But Robert has a valid point IMHO. It’s worth making a distinction between “educational technologists” and “edtech evangelists” - a good ed tech needs to apply a critical mind towards good learning solutions, which may involve technology to varying degrees. In some cases, they may come up with a solution that does not involve technology at all; but their technological acumen provides such solutions with credibility that more technical solutions have, at least, been considered (and discarded).

A good ed tech evangelist only has to spread the good news that the saviour of modern education is come. They will tend to promote the latest new-fangled gadget, website, or application enthusiastically but with a positive spin that may attract more teachers to try (whatever it is) in the short term, but can have a detrimental impact on their credibility in the long term.

I should state at this point that I’m not above a little edtech evangelism myself. There are times when it’s necessary to step out with one’s best salesman face; and, once people get interested, to point out the fine print. But unless that kind of behaviour is the exception, rather than the rule, I think it’s awfully difficult to maintain one’s authoritativeness as an objective expert, rather than a brainwashed fanatic.

Kate- Thanks for the link and especially for the kind words.

I wasn’t really bashing Twitter, but rather those who uncritically
adopt technologies (such as Twitter but including many, many other
things) and then insist that their technology is somehow the missing
link in teaching and learning today. That kind of attitude, which is
as old as technology itself, never really gets anybody very far –
especially today when entire pedagogies are being invented around
flawed assumptions about the technological literacy of children.

Now, people who actually use a technology in creative, interesting
ways and with a passion for teaching and learning and therefore use it
to great effect, they have my utmost respect. And I hope to hang out
with a lot of them at ICTCM this week and sort of glean from them.

I am obviously a Twitter user, although not a very consistent one, so
I thought it would be funny to say something like that about
Twitterers and then tweet about it.

Robert

I’ve had conversations with various prominent members of the edublogging and edutech communities, including some who’ve confessed to Twitter “addiction” and have berated me for having a meagre 50-70 people I follow at any given time (when they generally follow 150+!)…

I’ve had to defend my own perspective of Twitter: that it serves as a valid means of conversation, but a poor medium for archiving, recording, or validating ideas, and even as a means of enabling conversation, its deconstructed, unthreaded, teeny-message simplicity bestows both blessings and curses upon its users. That is, I think, a rather more objective view of the tool than the OMG-this-is the-be-all-and-end-all-of-learning exhortations that some other edutechs and educators are inclined to extol.

I can definitely see how Twitter can be useful in “tuning in” to the vibe of a community of practice, so I’m not in Robert’s camp of dissing the platform entirely; but I’m no Twitter fanboy either. I think approaching ALL technologies with this kind of objectivity is vital for providing accurate advice and leadership in educational innovation!