Educational Origami

A colleague and friend asked me what value I saw in twitter.

I took a moment to think about it and my responce was simple, its part of my PLN – Personal Learning Network. This is for me an example of how a social technology has been adapted into a educational technology.

I don’t use twitter to tell people “what are you doing?” my life is too mundane and boring for that. I use twitter to access the expertise of my colleagues, and to reply in kind where I can.

For me twitter is a powerful tool for communication and collaboration. Often it is the first port of call when I need assistance or to gather opinions. It is also a medium to post and share.

The same colleague who posed the question to me about Twitter also sent me a link about Twitter in the media from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

This makes interesting reading, and I have seen the effects of twitter in the recent earthquakes in China and in the terrorist attackes on Mumbai. Here is an extracct from the wikipedia twitter entry on Twitter in the media.

“Twitter has been used as a “social justice tool” to connect groups of people in critical situations. On April 10, 2008, James Buck, a graduate journalism student at UC Berkeley, and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested in Egypt for photographing an anti-government protest. On his way to the police station Buck used his mobile phone to send the message “Arrested” to his 48 “followers” on Twitter. Those contacted UC Berkeley, the US Embassy in Cairo, and a number of press organizations on his behalf. Buck was able to send updates about his condition to his “followers” while being detained. He was released the next day from the Mahalla jail after the college hired a lawyer for him.^[47][48]

Research reported in New Scientist in May 2008 ^[49] found that blogs, maps, photo sites and instant messaging systems like Twitter did a better job of getting information out during emergencies such as the shootings at Virginia Tech than either the traditional news media or government emergency services. The study — performed by researchers at the University of Colorado ^{[disambiguation needed]} — also found that those using Twitter during the fires in California in October 2007 kept their followers (who were often friends and neighbors) informed of their whereabouts and of the location of various fires minute by minute. Additionally, organizations that support relief efforts are also using Twitter. The American Red Cross uses Twitter (http://twitter.com/RedCross) to exchange minute-to-minute information about local disasters, including statistics and directions.^[50][51] In October 2008 a draft US Army intelligence report identified the popular micro-blogging service as a potential terrorist tool. The report said, “Twitter is already used by some members to post and/or support extremist ideologies and perspectives.”^[52][53] The first trades union Twitter service was launched by the news and campaigning website LabourStart in June 2008^[54]

Some media outlets are also starting to use Twitter as a source of public sentiment on issues, and are using the technology in order to deliver real-time or recent-time opinions that are not sent to them directly. A specific example occurred during the CBC News television coverage of the Canadian federal election on October 14, 2008. During the broadcast, the CBC cited a graph (produced by the Infoscape Research Lab) of items mentioned on Twitter, along with Tweets regarding Elizabeth May and Stéphane Dion, the majority of the Dion Tweets calling for him to step down in response to the election results.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, CNN began setting up Twitter pages for some of its anchors and reading tweets during broadcasts. Rick Sanchez and Don Lemon prominently feature updates from Twitter followers during their broadcasts.

During the 2008 Mumbai attacks, eyewitnesses sent an estimated 80 tweets every five seconds as the tragedy unfolded. Twitter users on the ground helped in compiling a list of the dead and injured. In addition, users sent out vital information such as emergency phone numbers and the location of hospitals that needed blood donations. ^[55] In January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 experienced multiple bird strikes and had to be ditched in the Hudson River after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Janis Krum, a passenger on one of the ferries that rushed to help, took a picture of the downed plane as passengers were still evacuating and tweeted it via TwitPic before traditional media arrived at the scene.^[56][57] In February 2009, the Country Fire Authority used Twitter to send out regular alerts and updates regarding the 2009 Victorian bushfires.^[58] During this time, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, also used his Twitter account to send out information on the fires, how to donate money and blood, and where to seek emergency help.^[59]”

Interesting – what do you think?