional development strategy. -Social Studies Teacher, Bergen Site  

The curated information, tools, and strategies shared during the chat can be accessed in the Wakelet collection here.  Let the exploration begin! 

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