growing my friends-list twitter and social networking for educators

Growing my Friends-List

Twitter and Social Networking for Educators

About Me

Please shareNameCurrent PositionWhy did you choose my

presentation?

When was the last time you…Discussed educational research?Discussed pedagogy?Shared ideas or advice?Argued over your curriculum?Suggested readings or read

someone else’s?Left your classroom for ideas?

The problem with teaching in South Dakota?Isolation

◦Never leave your room◦Never go into someone else’s◦Only one teaching subject

The problem with teaching in South Dakota?Professional Development

◦Expensive◦Limited Local Options

The SolutionExpand your PLN!?!

What is a PLN/PLP/PLE?

Whatever you call it, it is the people and tools that help you learn new information.

Personal Learning NetworkProfessional Learning NetworkPersonal Learning PlanPersonal Learning Environment

Five Reasons Why Educators Should NetworkAdapted from Tanya Roscorla’s

Post of the same name.1. To learn with others2. To serve your students3. To access a dynamic resource4. To extend your learning base5. To stay engaged in education

Grand total 42 People

Map of My PLN before August 2009

Map of my PLN Today

Over 3,540 Members of EduPLNOver 2,800 members of the AP-Chem List-servOver 2,200 members of the AP-Physics List-servOver 350 people connected to me on Twitter

OVER 8,000Unique Friends

Tools Del.icio.usDistributed ListsTwitterNing

Del.icio.usJust one of many social

bookmarking sites, Digg, StumbleUpon, Mixx,

Use tags to mark websitesSee who else has marked that

websiteSee what other sites they have

marked

http://delicious.com/Mr.Haugen

Mail Distribution ListsGet to know your mail options.

◦Using Rules to pre-sort◦Sort by thread

College Board DiscussionsTeachers.netGoogle for Educators

Twitterhttp://www.commoncraft.com/twitter

Pros•Instantaneous•Conversational•Great Search tools

Cons•Overwhelming• Too Fast• Too many conversations

•A lot of ‘junk’•You miss things when you aren’t onlinehttp://www.twitter.com/JR_Haugen

Tips for Using TwitterAdapted from David Hopkins’s blog Don’t

Waste Your TimeWork out what you want to get out of TwitterMake sure you put some relevant and

interesting information in your Twitter profile

Share and share alike.Look at the people who follow someone in

your network.Don’t be afraid to ‘block’ people who you

don’t think you want following you.Don’t worry about numbers

More Basic TipsRe-Tweet the ideas of others@<username> - respond to others,

have conversationsUse Hashtags

◦#followfriday (#ff)– suggest people to follow

◦#teacher, #principal◦#tie10 – hashtag for this conference◦#edchat – Video

Use groupsSkip the celebrities…

More Advanced TipsUse What the Hashtag? – find out

what the abbreviations meanUse Twitcleaner – Use URL Shortening services

◦Tiny URLUse Desktop applications to

manage Twitter◦Tweetdeck

Who to follow?The founders of #edchat

◦@ShellTerrell◦@tomwhitby◦@web20classroom

@bhsprincipal@MrR0g3rs@irasocol@TeachPaperlessMany more by subject at

http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com/

NingNing is a site where you can build your own Social Network,

like Facebook. Ning is just one of many such tools.

Pros•Great for storage•More moderated•Persistent•Totally self contained

Cons•Ning is converting to a pay service.

http://edupln.ning.com

Imagine…Having someone there for you

when you need it… at any time, any where.

You had access to inexpensive, but powerful professional development

Closing Thought

The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what (awards) he is capable of receiving. The most important motive … in life is the pleasure of working and thereby obtaining results which will serve the community. ~Albert Einstein

ReferencesCassinelli, Colette. "What is a PLN and

Why do I need one?" edtech VISION. Colette Cassinelli, 15 Feb 2010. Web. 14 Apr 2010.

Hopkins, David. "Twitter Tips: for Teachers & Educators." eLearning Blog Don't Waste Your Time. David Hopkins, 09 MAY 2009. Web. 13 Apr 2010.

Roscorla, Tanya. "5 Reasons Why Educators Should Network." Converge Magazine. e.Republic Inc, 22 Jan 2010. Web. 17 Apr 2010.

Attributions – All images used under a Creative Commons License

Slide #1- “Growing A Rope” by Tinkerbrad http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinkerszone/3959793932/

Slide #3 –”Young Tree” by aaron_language http://www.flickr.com/photos/33444346@N05/3976282759/

Slide #19 – ‘holding hands’ by JonathanCohen http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathancohen/4084485753/

Slide # 25 – ‘alpacas’ by lamazone, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lamazone/2567782401/

Alpacas