Can Tweeting Help Your Teaching?

So, what are you doing? If you’re one of the 3 million people on Twitter, you are likely inclined to tell whoever cares right now, in 140 characters or fewer (or, about the length of this paragraph). Twitter, on the small chance that you don’t know, is the free micro-blogging service that enables users to post short messages, or Tweets, that are delivered to friends, enemies, family, colleagues -- anyone who has subscribed. These are your followers. You may have one, several, or, if you’re Ashton Kutcher, 2 million. With its enormous popularity, Twitter has invited dopey hyperbole (Time magazine went all in with a recent cover story) and snide cracks (“Who cares that I just ate a tasty corned beef sandwich?”) But before you write off Twitter as just the latest social media “fad,” take a look at how some clever educators are using it to enrich their classrooms and even forge informal professional networks. But what about the much-ballyhooed decline of the American attention span?

TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers Resources Other TeachersFirst Special Topics Collections Twitter is more than just a way to share meaningless tweets about your breakfast cereal or the traffic on the way to school. Who has time for that? For teachers, Twitter can be a powerful tool for professional development via quick sharing with peers and colleagues whom you may or may not know face to face. Twitter can also be an effective way to communicate from your class to other classrooms around the globe. You do not have to know everything about Twitter to get started. Hashtags (those funny looking things with a #pound sign at the start) are a way of indicating that a tweet pertains to a certain topic or a certain interest group/event.

Summer PD: Use a Web Site to Help Manage Your Classroom Many view classroom management as how a teacher runs the day-to-day operations of the class. In the 21st century, classroom management goes beyond the classroom walls. To keep students working and focused on the tasks at hand, a Web site can be utilized to make class time more efficient. Making Up for Lost Time In the old days (read: pre-Internet), students who missed class would come to the teacher and ask for missed homework sheets or other assignments that might have been passed back while they were gone. A teacher might then spend time directing students to the folder or making copies for the number of students that were missing. Think of the discussions that could have been had with all that extra time. Resource for Missed Materials Fortunately, the Web provides a much better way to manage class time, and my life became much easier with the creation of my class Web site. All assignments are posted on the site with links to all handouts. Live Blogging Increases Student Engagement

33 Education Twitter Accounts You Should Be Following Whether you want to learn a bit about early childhood development and education or you’re preparing to dive in for a full-fledged career in education, it’s a good idea to have a resource for inspiration and news. Below, we have compiled a list of 33 education Twitter accounts. These accounts showcase bloggers, government officials and organizations, schools and teachers who make up the world of education, and in-turn, should give you a great picture of what working in education is like. If 33 accounts sounds like too many to sort through, don’t worry - we’ve created a short bio for each person on our list to give you more context of who they are, why we included them and what kind of tweets you can expect from them. You’ll notice that we have organized the list into categories for quicker navigation. All right, you’re all set – ready, set, tweet! Categories Administrators, researchers and teachers Education bloggers Policymakers, government and education organizations 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Classroom -- Campus Technology Social Media | Feature Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Classroom By Karen Lederer01/19/12 There’s an ongoing debate about the role social media should play in education. Advocates point out the benefits that social media provides for today's digital learners while critics call for regulation and for removing social media from classrooms. Finding a middle ground has become a challenge. As an educational tool, social media enriches the learning experience by allowing students and teachers to connect and interact in new, exciting ways. Despite these benefits, critics argue that there are serious risks to using social media in the classroom. Educational Tool Today’s students arrive on campus, fluent in Web and social networking technologies. Enhance Student Engagement Social media is an effective way to increase student engagement and build better communication skills.