Twitter for Educators:Why Start Now?

Education Undergraduate Society

Kurtis HewsonUniversity of Lethbridge

@hewsonk27

Join the conversation at #edteach

Additional Resources

• http://kurtishewson.wordpress.com– Related additional resources and further

information

• Twitter for Pre-Service Teachers– Scoop.It page with resources, videos and other

things related to Twitter

• http://edteachchat.wordpress.com – Bi-weekly Twitter chat for pre-service teachers –

follow the website or get involved

Tweeters in the Room

Essential Questions

• Why start now?• How do I start an account?• What are some basic terms/features to know• What are some ways I can get started

Tweeting?• What are hashtags?• What are chats?• What are Twitter Clients?

Why Start Now

• Establish a network (PLN) of other educators and supports prior to entering your first classroom

• Find information fast and keep current of trends and resources

• Develop and strengthen technology skills

• Network – open doors to connections and possible contacts

Why Twitter?

Sharing from Tweeters in the room…

Starting an Account

• Go to http://twitter.com

• Consider:• Choose your name wisely – consider your “brand”

for a uniform on-line presence• Complete your profile, including a blog address• Include profile details that will be informative to

other professionals and capture you as a professional

• Begin tweeting and following others

Some basics

RT – Retweet (passing along someone else’s tweet) – shares with an increasing circle of followers @ – Reply (references the initial author

or directly sends the tweet to another user (but seen by all followers)

Shortened URL – used to shorten long url’s (Twitter Clients do this automatically, or go to https://bitly.com)

# – Hashtag (posts the tweet on a list that many more people may follow) – distributes the tweet to a larger, often particular audience

Direct Message – same as an email to a Twitter follower – only seen by the message recipient

What Should I Tweet?

• Retweet others (great way to start)• Links/resources that you find valuable• Blog posts you’ve created• Comments on other posts/resources• Interesting quotes• During presentations• Questions you have• Insights you have• Thanks to those that follow

Hashtags

• Great way to follow a topic or get a tweet out to a wider audience

• Will begin to observe frequently used or useful hashtags– #edteach, #abed, #edchat, #ntchat

• Great for creating a conversation/backchannel

• Used for chats

Chats

• Utilize hashtags

• Formal chats scheduled on pre-determined topics (list on the blog)

• Can view past chats online

• Can “participate” or just observe

• #edteach – every other Tuesday, 6 pm MST

• #ntchat – Wednesday, 6 pm MST

• Establish your own chats

Twitter Clients

• Make it easy to utilize Twitter on your desktop or mobile device

• View multiple social media platforms

Next Steps

• Moderate a Twitter chat - #edteach

• Utilize Twitter with your hand-held device

• Use a Twitter client to follow hashtags

• Pictures/exemplars

• Begin building lists

• Suggest who to follow - #ff

• Connect your online presence

Questions and Further Support

• Questions??

• http://kurtishewson.wordpress.com

• Follow me @hewsonk27

• List of U of L Education students– @hewsonk27/u-of-l-education-students