Tim Mikulski

Tweeting Yourself to Arts Education

Posted by Tim Mikulski, Mar 15, 2011 6 comments


Tim Mikulski

Tim Mikulski

Tim Mikulski

Although I successfully avoided using Twitter for a while after it was first introduced to the world. I figured that I didn't need another time suck added to my life beyond Gmail and Facebook.

While that is still probably true, I also discovered a better use of Twitter than just reading the crazy Tweets of Kanye West. It actually helps me do my job.

When I moved over to become arts education program manager at Americans for the Arts, I brought along our weekly newsletter, Arts Watch, with me to the new position.

I already had too many Google News alerts and also have a Post-It with 12 search phrases that I use each week to collect information that goes into that publication.

What I didn't realize is that Twitter can be used in a way that I would never have thought of until a friend of a coworker mentioned it to me - it's a news gathering system.

By "following" other arts and arts education organizations, practitioners, managers, etc., you end up having information delivered to your feed throughout the day.    

On top of that, there is a networking aspect to Twitter that helped me get to know the folks on the ground.

Every time I re-Tweeted information from @AudienceDevSpec (a Colorado-based consulting firm), @PolkArts (a local arts agency in Florida), or even @JoshGroban (a great arts education supporter), I gained more followers and was introduced to more people.

I soon learned that marking anything with #artsed or searching "#artsed" through Twitter was also a goldmine of information.

And that led me to an excellent weekly chat (which can be a little hard to follow due to the technical limits of Twitter), that discusses nothing but arts education - thereby giving me even more knowledge and more networking opportunities.

In fact, I first "met" several of our bloggers for this Salon on Twitter, including: @theatrerachel, @creativityassoc, and @richard4artsed.

Although I do follow my fair share of celebrities, athletes, and other folks, here are some other Twitter users to follow if you're interested in learning more about #artsed:

@Americans4Arts - Americans for the Arts
@Think360Arts - Colorado's statewide arts education association
@MENC - MENC
@moonbeammachine - Sarah Collins - genius arts ed grad student
@yeacollective - Young Educators in the Arts
@DanielPink - author, right-brain thinker
@aep_arts - Arts Education Partnership
@T_C_P - The Creative Practice
@NarricAFTA - Americans for the Arts' Senior Director of Federal Affairs & Arts Ed
@BobMorrison - arts ed research guru
@gina_harrison - NC arts education advocate
@WallaceFdn - Wallace Foundation
@EdutopiaBetty - Edutopia staffer Betty Ray
@markslavkin - VP of Education at Music Center (L.A. County)
@ArtsEd411 - California Alliance for Arts Education
@NEAarts - National Endowment for the Arts
@ArtsActionFund - The Arts Action Fund
@kencen - John F. Kennedy Center in DC
@NAEA - National Art Education Association
@PS_ARTS - CA arts education program
@schooltheatre - Educational Theatre Association
@WholeChildAdv - ASCD's The Whole Child initiative
@edtadvocacy - EDTA's advocacy account
@tim_mik - Me!

Feel free to suggest more in the comments!

6 responses for Tweeting Yourself to Arts Education

Comments

March 15, 2011 at 3:39 pm

@creativityassoc here.

Using hashtags (#) is a great way to consolidate information. In addition to #artsed (which hosts the weekly chats on Thursdays at 12 pm ET and 7pm ET), there are hashtags for #mused (music ed) and #tweatre. Conferences have been using hashtags, such at #tios11 (Theatre in Our Schools). That way, you can follow the conference through attendants, even if you can't be there.

I would also direct you to @cybraryman1 who collects resources from Twitter about education, including #artsed, and posts to his website. It's not the prettiest, but it's the most thorough.

Transcripts for #artsed Chats are housed here: http://www.creativityandassociates.com/artsed-chat-archive/

  • Please login to post comments.
March 15, 2011 at 5:20 pm

Thanks, Joan!

  • Please login to post comments.
March 16, 2011 at 12:47 pm

Tim,
We love what you have to say! And want you to know that we do the same thing. But we want to know...
Who are you following outside #artsed to gain inspiration, ideas and connectivity (for #artsed)? We think some of our best ideas have come from outside the #artsed bubble. (We also blogged about it... http://bit.ly/fHy8We)

YEA

  • Please login to post comments.
March 16, 2011 at 1:15 pm

ARTSblog » Blog Archive » Tweeting Yourself to Arts Education...

Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing......

  • Please login to post comments.
Harold says
March 17, 2011 at 11:46 am

I would definitely add @AudienceDevSpec to your great list for #artsed.

  • Please login to post comments.
March 17, 2011 at 1:37 pm

Hi Harold - I had already mentioned them higher up in the story, but they are a great resource as well!

  • Please login to post comments.