Exploring+Twitter-+21st+Century+Texts

**Why even consider Twitter in a professional development setting?** // Most people who hear about Twitter for the first or second (or third) time just can’t understand what all the fuss is about. It seems silly—who would want to read something like “Oh gosh, the baby just threw up on me!” or “Little Johnny just hit a home run!”? Nice to know, but it’s not compelling content that will have anyone coming back for more... //

// ...most of the educators we’re connected to on Twitter will tell you it’s one of their primary forms of DIYPD. In fact, these days it’s where most educators seem to start when building their networks. Part of it is ease of use, but a bigger part may be that the 140-character limit creates an opportunity to participate without putting too much of yourself out there. How dangerous can it be to send out links to high-quality reading that others might find interesting and learn from, even if your name is attached to it? Answer: not very. Once you get the hang of how to start connecting with other Twitterers, your networks can grow very quickly. Tens of millions of people now have active Twitter accounts, and thousands of educators of all stripes are participating there as well. (Richardson, Mancabelli, Kindle location 1056) //

=Activity: =

 Use the links below to skim [|twitter.com].  What do you notice? Before you get started, you might watch this short screencast video to support you.

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Explore the following hashtags and users, remembering to think about our reflection questions.

Hashtags [|#STEM] = A conversation about science, technology, engineering and mathematics in education

[| #engchat] = A conversation between English teachers sharing ideas and resources.

[| #edtech] = A conversation about technology in education

[| #edchat] = Educators discussing trends in education and best practices

[| #cpchat] = “Connec ted Princip als” - A hashtag about education leadership, technology in schools and network learning. PLEs and PLNs

[|#spedchat] = A conversation among educators discussing issues and trends in special education

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[|#edapps] = A conversation to recommend and discuss apps for education

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[|#iPadchat] = A conversation about iPads, generally tied to their use in education

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A few to follow =

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|@CarolJago] - NCTE past president and author. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|@edutopia] - The George Lucas Education Foundation <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[| @web2.0classroom]- Steven W. Anderson, co-founder of #edchat. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|@englishcomp] - Jim Burke, author of The English Teacher’s Companion and organizer of ECNing. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[|@dmlcentral] - Digital media and learning research hub.

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|@L_Hilt] - Lyn Hilt, a principal in rural Pennsylvania whose work with social media learning was featured in the book [|Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education], by Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli.

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">An Extension: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|An NPR article about tweeting in high schools] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|An Edutopia article about using Twitter to grow a professional learning network] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Resources: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Richardson, Will; Mancabelli, Rob (2011-05-01). //Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education// (p. 40). Ingram Distribution. Kindle Edition.