Thing 9: Twitter

Welcome to Thing 9!

I debated about whether or not to include Twitter among the "Things" in the program. I believe so strongly in Twitter's professional educational value, however, that I feel like I would be remiss not to include it! If you are skeptical, all I ask is that you set aside those feelings, and approach Twitter with an open mind. You may not be convinced by the end of this "Thing", but hopefully you'll have learned a little bit more about this tool that is considered by many educators (myself included) to be one of the most powerful and effective professional development and networking tools out there.  After all, according to the recent article "Educators Dominate the Twitter Sphere", over 4 million tweets related to education are posted every day!

First, a cool video from an Illinois school district which encourages Twitter use among its teachers:

Next, I created a series of four "All About Twitter" videos that will provide more detailed information about how Twitter works.

Video 1: "Intro to Twitter"



Video 2: "Anatomy of a Tweet"



Video 3: "Hashtags"



Video 4: "Managing Twitter With Apps"

Finally, a few more articles about Twitter and education:

• "The Twitteraholic's Ultimate Guide to Tweets, Hashtags and All Things Twitter"
• "Twitter EDU"
• "10 Ways Twitter Makes Me a Better Educator"
• "What Should a Networked Educational Leader Tweet About?" (good advice for all educators!)
• "How to Decode a Tweet"
• "Is It Sharing or Bragging? Educators Struggle With the Topic of Humility"
• "Twitter for Technophobes"
• "Twitter Resources, Apps and Tools" on Pinterest
• "Twitter for Educators" on Pinterest

TO COMPLETE THING 9:

• If you are new to Twitter, watch the videos posted above. If you already use Twitter, watch at least the first TWO videos ("Twitter in D123" and "Intro to Twitter")
• Browse the articles posted above. The first four are especially helpful.
• If you are new to Twitter, sign up for a free account. (***You can sign up for Twitter even if you do not want to tweet. You can make your account completely anonymous if you prefer by choosing a name and "handle" that do not use your real name. Having an account will allow you to explore hashtags, find other users, and see how people are using Twitter professionally.)
• Set up and personalize your profile. Include a picture and short statement about yourself. (***Recommended, but not required.)
• Follow at least 10 people. (@aliciaduell, @ISManilaHS, @LearningES, @LearningCoISM are a few suggestions!) Here are some more ideas: http://www.teachthought.com/social-media/10-educators-on-twitter-you-should-follow/,   http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/top-15-educators-on-twitter.shtml (***Recommended, but not required.)
• Explore some hashtags. See the "Hashtag" video above! http://www.teachthought.com/twitter-hashtags-for-teacher/,   http://www.cybraryman.com/edhashtags.html
• Try tweeting, re-tweeting, favoriting, labeling a tweet with a hashtag, mentioning someone in a tweet, etc. (***Recommended, but not required.)
• Optional: Create a TweetDeck or HootSuite account.
• In your "Thing 9: Twitter" blog post, reflect on your experience with Twitter. If you have a Twitter account that you wish to share, include your Twitter "handle" in your post. What are your thoughts about using Twitter professionally? Did you use it prior to the program? Did you try out TweetDeck or HootSuite? Do you think you'll continue to use Twitter professionally?