Twitter as a Curation Tool I have written and spoken extensively about the use of Twitter in education: In addition to the above mentioned uses of Twitter, I am increasingly becoming aware of the importance of Twitter as a CURATION tool for me. The term “curation” in itself has become quite popular recently. Mike Fisher has blogged about curation and what it means versus the concept of collection. Collecting is what kids do when asked to find resources for a particular topic. Mike created the following image to point out the continuum from collecting to curating The stages and progression of using Twitter as a mere consumption tool of collected information (by others) to curating information, adding value with additional perspectives, connections, resources or interpretation, the platform of Twitter as a potential tool for curation becomes evident. There are different sides to Twitter as a Curation tool: Download Twitter as a Curation Tool as a pdf file. Ex Follow #hashtags of topics or groups. Ex.
Twitter for Researchers guide At my institution we’re really stepping up our support for researchers, and I’ve been doing a lot of stuff around the Web 2.0 end of the spectrum. I’m running a suit of workshops called Becoming a Networked Researcher, and I’ve been into departments to give taster presentations like this one: We’ve also finally completed a guide to using Twitter for Researchers. It’s more a Twitter for Researchers actually, rather than the process of academic research itself (although that is possible). The guide took a surprisingly long time to do – the difference between knowing stuff and actually writing an ideal version of it down in a document never ceases to disappoint me… Adding examples took a while too. Anyhow, here it is – feel free to use stuff from it, with attribution:
How Twitter has made me a New Teacher « Dukelyer TwitterThe other day I managed to pass a couple of Twitter milestones, 500 followers and 3000 tweets, and I made me really stop and think about how this thing that many of us use named Twitter has affected my life and my passion for teaching . I teach at a steadily growing, but really still small, country school in the lower middle of the South Island of New Zealand. The closest town is 20 minutes away and has a standing population 4-5 thousand people year round. Then I grabbed an opportunity to travel to an EXPO in Dunedin where I met up with a teacher who I had met the past year and he was Tweeting. It lay dormant for a few months and it took me many tries to even remember the password and username, but after seeing two passionate, knowledgeable and enthusiastic teachers mention Twitter and a PLN as part of their success I new that I had to give it a go and have not looked back since. Thank you Twitter PN: 13 hours later I have to add one more photo. Like this: Like Loading...
How to Use Twitter to Grow Your PLN For many people, Twitter conjures up the worst of the internet: disjointed, meaningless phrases, unrecognizable abbreviations, and endless drivel about where someone's getting their double mocha today. So, Why Tweet?!?! For the inquisitive educator, there are some jewels herein that can lead to stimulating discussions, new resources, and an ongoing supportive network. To that end, here is a list of educationally focused chats that we recommend (listed by day): Chat for educators teaching 4th grade #4thchat Mondays 8pm ET/5pm PT/7pm CT Chat for educators teaching social studies #sschat Mondays 7pm ET/4pm PT/6pm CT Chat for music educators #musedchat Mondays 8pm ET/5pm PT Chat for ELL educators #ellchat Mondays 9pm ET/6pm PT Kindergarten Chat #kinderchat Mondays 9pm ET/6pm PT General education chat #edchat Tuesdays 12 noon ET/ 9am PT 7pm ET/4pm PT Chat for science educators #scichat Tuesdays 9pm ET/6pm PT Chat for new and pre-service teachers #ntchat Wednesdays 8pm ET/5pm PT Set up an account
Mom This is How Twitter Works Twitter for Professional Development One of best and worst things about teaching today is the unbelievably unfathomable amount of online resources, tools, websites, lesson plans, and overall good stuff for teaching and learning. However, there are only so many hours and minutes in the day to spend researching and finding resources that are relevant to your life as a teacher. How do you keep up with it all? There is nothing better than having a good group of “goto” people that you can turn to with questions about resources, bounce ideas off of for lessons and projects, and collaborate with on a regular basis. Twitter to the rescue! In addition to just following educators and others with the same interests as you, there are several different hashtags that you can follow that revolve around the educational realm.
22 Ways To Use Twitter For Learning Based On Bloom's Taxonomy Last year we created a “twitter spectrum,” an image that clarified different ways that twitter could be used in the classroom in (hopefully) authentic ways. TeachBytes has followed that up with an excellent graphic of their own that uses a pure Bloom’s Taxonomy approach. The specific ideas range from “remix trending tweets with video and music” to creating concept maps showing the relationship between tweets. We must admit to going back and forth over the exact fit of a social media platform like twitter in a formal (or informal) learning environment. Clearly it’s a great way to skim and monitor information streams, but just like we wouldn’t use sing Shakespearean sonnets to toddlers at birthday parties, using twitter as an in-depth critical thinking tool requires a bit of squinting, even as an Avante-garde 21st century learning tool. Unless you’re using it as a cultural survey of sorts. As with all things, sweet spot matters.
Five-Minute Film Festival: Twitter in Education I think it's fair to say that Twitter can no longer be dismissed as a trivial passing fad. Though I had dabbled with a personal account, my entire opinion changed when I started my @VideoAmy account and dove in to the conversations educators were engaged in. While some people certainly do tweet about what they're having for breakfast, teachers, administrators, and educational organizations use Twitter in a whole different way -- making smart use of those 140 characters to share resources, wisdom, and inspiration. With the wealth of information out there, you have to cut through the noise a little to figure out how it will work best for you.
How to Make a Class Backchannel | Democratizing Knowledge Yesterday I posted a “Twitter Matrix” for education, which generated a fair amount of buzz in the micro-blogging world. A few people sent me messages asking if I could explain how I make my class backchannel, so here goes. First of all, I think of the backchannel as the conversation that might otherwise normally happen in class within students’ minds, or between each other. Here are two ways that I have used Twitter as a backchannel: 1. An advantage to this common account is anonymity – it’s impossible to know who posted since we’re all using the same acct. Creating a common class account is easy. 2. In my class, I ask all my students to create an “academic” Twitter account, (they may not wish to share a personal account with class, if they have one) and then each unit I choose a hashtag that we can all use to post comments and questions (ex. By using these public hashtags, we also involve people outside our class who may have common interests.
Free Twitter Posters For Your Classroom Featured Post What it is: I am a fan of everything PBS does, recently I ran across this gem while looking for some activities that help students learn about habitats. Draw that Habitat is SO much more engaging than most of the “match the animal to the correct habitat” lower level thinking “games” (if you can call them that) that are out there. In Draw that Habitat, students are introduced to imaginary animals. They are briefed on the animal and its needs and are then given drawing tools to create a habitat. Each month a new imaginary animal is introduced.
10 Ways Teachers Can Use Twitter for Professional Development This is our third consecutive post on Twitter. Now that you have a roadmap on how to use Twitter in your classroom and after you have identified with the different educational hashtags you need to follow as a teacher, let us share with you some ideas on how to leverage the power of this social platform for professional development purposes. Talking about using social networking to grow professionally brings to mind LinkedIn. This is an undeniably powerful network that is more professionally focused ( you can read more about the educational uses of LinkedIn HERE ) but Twitter has also its own attraction that we can not ignore. 1- Create a strong profile page The first thing to do is to let people know about you and your interests. 2- Keep your profile professional One of the mistakes some teachers do is that they create one account and share everything in it. 3- Proper use of etiquette As an educator , etiquette should not be an issue at all.
Using Twitter for Professional Development The term “professional development” conjures up thoughts of travel, conference fees, arranging substitutes, and loss of precious instructional time. But does it have to entail all that? Actually, no. If you aren’t yet familiar with Twitter, it’s a social networking platform where users share everything from what they had for breakfast to professional dilemmas – all in 140 characters or less. Educators on Twitter often discuss what’s working in their classrooms and how they’ve addressed important issues – much like you might with your peers. The Virtual Watercooler Colleagues are a greatly underutilized professional development resource within the school building, and staff often remark about the benefits of setting aside time for collaboration with co-workers. Making professional connections via social networking can not only result in a lot of great sharing of ideas and resources, but also combat the sense of isolation that many teachers experience. Hesitant to get started? Experts Say…
6 Twitter Tips That Will Jumpstart Your Professional Development Twitter may seem, in many ways, to be old news. We’ve written too many posts to count about how to employ Twitter in your classroom. Many educators have found that Twitter is a great tool to help increase participation, battle shyness in the classroom, and continue to engage students once they’ve left the classroom. Many of the mainstays of “How To Use Twitter in Education” remain true regardless of whether you’re using Twitter in your classroom or in your personal life – especially the ideas surrounding being a real human being with multifaceted opinions and interests. But something about the infographic below made my thoughts veer more towards professional development than use in the classroom. Though we usually talk about ideas for using Twitter at school, it can also be a really useful tool for your own professional development.