Twitter: Great Service Learning Conversations Taking Place


by Ann Abbott

Two weeks ago I was at the Faculty Summer Institute, attending sessions on e-portfolios, user-generated video, RSS feeds, social bookmarking, free web 2.0 gadgets and gizmos, SecondLife and WOW, haptic devices and Twitter. Wow! In all the sessions I learned really useful things from great presenters.

Since the Institute, what have I followed up on the most? Twitter.

You can follow me at @AnnAbbott.

I'm following service learning experts and truly enjoying the conversations. I love getting quality information, but in just this short time I can also see something else that I really love: camaraderie. (More on the necessity of finding a supportive community for Spanish community service learning in a future post.)

Here are just a few of the people I am following on Twitter and the information they have recently shared.

@NSLC
National Service Learning Clearinghouse
Bio: America's most comprehensive service-learning resource
One recent tweet: Service-learning = one of the 17 ways college campuses are changing http://tinyurl.com/p3h2qf
Why I liked this tweet: It shows that community service learning is on the forefront of important trends and that it needs to be cultivated by our Spanish departments in order to gain new relevance.

@servicewire
Bio: News That Serves from YSA: Act-Report-React-Repeat
One recent tweet: Embedded Philanthropy: Will it Ever Really Add Up? http://tinyurl.com/p7srev
Why I liked this tweet: I learned a new term! Now I can add a discussion about embedded philanthropy into my "Spanish & Entreperneurship" curriculum. I can also think about how the Refugee Center can benefit from this trend.

@ClarksonCollege
Bio: Interested in service-learning, e-learning, and social media, especially in higher education.
One recent tweet: From yesterday: New Post (series): Identifying the Learning in Service-Learning http://tr.im/mA86 Please leave comments if you have any :)
Why I liked this tweet: If you click the link, the blog post has great information. Kind of a checklist for things to think about as you are designing your community service-learning course. But even more than that, I have been feeling a little lonely on my blog lately. I know I have a good core of readers--faithful and new ones--but I don't get many comments. I'm happy to comment on others' blogs and hopefully drive them to mine, too. Having good conversation is what blogging should be all about, not just a one-way pushing out of info.

@MwestConsortium
Bio: We promote, support and moblize resources and efforts at colleges in Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa in Service-Learning
One recent tweet: RT @NSLC Employers want students to be more work-ready http://tinyurl.com/p856os service-learning is a great way to accomplish this!
Why I liked this tweet: It is a re-tweet of something that NSLC sent out, but I missed it on their profile. Since I am constantly trying to bring the pre-professional training to the fore-front of Spanish community service learning, I'm glad to have even more ammo for my arguments. Love the link. I'm also interested in seeing what a regional consortium can accomplish. I need to think big in terms of linking Spanish communtiy service learning resources and efforts. This could be a good model.

I will continue to follow more people on Twitter who are involved in community service learning, and I hope that people will find some value in my tweets.

Comments

  1. Darcy LearMay 30, 2009 at 8:18 AM

    This is exciting in terms of using social media to 'deliver' service learning as well. I look forward to hearing how Twitter and other social media become part of the service-learning program at U of I.

    ReplyDelete

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