My Journey in Self-Development in 140 Characters - Dan Cantiller
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My Journey in Self-Development in 140 Characters Dan Cantiller, Academic Link Facilitator, Ryerson University Connecting Meaning to Purpose RyersonSA PD Conference 2015
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My Journey in Self-Development in 140 Characters - Dan Cantiller
- 1. My Journey in Self-development in 140 Characters @DanCanThinks #RyersonSA Conference January 29, 2015
- 7. …and that’s where I met these folks!
- 8. Twitter is a tool • Learning • Communication • Community building
Editor's Notes
- Title: My Journey in Self-development in 140 Characters Abstract: Twitter. Three and a half years ago, I was still resisting creating an account. Today (almost 10,000 tweets later), I consider it an important communication and learning (yes, learning!) tool and a medium to build and support our communities. Through my talk I hope to share how I developed professionally and personally since Tweet #1, what I’ve learned from this journey in finding my voice, and why I feel Twitter will be an inextricable part of my Ryerson story. Program Description: I’m very excited to hopefully present about a tool that I use in my daily work life and take on the challenge of presenting in this specific and creative session format. At Ryerson, I feel it’s safe to say we have a community of some professionals that regularly and comfortably use Twitter in their work and personal life. Indeed, how our institution uses social media has been pointed out as a best/innovative practice on multiple occasions. Understandably though, some of us are newer and still trying to find our footing with platforms such as Twitter. Through my talk, I hope to share: 1) How I have used Twitter for professional development, eg. participating in conference remotely 2) How I have gained confidence in sharing and exploring my thoughts in a public forum 3) How a conference at Ryerson convinced me to join Twitter, and how Twitter helped me meet my future boss! I feel my talk will fit well with the conference theme of “Connecting Meaning to Purpose”, as I have found Twitter to be a great tool for researching ideas and best practices, finding professional development opportunities, networking, as well as at times a source of inspiration, encouragement and support.
- (Slide 1) Hi everyone! I’m Dan Cantiller, and I’m the Academic Link Facilitator for Housing and Residence Life. In the short amount of time I have, I’m excited to present to you “my journey in self-development in 140 characters.” Some of you may not know, but my background is in Science (I studied Biology and Psychology). And yes, I had to work with some math, so that’s how we’re going to start… (Slide 2) Me + Twitter = Heart I’m an avid user of Twitter, which is a social media platform that was launched in 2006. It enables users to send and read short 140-character messages (called “tweets”). By using hashtags (like #RyersonSA) , similarly tagged messages are grouped and these related, tagged messages can be searched. Currently, there are 284 million monthly active users of Twitter and 500 million tweets are sent per day. (https://about.twitter.com/company) I currently follow about 1,500 users/accounts that populate my newsfeed, I’m at about 1,050 followers, and I posted by 10,000th tweet this past December.
- But I wasn’t always a fan of this platform. And despite those many posts and how I might use Twitter now, I would probably consider myself more of an introvert. As an undergraduate student, I would rarely contribute to class discussions or ask questions, unless it was in a smaller seminar class. I like working with a lot of information and would tend more to listening and observing and reflecting on knowledge. Similarly in conferences and presentations, my notebook would be filled with notes, but I probably wouldn’t have spoken a word or publicly engaged
- My journey with Twitter began about 3.5 years ago, when I was at a conference. What really prompted this shift for me was hearing from colleagues and presenters urging us to engage with this platform, even if only as an observer. “It’s important for us as educators and student affairs practitioners to be in spaces where our students are.” is what someone said (or something to that effect). That’s what resonated with me. So here’s my first tweet: “Joining the conversation. Inspired and encouraged by CACUSS.”
- …And coincidentally, that happened to be while I was here for CACUSS when Ryerson hosted in June 2011. At the time, I was working out west in Victoria, BC and I had no idea at the time that my first CACUSS was being hosted the institution that I would eventually be working at. Moving forward from this conference, as I began to use Twitter, I started to follow folks that I considered leaders in the fields of Housing and Student Affairs. Being located somewhere that was fairly remote from other institutions, I turned to opportunities to engage online for professional development. Following along with conference hashtags and colleagues’ tweets, I was able to “listen in” on conversations about current trends in the profession, and get intrigued to dig further into articles and resources I would find. Twitter helped bridge the geographic divide to make my digital engagement with other colleagues more accessible, and I began to post and comment on articles. In recognizing how I had benefitted from colleagues live-tweeting from conferences/webinars they were attending, I began this same practice as a way to highlight, process, and reflect on what I was learning.
- The following year, CACUSS was hosted in the Niagara region. I was fresh from moving back to Toronto and I was on the job hunt.
- …and that’s where I met these folks for the first time in person. I attended a pre-conference session where Hamza presented on the use of technology in Student Affairs. At the opening reception, I met Jen for the first time. A friend of mine likes to tease me how I seemed a bit star-struck when Jen mentioned that she recognized me from Twitter and what I posted there. At this reception is where I met or was first introduced to John, Heather and Lesley as well. Of all the colleagues that I connected with at this conference, I felt most connected and welcomed by the Ryerson folks I had met. And I was really happy when Jen advised me at the closing social to keep an eye out for the posting for the Academic Link Facilitator position. Later that summer, I joined Ryerson and began in that position a couple months later.
- So in summary, I feel Twitter can and has been very useful for learning, communication and building community. For me, using Twitter has made a lot of different forms of professional development accessible. It has added a different dimension to participating or experiencing conference, following up on webinars or engaging in chats with colleagues. It’s been a forum where I’m able to research ideas and best practices that folks discuss or share. It has been a powerful communication tool, connecting me with some folks that I might not otherwise ever have the chance to meet in person. Twitter has also facilitated introduction with staff that I have met through the past couple years working in the field.
- Finally, by using Twitter, I’ve found there’s been great opportunities to build community among teams and colleagues in the field. I can draw inspiration from work and personal reflections of colleagues and others I look up to. I can offer encouragement and in turn be encouraged. I can show support for my colleagues’ initiatives, and in turn feel welcome to share my own progress.
- Looking back on the past 3.5 years, I’ve definitely gained more confidence in how I can contribute and engage in our field. It’s an ongoing journey – and maybe instead of finding my voice, it’s been more about finding confidence in the voice that I have, and pride in the voice I can contribute. I acknowledge that Twitter is not everyone’s cup of tea, but for those who are not currently engaged, I encourage you to explore! For those of you who do use it, I encourage you to continue exploring and sharing your thoughts in this forum. You probably have a greater influence and contribution than you realize! I wish you all a wonderful conference!