Sometimes I worry that my sharing of links in Twitter may be seen by some as spamming. After all, dropping links into Twitter does not usually answer its prime question “What are you doing?”, and to some, that may be perceived as breaking one of the Twitter commandments.
A while back, I shared the comiqs.com link. Brian Van Dyck, a middle years teacher located in Sunnydale California, thought there might be some potential for his students. I noticed these recent tweets from Brian.
@courosa the http://comiqs.com/ was a hit with 6th graders. Book reports and story boarding for narrative writing underway. Thank you! (link)
@courosa One of my students is featured on Comiqs. Working on “How To” writing. http://tinyurl.com/ynrjwd One proud teacher here. Thanks. (link)
Here is one of those featured Comiqs, “How to Catch Crayfish.”
This is a really neat piece from a very creative 6th grader, and it demonstrates the potential for a tool like this in the right hands, with the appropriate encouragement from a teacher. This is great to see, Brian. Do congratulate your students!
And, to get to a bigger point, I still think it is amazing to see such a tiny digital event can positively affect students over 2700 kilometres away. This is the type of thing that I have experienced many times, but usually on the recipient end. My students and I have benefited countless times from the Twitter network, and this reciprocity may be one of the most compelling reasons I have for my continued use of Twitter.
Alec, I feel guilty sometimes because I take advantage of all the things you share. I feel like we should be paying you for all the resources you provide. If I stopped following the other 300 people and only followed you, I would get all the professional development I need, as well as at least one hearty laugh and a few big grins to brighten every day. Don’t stop!
This is the beauty of social networking. Not only were my students motivated by an idea shared across a network from somebody they have never met, the power of seeing their work featured on the comiqs.com site and to see their work given credit on this blog will only further inspire them. Through this wonderful network of educators working together to advance, inspire, and engage the learning of students, you have walked through the gateway directly into my classroom and touched the lives of my students in an incredibly powerful manner. This is the message that we must get out to all educators. I concur with the last comment. “Don’t stop!”
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“Sometimes I worry that my sharing of links in Twitter may be seen by some as spamming.”
During the brief time I was following some Twitterers I found this to be the most interesting posts you had to offer. I agree with Jen that you are a quite the conveyor of interesting web resources. I don’t thank you enough when you post/comment upon something interesting you find on the net.
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Wow Alec, talk about how social media networking is working its magic. I found Brian’s page while searching for people talking about us on Twitter.
It’s wonderful that Brian’s students are having a blast using a tool that was developed literally on the other side of the globe in Singapore. We’ll keep improving our service as we go along, and make it fun, expressive yet simple at the same time. Thanks for blogging about us and spreading the word around! :-)
Michael
– Comiqs