DIY Professional Development for Lifelong Learners Like You – Part 2: Twitter
Professional development in your district not quite targeted at your needs, wants and desires? I don’t know what I’d do without Twitter. For example I found this thought provoking video via Twitter – FabLab
“…The most remarkable experience I have on Twitter, and it’s right up there with the very best learning experiences I’ve ever had over my lifetime as an educator, an astrophysicist, and a learner, is #edchat. Every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm Eastern Time, I join hundreds of educators from across the planet that get comfortable in front of their computers–a very local and personal experience–and have a global, free-for-all conversation about education. The operation of Twitter as the vehicle for communication quickly recedes into the background, and you enter into a world of rapid-paced vibrant conversations with folks as committed as you to sharing important ideas. You leave with new thoughts, new directions, a reinvigorated sense that the issues of importance to you are also important to others–providing a common bond, and you embrace friends you’ve never met but that you deeply understand….” Read the rest here ==> The Remarkable Power of Twitter: A Water Cooler for the 21st Century by Jeff Goldstein – Director, National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
Usually we think of following people when we think of Twitter but it can also be used to share information about any variety of topics. They key is, Hashtags.
Hashtags provide a way for others who are interested in a particular topic to follow topics rather than each other.
Here’s a brief video about Twitter, how to set it up and why you would want to. Twitter Tutorial
Step 1 – You’ll need a free Twitter account.
Step 2- Search for hashtags that match your interest
Here are some suggestions:
#atplc All about PLC’s
#elemchat Discussions for Elementary education
#mathchat Provides a forum for anyone involved with mathematics
#4thchat Discussions for 4th grade teachers
#edchat The Educator’s Personal Learning Network
Here is a website with many more hashtags Educational Hashtags
Step 3 – You can use a service like TweetDeck to read multiple topics
Step 4 – If you want to follow people here are some you may want to follow: Top 25 Educator Tweeters
Step 5 – Want to go further? The Innovative Educator
60 Inspiring Examples: ” Teachers around the world have found innovative ways to use Twitter as a teaching tool, and we’ve shared many of these great ideas here with you. Read on, and we’ll explore 60 inspiring ways that teachers and students can put Twitter to work in the classroom.”