Get on Twitter for PD 4

[icon name="fa-cloud-upload"] STANDARD 3: model digital age work and learning

Why Twitter?

When I first started on Twitter I was in Japan, and was interested in other ways to keep in touch with friends and family back home. My family and friends were not posting and I dropped it for a while. Fast forward a few years and a colleague showed me about the power of the Twitter educational community.

As with other social media, you can choose who to follow. Unlike some social media sites, you do not have to ask to follow someone, and you do not have to follow someone who follows you. This allows you to only follow those who really interest you, and keeps clutter down.

How do I sign up for Twitter?

1. Go to Twitter.com and fill in the sign up sheet.
2. Choose a username. Think of something easy and short. Many people use their names or some variation of it. See below for examples of some usernames.
3. During the signup process, you will be asked for your cell phone number. They will text you the verification code.
   You have to chose some people to initially follow. These people can be removed later if you want.
4. Go to your settings and make sure your Tweets are not protected. That way anyone can see them.

Who to follow on Twitter?

To follow others: type their name, or @username into the search field at the top of the website.

Get on Twitter for PD

A few teachers at KAS on Twitter are:

• Terea Marcum (@ms_marcum)
• Victor Boulanger (@VictorBoulanger)
• Pete Rock (@petrock) ← Nomination for best Twitter username ever. Short, memorable, relevant.
• Bob Oddo (@rooddo)
• Jen GIlbert (@jenngilib)
• Jessica Faivre (@JessicaFaivre)
• TW Williamson (@tww00)
• Natalie Rector (@wilylibrarian)
• Amanda Barrow (@AmandaLBarrow)
• Lulu (@lchen2015)
• Me, Tom Hammerlund (@thammerlund)

Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler) put together a nice list of teachers on Twitter all organized by the subject they teach.
http://bit.ly/twittereducatorsbyalice

An Ending Note

Try it out and see how it goes for a while. Like anything, it takes practice to get used to. Begin by lurking — or just watching — to see how conversations happen. When you see something you have an opinion about, jump into the conversation and add your thoughts.

Other Social Media?

I wrote about Twitter because I happen to use it, but my point is that we can use social media to leverage knowledge of the masses on the internet. This can be done with any type of social media or forum, but it does not just happen.

Tom @thammerlund