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So, what’s all the hubbub about Twitter anyway? You may have seen a Twitter Feed on a website and wondered what it was all about. Maybe you feel as if you just don’t need it. Let me reassure you that, as an educator, you DO need Twitter.
Twitter provides a wonderful and rich Personal Learning Network (PLN) that is unparalleled. Where else can you meet up with people from all over the world who have an incredible amount of knowledge that you can use to improve your craft? Where else can you pose a question to an infinite number of people and receive responses almost immediately? Where else can you meet others that are experts in the things you are interested in without spending a cent?
So, here are a few tips for you:
- It’s perfectly fine to “lurk” around on Twitter without ever posting anything. Just absorb!
- A hashtag (#) is merely a way to find thing in a category. Some of my favorite categories to search are #education - #wcpss - and whatever event I am attending. If you attend a conference, people use the # and a shorthand so you can see what people post about that conference. For example: Last week at NCTIES in Raleigh, the hashtag was #ncties15. Just type one of those in the search box on Twitter and do some reading!
- Professional Development courses are using Twitter chats more and more. Here are a few to hop in on: 13 Great Twitter Chats Every Educator Should Check Out
- You don’t have to tweet, but it can be very engaging if you do!
1 Page Twitter Guide