To use or not to use social media, that is the question? I am not a social media user and I really do not care to become one. I tend to be a private person and do not necessarily want everyone to know what I am doing nor do I want to flaunt what it is I am doing. I should probably think of this more in terms of highlighting my achievements. In terms of career advancement that is not a wise decision and I should probably rethink this. However, there needs to be a fine balance. As an educator, there needs to be a definitive line between myself and my students, and I feel social media blurs that boundary. Yes, I know it is possible to have separate accounts, but will not having a social media profile hurt my chances of advancement? I do not know, but the answer is probably yes. If I cannot be found, what does that make them think, either I am boring, or I am hiding? While I do have a twitter account, I have never used it to promote myself. I view it as a one-stop-shop to keep on the day’s news. It is time to change.
Educators are not viewed as professionals. I could change this perception by highlighting the content I have created and the learning that goes with it. I am excellent at what I do, but if it is not viewable, no one will know this and what I am capable of. If I want to get out of the classroom and into the role of an instructional or technical coach, I need to be highlighting what it is I do in the classroom and how I do it. How I support others and help them advance. I need to share the successes and the failures because failure is just as important as success. What platform is best to do this? Twitter is a no brainer, with the appropriate tags it will be seen within my institution itself, but how do you go bigger. How do you know the right hashtag to use? How do I become bigger socially, if solely trying to share content with fellow educators, Pinterest is probably the best bet, but that is not going to get me seen outside the world of teachers? Instagram is another option that can link to twitter, so I could be killing two birds with one stone. With the ability to post narrative and video, Instagram could be a winner. Again, it all comes down to the right hashtag. It is possible to highlight my accomplishments and achievements in my career and to display my work for others to see that skills gained in the educational field are valuable beyond a classroom.
My takeaway from this, I need to create an online presence and not be afraid to showcase my work and accomplishments, but need to do so in a way that there is still a boundary between my work and students.
Thoughts on Instructional Design 