Now I get it! Twitter as a Learning Diversion

I recently mentioned Twitter as part of my Technology Hoard.  I said,

I will admit I have not figured out a way to use twitter on a day to day basis, yet.  When I am at a conference, it is indispensable.  I check it somewhat regularly and post my Nike+ running to it.  I see lots of potential, I just need to dwell on it more and find the place for it in my life.

Since I wrote that, I have been making a conscious effort to try and make it a part of my daily routine.  I participated in #caedchat this past Sunday and quickly was overwhelmed by the amount of tweets going on regarding paperless schools.  It took every ounce of concentration to keep up with the conversation let alone attempt to participate.  My main contribution was,

A5: have been following @jamietr and his paperless blog using Evernote http://t.co/fb5qzxsFWr #caedchat
— John Hall (@hall2005) July 15, 2013

To be honest I was quite disappointed at the initial response (seemed like none).  Later that night I had 4 or 5 people favorite it and follow me.  My disappointment lessened and my interest was peaked.

Fast forward to today.  I had some conversations about my district's recent Chromebook purchases and subsequent pictures posted by me showing the goods.  Later in the morning, I posted the following to try and figure out how to manage something like #caedchat,

Trying to 'love' Twitter - How does everyone stay so connected to it AND still get stuff done. Many great conversations/resources #overload
— John Hall (@hall2005) July 16, 2013

Crickets.

I almost gave up on Twitter it for the day, and then saw this gem from the wonderfully talented Diane Main,

Just made a movie of my twitter: https://t.co/Y0XtXe46TI Let me know what you think, then make your own. #FollowMe #Vizify
— Diane Main (@Dowbiggin) July 16, 2013

I let her know how cool I thought her Vizify was and she responded back!  She made another tweet and I learned more about The Hardy-Weinberg Principle then I ever even knew existed (let alone THAT it existed).

I was about to go home and checked my feed one last time before shutting down the computer and saw some chatter about "some report" called the Horizon Report (Do yourself a favor and read this report, it is AWESOME).  I stuck around and over the next hour the Twitter epiphany hit me!  The  moderators did a great job involving everyone that seemed to be monitoring #NMCk12.  I felt good about staying up with the conversation and contributing in a meaningful way.  The end result was a diversion that ended up being a great learning experience on many levels!

Now I get it. Participate meaningfully and the meaningful interactions will come.