twitter for professional connection and growth
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Twitter for Professional Connection & Growth
Presentation for Region 13 ESC Strategic Initiatives Team November 5, 2013
Sandy Kendell @EdTechSandyK
http://edtechsandyk.blogspot.com
• District Educational Tech Specialist from Central Texas
• Bachelors in Elementary Ed
• Masters in EdTech Leadership
• 20 Years Experience in K-12 Education
• Very active on Twitter and passionate about social media for professional learning!
About Sandy...
Photo by Virgil McCullough, SXSWedu
Key #1: Hatch the Egg & Fill Out Your Profile! http://edtechsandyk.blogspot.com/2013/06/grow-
your-twitter-network-with-spiffed.html
Keys to Building Your Network
Key #2: Search for & Follow People & Organizations You Already Trust
Hint: Watch whom they re-tweet!
Check them out!
Keys to Building Your Network
Key #3: Manage Your Followers and Whom You Follow
● Investigate people who follow you to see if they would add value
to your stream & follow them back.
● Don’t follow everyone who follows you.
○ Block spammers, pornos, & folks you can’t figure out.
● Don’t be afraid to unfollow people
later if they are not adding
valuable information to your
stream.
Keys to Building Your Network
Key #4: #Hashtags! #Hashtags! #Hashtags!
• A hashtag looks like this: #onlinelearning • Tweeps use hashtags to “categorize” their Tweets • 20 Most Useful Hashtags in Education
http://www.teachthought.com/social-media/the-20-most-useful-hashtags-
in-education/
Keys to Building Your Network
Video: Hashtags in 60 Seconds
More About #Hashtags
All About Twitter Hashtags - Best explanation of hashtags I’ve ever found!
• http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2011/06/30/all-abouttwitter-hashtags/
300+ Educational Hashtags Being Used Right Now - Sounds
overwhelming, but you can search the page for topics of interest to you, then search by those hashtags on Twitter.
• http://www.edudemic.com/twitter-hashtags-now/ 20 Twitter Hashtags Every Educator Should Know About -
These hashtags have Twitter chats associated with them. • http://www.edudemic.com/20-hashtags/
More About #Hashtags
To Follow or Not To Follow...
How do you decide if you should follow
someone?
Check out their profile & Tweet stream!
Do they
● Have a bio that tells what they are about?
● Tweet about stuff you are interested in?
● Tweet regularly?
● Go “off message/topic” only rarely?
● Interact with others?
● Appeal to you for any reasons?
FOLLOW your instincts when you decide
to FOLLOW another Tweep!
Include Practical and Fun!
YOU TIME!
Keeping in mind the tips already shared, search for Tweeps or
hashtags to follow:
● People and organizations you already know.
● Hashtags from the links provided on previous slides.
● People on my newbies and/or edtech lists:
○ Newbies:
https://twitter.com/EdTechSandyK/foredutwitterrookies/me
mbers
○ EdTech:
https://twitter.com/EdTechSandyK/edtech/members
What Do I Tweet About?
Tweet and Retweet things that interest you and
are in line with your purpose. Someone with
your same interests will appreciate it!
● Good blog posts/articles you’ve read
online
● An interesting thought you had or you
overheard
● Questions you need help answering
● Your own blog posts
● Something you’re excited about
● Occasional interesting or fun personal
things
Graphic used under a CC by 2.0
license
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jb2point0/4
786110042/
What Do I NOT Tweet About?
If Tweeting on behalf of your employer, stay away from: ● Politics & Opinion (Includes education funding, testing, etc.)
● Religion
● Anything you wouldn’t say to face-to-face to your employer or to someone on your
employer’s behalf
If Tweeting on behalf of yourself,
stay away from: ● Complaints or rude remarks about
employer, co-workers, or working
conditions
● Complaints or rude remarks about former
employer
● Anything that would embarrass someone
else
● Crude language (Educators follow you &
you follow them; use school appropriate
language)
Use Hashtags To: • Search for topics of interest to you. Watch for folks who
consistently share valuable information with a certain hashtag and consider following them.
o Ex: Search for #onlinelearning
o Notice related hashtags others use, too. • Make the information you share more “findable”. When you
add hashtags to your Tweets, you help others find info that may have value to them. And, you might gain followers.
• Share info from conferences you attend or follow a conference you cannot attend in person.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Hashtags for Network Building
What’s a Twitter Chat? • A synchronous discussion where everyone uses a hashtag to
communicate about a topic. Typically they meet weekly and last about an hour.
o Chats give you a chance to be exposed to others who have interest in a topic. You can find new people to follow, and others may follow you as well
o You might want to “lurk,” or just watch your first chat. They can move fast! But you will get the hang of it!
Chats for Network Building
Twitter Chat Resources
• 13 Great Twitter Chats Every Educator Should Check Out http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/09/23/13-twitter-chats-for-
educators.aspx
• Utilizing Twitter Chats for Professional Development http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/03/27/utilizing-twitter-chats-for-
professional-development/
• Weekly Twitter Chat Times https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiftIdjCeWSXdDRLRzNs
VktUUGJpRWJhdUlWLS1Genc&usp=drive_web#gid=0
• Archive of #TXED Chat from 10/30/13 http://storify.com/MsRossEnglish/txed-summary-science-best-practices
Chats for Network Building
Photo used under CC-BY-NC-ND License
http://wildgica.deviantart.com/art/Me-wildgica-
Twitter-avatar-203248534
Hootsuite - www.hootsuite.com • Allows you to set up columns & searches.
• I like it best on Tablet and Computer.
• Demo of Hootsuite
o Column setup is easy!
• Great for conferences!!!!! (And everyday, too!)
Tools to Enhance Twitter
Diigo - www.diigo.com • Save those great resources you are finding on
Twitter & access them anywhere!
• “Social” bookmarking
• Tour of My Diigo
• Make sure you sign up for an account and start
using it!
o Go to Tools after you sign in & follow
instructions to make bookmarking quick!
Tools to Enhance Twitter
• Twitter for Professional Learning LiveBinder (Created for ISTE 2013) http://tiny.cc/TwitterISTE2013
• All of My Blog Posts About Twitter
& Social Media for Professional Learning http://edtechsandyk.blogspot.com/search/label/twitter
More Resources
Final Questions
Twitter for Professional Connection & Growth
Presentation for Region 13 ESC Strategic Initiatives Team November 5, 2013
Sandy Kendell @EdTechSandyK
http://edtechsandyk.blogspot.com