Twitter has changed everything.

Don’t you think so? How many blogs and blog posts talk about twitter, even when they don’t start out that way? Facebook has changed the layout again and it looks very much like the twitter website, updates in realtime and allows you to see your friends updates come streaming in in a very ‘twitter-like’ fashion.

I work with some fantastic people and most of them are very open to change and comfortable using technology.  Most of them are not on twitter, but slowly.. one by one, they are joining, learning, and taking part in the conversation.  Also slowly, one by one, I am learning more about them and connecting in ways I didn’t before all because of the ‘inside information’ twitter gives us.  It’s feeling to me that the longer people stay away from this idea of status updates, the more left-out they are.  Conversations, meetings, “tweetups”(meetings and get-togethers organized on twitter for twitter users in certain locations), spontaneous lunches and dinners are all taking place and if you’re not part of the conversation – you’re not invited.

I still talk to people all the time that just don’t “get it” or don’t see the value in it.  I think that’s the key – showing the value.  At a conference I attended recently I was speaking about twitter and asked how many people were on twitter and a handful of hands went up.  When I asked then how many people thought twitter was ridiculous and stupid and were tired of hearing about it, I got many more hands and a round of laughter.  When I told that group that I felt the same way and that upon joining twitter I felt it was the most arrogant, ridiculous, waste-of-time I had ever encountered, I got a lot of head nodding and agreement.  When I then told them they were wrong – and explained WHY they were – they listened.  When I told them that twitter isn’t necessarily about sharing what you had for lunch, or when you used the restroom, but more about LISTENING to what’s happening around you, it made more sense.  When I told them that in an age of budget costs and reduced professional development, twitter could be an invaluable resource – they paid attention.  When I explained that by following and listening to other educators and leaders in their field, it could put them on the frontlines of innovation and best practices – they understood.

I think sometimes we take for granted what we do and why we do it, that we often forget to share those basic beliefs and feelings with our peers that might not be a part of those conversations or communities.  If the power of the group is greater than the power of one, it’s our responsibility to educate and enlighten.  Let’s not forget that.

If you’re on twitter or have decided to join – add me, I’d love to meet you.

Today was the second day of the ELI Fall Focus session on Learning Spaces. Today was great because we got to hear a lot about how to think about designing spaces that facilitate learning, what’s on the horizon, what’s happening in Second Life and there was great discussion among everyone. Focus sessions that are limited in size are, I’m sure, disappointing for the folks that weren’t able to register before it closed, but for the attendees it’s a really wonderful thing because you can have small intimate discussions and really have a chance to meet and talk with colleagues. It’s been a wonderful experience.

Because I’m not a faculty member, IT professional, librarian, learning designer, administrator, computer programmer, or web designer, I sit in a very unique position. I can listen to conversations about many areas and then try to put myself in a situation to examine, evaluate and experiment with how those things can translate into virtual spaces or communities. More often than not, it’s easily adaptable and perfectly appropriate and having the opportunity to be sort of the “center of the wheel” allows me to talk with people in all different areas of learning and learning design and experiment with scads of fantastic tools. I love being in that position. I adore being the girl who tries the new technologies and experiments with new tools. Don’t get me wrong, diamonds are definitely this girl’s best friend, but a new Macbook Pro runs a close second place for me.

I found myself having some really interesting one-on-one discussions today with many people but the one that really resounded with me was when someone came up to me and thanked me for presenting Second Life in the way that I did. He mentioned that he’s heard of Second Life many times before and understands that you can “do anything” in that space including have a classroom in the sky, but just the very thought of that was too overwhelming and kept him from thinking about Second Life as something he could truly use in his teaching. He said that by simply talking about Second Life as another “tool” for communication in much the same way we use email to communicate, it helped him to feel less anxious and overwhelmed by it. I wonder how many others feel this way and how many other people we could engage by just changing the way we talk about things or present things.

I certainly know that people are passionate about things they love. I am passionate about Second Life and virtual community and I think that is evident when I speak about it. I think the audience can tell I love these things, but I wonder now, how many times I maybe missed an opportunity to connect with someone or engage them in the conversation because I was *too* passionate about it and left little room for them to begin to envision how they might make these spaces their own, in their own way.

I had a discussion a few days ago about Second Life and the statement was made by someone that they had no idea why anyone would want a traditional office in Second Life- they said it was “beyond them”. I explained in that discussion that some people need, want, and feel comfortable in those ‘traditional’ spaces. Do I think that it’s a great idea to take a class into Second Life plop them down in a virtual classroom and show them powerpoint slides the entire semester? Absolutely not. I do, however, think that when we’re talking about and introducing these technologies, we need to remember, always, that nine times out of ten we are ahead of the curve on these things and we need to slow down, take a step back and think about what we could do to make these new tools less overwhelming and show people how they can potentially use the tool for their own needs.

I think another reason that those ‘traditional’ spaces are important in Second Life is because that’s what people are used to and I think those can be a fantastic ‘entry’ point for people just starting to use the technology. We need people to feel comfortable in a space before we can expect them to really use it and enjoy being there – this is exactly what we’re talking about in designing physical learning spaces so why would we want anything different in a virtual one?

One speaker yesterday used a quote that I loved. The quote was from Henry Ford and he said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” I think sometimes people have no idea what they want, because they don’t know about the tools. We can teach them about the tools but what’s just as important is helping them feel comfortable learning them. We can do that too.