Tag Archives: Twitter

Let Me Tell You About My PLN

Ed. Tech Resources,

I love sharing about how my Personal Learning Network (PLN) has helped me professionally.  It all started when I was comparing Google Sites to Nings as learning communities for work.  I had heard people talk about how they “ask on twitter” so I did…I asked all four of my twitter followers who happened to be my brother, sister, and two of my friends…Obviously, no one responded to my tweet and my skepticism of twitter continued.

Fast forward a couple of months and I’m tasked with teaching twitter to teachers as part of an online communication course.  I stumbled upon this video by Josh Stumpenhorst, A.K.A @stumpteacher.  By watching I learned how to use Twitter AND how to use hashtags!  Here’s the thing, I don’t know Josh and Josh doesn’t know me, but his willingness to share openly online changed the way I learn and connect with others online.

Sue Waters also has a part in this story.  In 2009, she wrote, A Year Later And Are We Using Different Tools to Connect to Our PLNs?  She gave this survey and the results are displayed in the Infographic below.  I was able to use Sue’s research to help me create a PLN Workshop for teachers.

CC (A-SA) by Sue Waters via Flickr

Before I go on, I know people are bummed that Google Reader went away, but I am more bummed that iGoogle went away 🙁

But let me tell you about MY PLN.  I recently created a survey to find out what tools educators are currently using to connect with and learn from other educators…what they use to fuel their PLNs.  I shared the survey via twitter, Google+, and email with my network.  Within a day, I had over 130 responses!

I must share that while I only required responders to indicate which tools they use to connect in the survey, I also asked, Why is being a connected educator important? and most people took the time to answer!  Here is the survey and here are the responses.  I just wish I would have 1) asked people include their name or twitter handle so I could give them credit for their responses and 2) asked for location.

If you are reading this and participated in my survey, Thank you!  And thank you PLN!

PS – If you’re interested in which learning community we went with, we chose Google Sites!

 

 

The Power of the Hashtag

Ed. Tech Resources,

Two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to do a presentation at the Maui Technology Day at Kamehameha Maui Middle School.  My presentation was on using Twitter for Professional Development.  I wanted to demonstrate the power of the Hashtag and in order to do so, I needed a little help from my Personal Learning Network (PLN).  The day before my presentation, I tweeted,

The response was overwhelming.  Not only was my tweet retweeted by @web20classroom himself , but it was retweeted over 100 times!  And that doesn’t include how many people also responded “yes”.  By using the Hashtags #edtech, #edchat, #PLE, and #Learn, my tweet went out to thousands of educators with similar interests.  Without using Hashtags, maybe one of my 80 something followers at the time might have seen my tweet and maybe may have responded.

Twitter has become invaluable to my learning.  I’m no longer limited to learning from educators in my own school, but educators from around the globe without having to leave my office.  I follow people like Steven Anderson, George Couros, and Shelly Terrell to prescreen information for me so I don’t have to.  I use hashtags to stay current on trends in educational technology and to even ask questions to my PLN, who willingly respond and have in turn made my job much more efficient.

Two weeks later, my power of the hashtag tweet is still being retweeted which I am pretty amazed by.  If you’re an educator reading this, believe it or not, other educators do want to know what works for you in education.  Share the tools you are using in the classroom to motivate students.  Use the power of the hashtag  and ask questions to other educators.  Use the 21st century skills your students use every day.  Everything you need to get started, including lists of educational hashtags, can be found right here.

And remember…tweet others as you want to be tweeted 😉

Twitter…Yes? No? Maybe?

Ed. Tech Resources

This post is part of an Online Communication PD Class…

After the Introduction to Twitter Class and reading through the HW assignments…

  1. Can a micro-blogging tool accommodate communication and learning in the classroom?
  2. Will you use twitter as part of you PLN?
  3. What drawbacks can there be in using a tool like this one?
  4. If the tool must fit the purpose, how, when and where will you use this tool as teacher?