06/01/2011

Using Social Media to Tweet an Educational Revolution: The Birth of A New Tweet Chat

By Edward Colozzi and Carla Hunter

New Tweet Chat

#schools2life on every 2nd & 4th Thursdays of the month, from 8pm-9pm EDT.

LinkedIn schools2life –a support platform for the tweet chat

The Birth

On May 19^th, a spontaneous national and international tweet chat occurred among several people, including NCDA members, concerning “parents pushing their youth towards a BA degree without paying sufficient attention to many of the other education and training opportunities available today for successful school-to-work transitions”.

After about forty tweets from folks worldwide within minutes, a new tweet chat hashtag was created to allow for further dialogue. A support platform on LinkedIn was also created to allow longer related discussions (Twitter only allows 140 characters).

The name for both sites is schools2life, because the focus of the groups encourages open discussions by ALL stakeholders, nationally and globally, concerned with students' journeys from their K12 schools to life. The journey will most likely involve work, education, the military, and other activities that young people do after their K12 years. Recently the Harvard Graduate School of Education Report, “Pathways to Prosperity”, stated that, The American system for preparing young people to lead productive and prosperous lives as adults is clearly badly broken.” (A link to the full report is also available on the Linkedin schools2life site.)

The Launch

The May 26^th launch of the #schools2life tweet chat generated lively discussions, and many excellent comments and ideas as participants responded to six topic questions focused on,’Who ARE the Stakeholders?” Arrangements are being made to make transcripts available for each event, so participants can have a record of the comments and ideas, including the Twitter names of all fellow tweeters.

One tweeter, Peg Gillard, an assistant middle school principal in Vermont, tweeted, “Bumper sticker: Education is national security”! Most participants believe in the importance of education in the lives of all youth who journey from their schools to life and then become the living future contributors and leaders of our Planet.

Continued Discussions

We invite and encourage participation by students, parents, all educators, the business community, legislators, and others who want to share their concerns, ideas, and solutions for this universal transition of today's youth, who will be the future contributors and leaders of tomorrow's world. National and international guest co-hosts will join Twitter co-hosts Carla Hunter and Edward Colozzi for various discussion topics. On June 9 at 8 pm (Eastern Time) the second tweet chat topic, “What Are the Main Concerns?” features the first national guest co-host, Scott Solberg, Associate Director of Career Development Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On June 23, the third tweet chat topic will be “What are the Main Purposes of K12 Education?”

Our collective effort now is to prepare young people the best ways we can for their journey. To this end, #schools2life welcomes participation from all involved who want to share their concerns, ideas, and solutions. Please join our discussion and tell your friends and colleagues, including parents and students! Both sites will be available for live interactions 24/7. You can join Twitter at www.twitter.com.

Edward Colozzi, Ed.D. Owner of Career Development and Counseling Services in Boston, is on Twitter @EdwardColozzi

Carla Hunter, MA and Master Career Counselor, President of Career Span, is on Twitter @CareerSpan