What is Twitter?

• Check out this explanation of Twitter in Plain English

          

• Or get the low-down on Twitter from its creator, Evan Williams

          

• Rafe Needleman writes about Twitter in his article on CNet titled "Newbie's Guide to Twitter"
• The Basics:

o    Twitter is an online service designed to connect you with a group of friends called “followers” through short (140 character limit) messages. 

o    You select the friends you want to follow.

o    You set your privacy limit for how much others are able to see.

o    Twitter is a way to connect with others, whether they are people you know or people who share a similar interest with you that you meet through the service.

o    “Twitter is useful for close-knit groups. If you follow your friends, and they follow each other, you can quickly communicate group-related items, such as ‘I'm going to the pub on Fourth Street, come on along.’ …If you enter items into Twitter, they can be private, so only friends you've authorized can see them. Items can also be made public, which means anyone who knows your Twitter ID can read and subscribe to them.”

o    And the best part? Twitter is free. 

 

Setting Up An Account: 

• Check out this quick tutorial on setting up your Twitter account:

•  Or, use this handout - How to Set Up a Twitter Account2.doc - developed by Darren Rowse at www.twitip.com/tag/twitter-for-beginners

• Another good resource is the EduCause article titled “7 Things You Should Know About Twitter”

• Liz Davis, a technology blogger and educator, offers these words of advice to teachers using Twitter

 

How to Follow Other Educators:

• Check out this fabulous article titled “Seven Ways to Find Teachers on Twitter.” The article links to some great resources, including

o    Twitter 4 Teachers PB Wiki was started by ed tech specialist Gina Hartman.

o    Educators on Twitter is a Google Docs Spreadsheet started by edublogger Liz B. Davis

o    Twitter for Teachers is a wiki started by Rodd Lucier with the purpose of educating teachers about the use of Twitter as an educational tool and as a professional development tool

o    Jane Hart, founder of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, has compiled a list of nearly 800 educators on Twitter

o    The Twitter search located at the bottom of the Twitter page

• Check out this wonderful resource on how to build your online learning using Twitter: "Using the Power of Twitter: Building Online Learning" 

 

Educators to Follow: 

• Build your PLN by pilfering mine! Check out the people that I follow:
• Here at Haverford

                  o   Jennifer Ward

                  o   Lynn Williams

                  o   Joanne Hayes 

•  Educators in Pennsylvania 

o   Kristin Hokanson is the PAECT Regional Director, Keystone Technology Integrator, Discovery Educator, and Classrooms for the Future Coach for Upper Merion

o   MisterLamb is a math teacher and CFF Coach from Lebanon, PA

o   Dianne Krause is an Instructional Technology Specialist and CFF Coach in Blue Bell, PA

o   Chris Champion is technology teacher in Hershey, PA

o   Lmillershs hails from Sharon, PA, and works as a English teacher and literacy coach in addition to being a CFF coach

o   Anne Van Meter is WhyNot88, and she works as a part-time CFF coach and math/science teacher in our area

o   Nancy Caramanico is the Philadelphia Diocesan Catholic Schools Tech Director K-12

o   Chris Lehmann is the principal of Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy

• Educators Around the World 

o   Will Richardson wrote a really great book titled Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms based on some of his blog posts on Weblogg-ed.  Follow him at willrich45.

o   Robert Hughes in Massachusetts puts together the Twitter page called The Teacher Page which sends out messages containing all sorts of links to lesson plans

o   Have you seen Shift Happens? Well, Karl Fisch put it together

o   With the help of Scott McLeod, a wonderful edublogger at Dangerously Irrelevant

o   Have you ever been on the Web English Teacher website? Carla Beard puts it together

o   David Warlick is a guru when it comes to education and technology.  Check out his book Redefining Literacy 2.0

o   Vicki Davis is the Cool Cat Teacher

o   Silvia Tolisano is langwitches and also writes the blog by the same name

o   Liz Davis sends out great tweets with all sorts of great links

o   Mr. Mayo is a middle school English teacher who has used Twitter with students.

 

Educational Uses for Twitter:

• The blog AcademHacK has a wonderful list of potential uses in the classroom.
• I’m collecting all sorts of ideas for using Twitter in schools.  Follow my list of links on Delicious - http://www.delicious.com/msward/twitter
• Ron Jones put together a great list of uses in his article “Using Twitter as an Educational Tool.”  He mentions educators who have used Twitter to create notes for a conference or even a specific class using hashtags, teach grammar, and even write collaborative stories.

o     “George Mayo, an eighth grade English teacher at Silver Spring International Middle School in Montgomery County, Maryland, recently used Twitter as a tool to collaboratively write a story by his students. Mayo invited his students and students around the world via his Many Voices Twitter account to add to an ongoing story with individual ‘tweets.’ After six weeks and the help of more than 100 students and six different countries, the story was finished… Afterward he made the book available for his students to download for free.”

 

 

Applications for Twitter:

Check out this list of amazing Twitter Apps. Some of the most used applications include  

Twitter Software That You Download to your Desktop

• Twitterific - A downloadable application which can manage multiple accounts, automatically refreshes, and sends audio notifications of new tweets.  Compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
• Twhirl is a popular software that can handle multiple accounts, URL shortening, crossposting to Pownce and Jaiku, post images on Twitpic, and search tweets using twitter search and tweetscan.
• Tweetdeck uses the Adobe AIR application to let you view your replies and public tweets as well as group tweets all at the same time.

Twitter Applications to Add to Your Browser

• Twitbin lets you receive and send tweets at the side of your Firefox browser, while
• Firefox Search Plugin lets you post to Twitter right from your Firefox search bar.
• Power Twitter is a plugin for Firefox that enables photo and video sharing.

Fun Twitter Applications 

• Botanicalls is an application that enables your plants to send you a tweet to let you know when they need to be watered. Yes, you read that correctly.
• Twibes helps you let your followers build their connections by sending out a tweet with a list of your favorite Twitter friends.
• Twubble recommends new people to follow based upon who your existing friends follow.
• WeFollow is a site that helps you find people to follow, and you can add yourself to their directory to help others find you.
• Twapps is a site showcasing the most popular Twitter applications.
• Twtpoll is a simple survey application that lets you create polls and share them with your followers through a short url.
• Tweet-a-Watt is a kit that lets you share your energy usage with your followers.
• TwitPic allows you to share photos on Twitter.
• Twiggit is an automated service that allows your friends on Twitter to see the articles you tagged on Digg.
• TrackThis allows you to track packages.  Expecting something from FedEx? Track it on Twitter!

 

 

Just for fun

 

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