Are you like me? Is your head swimming with everything that is now possible in our world as a result of the Web and the ease of transfer of information? We are so connected in today’s world. I can get onto Twitter and make connections with educators around the world and share ideas – I can find out what’s new and add my two cents worth to the conversations taking place. I read feeds coming to me in my Google Reader and am in awe of educators who are willing to share their knowledge to empower others. I am thankful to software developers who are willing to provide open source products that are making our lives easier to manage and our classrooms more interesting. I feel like I am in a constant state of professional development and what has it cost me? Time and an internet connection. What has it cost my school? Nothing this year – I haven’t been to one PD session and yet I feel like my knowledge attainment has been exponential. How will this benefit my school? Plenty. I have knowledge and am willing and eager to find ways to share it – writing this blog is one of vehicles I am using (just hope some are reading!).
I’ve been mulling this around the last 24hrs after reading Liz Davis’ post where she reflected on how she wondered if alerting people to her blog posts via twitter was an act of shameless self promotion. The post resonated with me because I’ve shared these thoughts – is what I’m doing a way of grandstanding? Look at what I know- nah nah na nah na! I’ve talked it over with friends who aren’t a part of this network and they tell me they are learning from what I am writing so I feel like what I’m offering is worthwhile and not self serving. I think people who are blogging about educational technology should be giving themselves a bit of a pat on the back – what I’m finding from my reading and conversations is on mass Pofessional Development for free!
One of my colleagues in the Library I work at passed this YouTube video from Charles Leadbeater onto me today. It’s called ‘We think’ and is companion to a book he has published exploring the potential of the Internet in today’s world. It fits with what I’ve just talked about. Our world is changing and the way we attain knowledge is central to the change. Our students are going to benefit from this – no longer is knowledge in the hands of the few. It’s open to all to consume and produce – the playing fields are opening up and the game is on!
Lucacept - intercepting the Web 
I don’t think that tweeting your posts is shameless self promotion. I follow over 100 people on twitter but I don’t keep than many feeds in my aggregator. I would not know about these posts if they weren’t tweeted. When I find a blog I want to continue reading I add it to my reader, if I’m just interested in reading occasionally I follow the link through the tweet. Also the tweet usually alerts you to the post sooner than it ends up in your aggregator. So I personally like the post alert tweet, as long as a description of what the post is about is included and then I will pop over and have a look, as I have today 🙂
Dear Jenny
Thanks for your thought-provoking post.
Shameless self promotion? Where is the boundary between sharing and giving with the hope someone might give something back? I would not say this is shameless-it is a rather good use of your time… Nothing wrong about learning from others and offering the same in exchange, is there???
Isabelle
http://isabellejones.blogspot.com
Jenny,
You have articulated so well the way we all feel about learning these days. It is both exhausting and exhilarating. Thanks so much for sharing that awesome video. “We are what we share!” I love it.
-Liz
P.S. I’m reading. 🙂
I don’t see it as shameless self promotion. I see it as sharing thoughts and resources because that is what support for each other is all about. This is how I have found many blogs that I now follow in my google reader.
Twitter has been a real asset to my own professional development. I agree with your statement, “I feel like I’m in a constant state of professional development.” Every day I learn so many new things from those I follow. I only hope that I can participate in a meaningful way so that others can learn from me. I greatly appreciate how open my professional network is and I think people with this kind of passion for education really want to make a wider impact than just within their own schools. Twitter is a great tool to use to to just that!