Many moons ago, my friend and forever co-conspirator, Jeannie Timken and I created a "20 Day Twitter Challenge" for educators in our district. At the time, we knew a lot of teachers who were interested in growing a Professional Learning Network (PLN) but found Twitter overwhelming. In the same way that instructional scaffolds sometimes break up bigger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, we hoped to create a resource that would help educators practice using social media for professional learning through a series of bite sized challenges. Additionally, we knew that it takes about 20 days to develop a habit. So... we mapped out 20 steps, to be competed over 20 days, in the hopes that by the end of the challenge educators would:
better understand how to use social media to build a PLN, and...
have developed the daily habit of engaging in this type of learning.
I have no idea how many educators in our district and beyond used this tool, but I loved getting tagged in posts from educators as they made their way through the 20 day journey.
Back in November, I shared that, like a lot of people, I'd left Twitter in the hopes of finding a less toxic, more productive alternative for my PLN. At the time, I was exploring both Bluesky and Threads, but have since deleted Threads, preferring Bluesky (for a whole host of reasons). That said, now that I've got a pretty good handle on how to use it for professional learning, I decided to create a 20 Day Bluesky Challenge - to help other educators explore this new social network as a potential tool for professional learning. Whether you've cultivated an existing PLN in other places and are looking to make a change OR you're just beginning to think about social media as a tool for professional learning, I hope you find this tool useful!
As with our original work, this resource was designed to be completed over 20 consecutive days. HOWEVER, there really aren't any rules. If it only takes you 10 days to complete - great! If it takes you 3 months - great! Similarly, while I've designed each task to take around 15-30 minutes, some may only take you a few minutes to complete, while others may end up taking you a bit longer. In short, there's no wrong way to use this - there's only your way. Please use it in the way that works best for you.
Selfishly, I've also created the 20 Day Bluesky Challenge in the hopes that those using it will connect with me along the way. Not only will it make me happy to know people are using it, but I'd love to have you as a part of my PLN.
Finally, for those who are interested, I used genial.ly to create this resource. While I do use a lot of genially templates to create all sorts of games and resources, I built the 20 Day Bluesky Challenge from scratch. That said, genially is free with limited options. I have paid for a pro subscription for years and truly enjoy it. Note: I am not affiliated with genially in any way.
