Northern Adelaide Regional Office. The Twitteraholic’s Ultimate Guide to tweets, hashtags, and all things Twitter. Most educators who learn to use Twitter effectively say they learn more from their personal learning network (PLN) on Twitter than they’ve achieved from any other forms of professional development or personal learning. Unfortunately educators often dismiss Twitter, or fail to see the value of Twitter, when they’re first introduced to Twitter.
Our aim of this post is to provide all the information you need to learn how to use Twitter effectively as an educator. We regularly update this post with new information. This post was last updated Oct, 2013. Click on a link below to go to the section you want to read: About the Twitter-a-holic’s Ultimate Guide The original Twitter-a-holic’s Guide was published in July, 2010 when I’d just returned from attending a large conference overseas and realized that while a conference can make you feel really overwhelmed and alone — especially amongst the 13,000 ed tech professionals participants who attend it each year — I never felt alone.
Why? Back to Top 1. Twenty Second Twitter Stories - Crowd Sourced Twitter Guide For Teachers. From Twitter to Techie Brekkies to TeachMeets | Techie Brekkie. You’ll Never Walk Alone……..building a professional learning network with Twitter. Teachers can gain so much from colleagues working beside them - teaching tips, strategy suggestions, resource ideas, planning pointers and simply the support of another professional in talking through issues or sharing experiences from day to day. Most often these colleagues might be co-workers within the same school. But in some schools there may only be a small staff, there may be no other colleagues teaching similar ages or curricular areas for the same age-group. And, of course, in the busy day to day life of schools the time when you have opportunity to reflect on what you are trying to do, or to ask advice, or to look for resources on an unfamiliar topic, will be when you are finished for the day and are at home preparing for the next day on your own.
A tool which makes building a personal learning network very easy is Twitter. Pernille Ripp has created a short video explaining what Twitter has meant for many teachers around the world. Who To Follow in Twitter. Apps and Diigo - #CEGSA2012. #WhyNetworksMatter. Twitter Session (George Couros) Why Social Networks Matter in Teaching.
The question posed by Dr. Alec Couros is “Why do (social) networks matter in teaching & learning?” The positive benefits of the accumulation of ideas and projects in whatever format--Pinterest, Edmodo, Sharemylesson--do matter to teaching. Perhaps, though, these deserve a different category or title? We can opt to interact or not. Maybe the question would work better as "Why do social networks matter to teachers and learners? " Twitter chats or Google Hangouts, in their synchronous functioning are not unlike just getting together in a F2F group after school or a "teacher happy hour". Finally, what really seems to stand out to me is the joy of finding like-minded educators and thinkers (ASCD, Edutopia).
"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. In my relatively cold online world, I find a warm sense of belonging. What My PLN Means to Me #whynetworksmatter. A PLN isn't a new concept. For years, teachers have had friends, family, and neighbors who helped them grow professionally. Before Twitter, we had stoops and back porches. We had clubs and groups that actually met in person. We had chats that didn't require hash tags. I know that face-to-face networks seem more authentic. It's for this reason that I feel grateful for my online personal learning network. When I yelled at a student and felt like quitting my job, I couldn't share the moment in the staff lounge. Over the years, this network has felt more like a real community. I have Skyped and Hungout with Russ, Matt, Jeremy and others who were once an avatar on my screen And I hung out in person with Patrick, Dean, Angela, Joan and others at the Blogger's Cafe at ISTE - or, in the case of Jeff, hung out with someone local who I never managed to meet in Phoenix.
I've joked around with made-up hash tags (#pencilchat #rockstarteacher). On some level, it's been personal. What should a networked educational leader tweet about?
Currents of my river...: With my PLN; I am. With my PLN; I am more supported, more able, better inspired, affirmed, engaged and connected. I value my PLN immensely. I am enriched because of my PLN. Having known a PLN; I don't think I could continue working effectively without one! What about you? There is much discussion around the why's of a PLN. My response? Why not? Just the same as having a car without a trusted mechanic OR a petrol station to fill your car up. Why wouldn't you be without one? The beauty about this, lies in taking responsibility and "owning" our professional growth.
Most professional learning networks might look like this: YOU, your immediate colleagues at your sole place of work, your heads of department and leadership team; perhaps the odd people you may meet at the occasional conference; that you may or may not keep in contact with. With web 2.0 tools, our PLN now has the capacity to stretch across the globe and be as interactive and supportive as YOU allow it to be. Web 2.0 tools used to grow my PLN: IN short:
5 Tips for Teachers Getting Started on Twitter « About Teaching. Teachers – The 10 Stages of Twitter. Stage 1 Sign up to twitter following persuasion/pestering by colleagues. Follow Stephen Fry, a famous sportsman/popstar and a news channel. Read a few tweets, don’t understand what the fuss is about and mock anyone who uses twitter. Stage 2 Overhear colleagues chatting about twitter and a great article they found. Promise to give it a go again and follow two or three recommendations. Stage 3 Think about posting first tweet. Stage 4 Upon realising you have no followers ask colleagues how to get them? Stage 5 Have a mini twitter conversation with colleague, even retweet a couple of statements.
Stage 6 Practise a couple of tweets that include @names and hashtags. Stage 7 Retweet any link you find interesting as people might read them. Stage 8 Thank colleagues for introducing you to twitter, impressed with the knowledge you have gleaned and your growing number of followers. Stage 9 Reflect that twitter is an incredibly positive place and everyone is full of praise. Like this: Like Loading... Twitter for Professional Learning.