What is it?
Twitter is a social networking site that allows individuals to share information with each other. Twitter is different from facebook in that you have more control over who you are following. Unlike FaceBook, someone can follow you, but you don't have to follow them. You can also make your Twitter account more private by choosing who can see your tweets.
Twitter is often characterized by a shallow media site that only caters to what people are doing/eating/ watching on TV. This situation can be true; however, Twitter can be a powerful connective tool for people around the world to share valuable information.
Twitter is often characterized by a shallow media site that only caters to what people are doing/eating/ watching on TV. This situation can be true; however, Twitter can be a powerful connective tool for people around the world to share valuable information.
How to use this site
Getting Started:
Go to the site: https://twitter.com/. All you need is an email to sign up for Twitter. Your email and password then become your username and password to log in at later times.
Tweeting and getting followers:
Create a tweet by clicking the little blue bottom on the top right hand corner. A tweet can be 140 characters long and you can add in hashtags, or external links.
An external link could be a URL to a website that you have found and would like to share. A hashtag allows you to track certain words more easily. Look at the example to the left.
Finding the right people can be overwhelming. Start by following friends and colleagues who have the same interests as you, then look at who they follow. All the hot topics in education are discussed on a regular basis: common core,
Project Based Learning, 1:1 education, formative assessment – you name it, it’s on Twitter, discussed by quality, motivated professionals.
Here are a few resources that can help get you started:
Handbook for teachers just starting Twitter: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-23Sf51QwgXTXZZb2g3d2stTzA/edit?pli=1
Here is a list of the top educational hashtags to follow: http://www.teachthought.com/social-media/the-20-most-useful-hashtags-in-education/
Go to the site: https://twitter.com/. All you need is an email to sign up for Twitter. Your email and password then become your username and password to log in at later times.
Tweeting and getting followers:
Create a tweet by clicking the little blue bottom on the top right hand corner. A tweet can be 140 characters long and you can add in hashtags, or external links.
An external link could be a URL to a website that you have found and would like to share. A hashtag allows you to track certain words more easily. Look at the example to the left.
Finding the right people can be overwhelming. Start by following friends and colleagues who have the same interests as you, then look at who they follow. All the hot topics in education are discussed on a regular basis: common core,
Project Based Learning, 1:1 education, formative assessment – you name it, it’s on Twitter, discussed by quality, motivated professionals.
Here are a few resources that can help get you started:
Handbook for teachers just starting Twitter: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-23Sf51QwgXTXZZb2g3d2stTzA/edit?pli=1
Here is a list of the top educational hashtags to follow: http://www.teachthought.com/social-media/the-20-most-useful-hashtags-in-education/
Why you should use this site
For your Professional Development:
- great communication tool to share you neat ideas with other people
- find inspiration from other people
- connect with people around the world without spending a dime!
-
Classroom activities:
- Update students about news events
- Remind students about tests/assignments and so on
- Have students make a post about a topic in class and create a discussion with other people
- track memes: memes are
- Have students connect with the community; for example, have students tweet what they are learning in class and events that members of the community my want to get involved in.
- ask questions
- connect with classrooms around the world
- engage parents
- take a poll
- design your twitter background for Art class
- Create a character and have students role play while talking to each other using Tweets
- great communication tool to share you neat ideas with other people
- find inspiration from other people
- connect with people around the world without spending a dime!
-
Classroom activities:
- Update students about news events
- Remind students about tests/assignments and so on
- Have students make a post about a topic in class and create a discussion with other people
- track memes: memes are
- Have students connect with the community; for example, have students tweet what they are learning in class and events that members of the community my want to get involved in.
- ask questions
- connect with classrooms around the world
- engage parents
- take a poll
- design your twitter background for Art class
- Create a character and have students role play while talking to each other using Tweets
Possible disadvantages and how to overcome them
You are following too many people and feel overwhelmed with information.
At first the trick is to find people and hashtags to follow. After a while you could be following many people and the information can be overwhelming. What you should do is delete the followers that you rarely use. Create a list of people that is small but effective to follow and the information flow will be more focused.
I don't have enough time for Twitter.
Spending time on social media sites every day can take up a lot of time. However, you DO NOT need to spend every waking moment on Twitter to get use from it. You could spend 10 minutes every week to read one article that was Tweeted. In one year you will have read 52 articles! That is 52 articles you probably would not have read before.
At first the trick is to find people and hashtags to follow. After a while you could be following many people and the information can be overwhelming. What you should do is delete the followers that you rarely use. Create a list of people that is small but effective to follow and the information flow will be more focused.
I don't have enough time for Twitter.
Spending time on social media sites every day can take up a lot of time. However, you DO NOT need to spend every waking moment on Twitter to get use from it. You could spend 10 minutes every week to read one article that was Tweeted. In one year you will have read 52 articles! That is 52 articles you probably would not have read before.
Resources
"#michED | Connecting educators and students across Michigan." #michED | Connecting educators and students across Michigan. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://miched.net/>.
site, using this, and please do not use this site.. "50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom | TeachHUB." Home : Ed News, Free Lessons &
Teacher Resources | TeachHUB. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom>.
"The 20 Top #hashtags In Education." TeachThought - Learn better.. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.teachthought.com/social-media/the-20-most-useful-hashtags-in-education/>.
Thank you to Jared Heidinger, a teacher at Winston Churchill, for helping me discover the potentials of Twitter and find some amazing resources for this website!
site, using this, and please do not use this site.. "50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom | TeachHUB." Home : Ed News, Free Lessons &
Teacher Resources | TeachHUB. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom>.
"The 20 Top #hashtags In Education." TeachThought - Learn better.. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.teachthought.com/social-media/the-20-most-useful-hashtags-in-education/>.
Thank you to Jared Heidinger, a teacher at Winston Churchill, for helping me discover the potentials of Twitter and find some amazing resources for this website!