Landing : Athabascau University

Using Microblogs for Information Flow

Last updated May 16, 2010 - 10:04pm by George Siemens

This is a bit of a breather week (and, from discussions I've had via email or in person, that may be welcomed by numerous course participants!). 

Microblogs are short-post/commentary sites. The most famous service in this space is Twitter. Twitter, while seemingly silly at first look, is an excellent tool for experiencing the value of learning and information sharing in social networks.

Are you new to Twitter? Have a look at this short video. Seems silly doesn't it? Well, you're not alone. This somewhat humorous look at the Twitter Life Cycle captures the feelings and frustrations of many first time users.

The Landing has a Twitter-like tool called The Wire. It takes a bit of time getting used to short information exchanges - 140 characters at the most. But, after a period of use, you'll likely find that the Wire is a great way to get to know your colleagues and peers at a level that blogs/wikis/discussion forums don't allow.

Review this short screencast on how to use The Wire

Your main activity this week: use the Wire on a daily basis - share info with others, reply to comments that other Wire-users have posted. Of course, we'd still love to hear your thoughts on the course and the Landing in your weekly blog post...:)