Twitter For P G C L T H E

TWITTER IN HIGHER EDUCATION Dr Bex Lewis [email_address]

A Digital Native: Jake’s Story
“ Jake told the executive that he never goes directly to a brand like this man’s newspaper or even to blogs he likes. ... he reads a lot of news – far more than I did at his age. But he goes to that news only via the links from Digg, friends’ blogs, and Twitter. He travels all around the internet that is edited by his peers because he trusts them and knows they share his interests . The web of trust is built at eye-level, peer-to-peer.” (Jarvis, p.86, my emphasis )

Read more…
http://www.clex.org.uk/
Government Report by Sir David Melville, published March 2009
The impact on their experiences and expectations
Their use of social networking
Their adoption of new technologies
Developments at schools, colleges, campuses, including institutional developments.
Read Summary: http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/11/jisc-e-learning-fair/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/as_facebook_ages_gen_y_turns_to_twitter.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+readwriteweb+(ReadWriteWeb)

What is Twitter?
140 Characters (based on SMS) known as “Tweets”
Displayed on author’s profile page
Read by subscribers (known as “Followers”)
Different from Facebook
More interest/thematic based
Not time/geographically dependent
Not as “personal” ‘I had toast’ does not cut it!
Privacy Options (not recommended)
Retweets (a mark of approval)

@stephenfry

@drbexl

What is Twitter about?
Twitter is about relationship building, you can’t just “broadcast” announcements out, you need to engage with your followers.
Post a mix of useful information, links to others tweets/information, and some personal information… quotes seem to work quite well too!
Use ‘hashtags’ (#) to follow conversations.
Well-known: #followfriday
The etiquette for recommending is somewhat interesting
A certain amount of you pat my back…
We want REASONS
Just invent a hashtag. Worth checking that others aren’t using one, and if using for an event, agree beforehand. #digisymp http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/09/christianity-in-the-digital-space/ used http://www.twitterfall.com/ for “backchat”

Twitter Lists http://listorious.com/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/04/twitter-lists-uses/

A Visual Guide to Twitter http://applicant.com/twitter-guide/#more-1446

But how can we use it?
Technology is just a tool? http://www.camb-ed-us.com/school/standards-assessment.asp

http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/11/9-great-reasons-why-teachers-should-use-twitter/
Together we’re better: a virtual staff room
Global or local: you choose: potential to reach an international audience
Self-awareness and reflective practice: sharing best practice / challenges/ the educator’s journey
Ideas workshop and sounding board: Share ideas and get instant feedback, and constructive criticism.
Newsroom and innovation showcase: Keep up with current affairs, both news and with the latest developments in a specialist field – often being one of the first to know. Avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ by working smarter/sharing ideas. “Pay It Forward”
Professional development and critical friends: a powerful network available ‘all the time’, not just at break-out times between training sessions. Take time to find the right people to follow. A source of healthy debate, without losing days in development time/large amounts of cash, and gain the courage of your own convictions.
Quality-assured searching: Trust the people you follow, and as your network gains a critical mass, often a more reliable source of information than Google, and offering up to the minute information on time-linked trending topics.
Communicate, communicate, communicate: “ Expressing yourself in 140 characters is a great discipline.”
Getting with the times has never been so easy!: It’s what the students are using, and therefore we also should. “Twitter is anything but complicated”, and plenty of websites offering help on how to get started.

Twitter? Helpful? Presentation: Dr Lorraine Warren http://www.slideshare.net/lisaharris/using-social-media-for-research

Practical Ideas?
Twitter:
“ Backchatter”
Concise summaries of arguments/texts
Collating information for students (e.g. world foods) for students to work with in session
Other Tools:
Blogs: Real-time engagement, formative feedback
Delicious: Bookmarking within a course, sharing links
Online treasure hunt: leading to the library!
Second Life: museum for Creating and Consuming History
E-Portfolio: Space for reflective journaling
Wiki: Non-linear development of an argument
Facebook Group: Industrial placement students, maintaining community
YouTube (and similar): Session tasters

Blogged Ideas re: Twitter
http://web20teach.blogspot.com/2007/08/twitter-tweets-for-higher-education.html
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/uni-students-to-be-marked-on-tweets/story-fn3dxiwe-1225786315525
http://ws-cougar.quinnipiac.edu/wordpress/?p=144
http://cooper-taylor.com/blog/2008/08/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-education/
http://janeknight.typepad.com/socialmedia/
http://searchenginewatch.com/3630980
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2009/06/6-examples-of-using-twitter-in-the-classroom/
http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/
http://teachingtechnology.suite101.com/article.cfm/using_twitter_to_break_down_classroom_isolation
http://onlinecollegedegree.org/2009/03/19/100-tips-apps-and-resources-for-teachers-on-twitter/
http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/06/08/50-ways-to-use-twitter-in-the-college-classroom/
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5649046/How-To-Use-Twitter-in-the-Classroom
http://apaceofchange.edublogs.org/2007/08/08/promoting-twitteracy-in-the-classroom/

http://www.polleverywhere.com/twitter-powerpoint-slides

Key Online Contacts
David Hopkins (Bournemouth University): http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/ ; @hopkinsdavid
Steve Wheeler (University of Portsmouth): http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/ @timbuckteeth
Lisa Harris (University of Southampton): http://www.lisaharrismarketing.com/ @lisaharris
Lorraine Warren (University of Southampton) http://www.doclorraine.com/ @doclorraine
Jane Hart (Centre for Learning & Performance Technolgies) http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/ @c4lpt
Simon Ball (JISC/Personal Account) @simonjball
Forums, e.g. http://www.aaceconnect.org/group/sociallearning/

Bex’s Twitter Accounts
http://www.twitter.com/drbexl (general tweets)
http://www.twitter.com/digitalfprint (digital education/social media tweets)
http://www.twitter.com/ww2poster (history/ poster tweets)
http://www.twitter.com/sfdo (adrenalin sports tweets)

http://hootsuite.com/dashboard# http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXpYVTnyCjU http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/09/hootsuite/

Tools
http://www.tweetdeck.com/ ; http://seesmic.com/ (multiple managers)
http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/ (Comprehensive guide to use)
http://mashable.com/category/twitter-lists/ (recommendations)
http://apps.facebook.com/selectivetwitter/ (don’t alienate all your Facebook friends)
http://tinyurl.com/ ; http://bit.ly/ (URL shortening services)
http://www.echofon.com/ (iPhone app)
http://friendorfollow.com/ (who doesn’t follow you back?)
http://www.topfollowfriday.com/ (recommendations)
http://www.twitpic.com/ (photos)
http://www.twitbacks.com/ (backgrounds)
http://topsy.com/ (monitor RT’s a post had received)

http://ww2poster.wordpress.com/

Twitter For P G C L T H E

by Bex Lewis on Nov 24, 2009

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Twitter For P G C L T H E — Presentation Transcript

http://helenwhitehead.com	17
http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk	10
http://www.slideshare.net	3
http://ltinpractice.blogspot.com	2