Twitter





Twitter is a communication tool that allows participants to provide updates in 140 characters or less. 10,000s of educators from across the world use Twitter. Every week discussions occur in real-time on a variety of topics. Users follow the discussions using hashtags. A hashtag is identified by the "#" sign.

There are numerous hashtags that may interest you. Here are just a few:
 * 1) edchat- A weekly discussion (2x on Tuesday) on a participant chosen topic.
 * 2) edtech- A hashtag used by educational technology enthusiasts
 * 3) EduIT- A hashtag for Educational IT specialists
 * 4) BlackEd-A weekly converation about serving the underrepresented and overcoming the opportunity gap.
 * 5) newlit - A hashtag used by educators discussing issues in new literacies.


 * You can follow this conference using #NLI10.**

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Activity: 1. Create a Twitter Account. 2. Choose an #edchat [|transcrip]t to quickly read. 3. Send a tweet using the #NLTI10 describing the professional development you see during #edchat.



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A professional learning network (PLN) is a group of educators spread across the globe. Twitter is a great way to build your PLN.

There are many ways to build your PLN.
 * 1) Follow a conference. You cannot attend. Many people include links to their session materials. There is always a classroom discussion going on. For example follow #ISTE10.
 * 2) Follow other educators. Spend 20% of your time describing your work. Spend 80% of time sharing work of others.
 * 3) Retweet posts from the blogs you read.
 * 4) Have Fun.

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There are many benefits to using social media such as Twitter in the classroom: 1. Increase student engagment. 2. Create an easy to assess digital archive. 3. Model what good readers/writers do. 4. Prepare students for 21st century collaborative communication.

Activity: 1. Search the Internet for learning activities that use Twitter in your content area. 2. Post a link to your source to Twitter using #NLI10 hashtag. 3. Find a partner on Twitter who teaches in your same content area. 4.Develop a new learning activity together. Post it to twitter using #NLI10 hashtag



[|TweetDeck]-A program that helps you aggregate tweets. It makes Twitter more effective and easier to use. [|Educatonal HashTags]-A list of weekly Twitter chats for educators. [|Educators PLN] -A Ning social network for educators around the world. Includes an #edchat group. [|25 Ways to Use Twitter in School]- A Great list full of activities. [|Defining #edchat] -An article on TEFL.net intervieng an #edchat founder. [|Twitter and Engagement]- A great post on mashable. [|10 Useful Resources]-A great post from Jayne Knight. [|Top Twitter Tools for Educatiors]
 * Interesting Links**

[|Twitter Resources] [|Twitter in the classroom]
 * Tutorials**