Guest presenter: Julia Fallon

Julia Fallon was the first of our guest speakers for EDU 653, and while tips on the mechanics of using Twitter were more or less review, I found her discussion of best practices for using Twitter as an educational professional was extremely valuable.  Ms. Fallon provided a practioner's perspective on using social networking tools to build relationships within a professional community.  Her comments about control and privacy were particularly relevant for those working in public education, and I found her candid assessment of Twitter's drawbacks refreshingly "real".

I'm glad that both of our guest speakers have been so comfortable with presenting in an online environment.  Their familiarity with the technology and course content helped to make the sessions engaging, and their willingness to extend involvement with this class beyond the Wimba session (e.g. via Twitter) demonstrates their committment to using technology to enhance learning (in this case, ours).