This document discusses how Twitter can be used by teachers to expand learning. It provides an overview of Twitter, including what tweets are, how to join Twitter, how to decide who to follow, and common Twitter terms like mentions, retweets, and hashtags. The document then discusses how teachers can create a personal learning network on Twitter and offers various ways Twitter can be used for teaching and learning both in and outside the classroom, such as for class discussions, feedback, and investigating related topics. Specific strategies are proposed, like having students tweet about themselves or course topics. In the end, readers are instructed to tweet about themselves using a hashtag to connect with others.

1. Twitter and Teachers:Expanding the Learning SpaceEnza Antenos-ConfortiMontclair State University, NJFollow me: @iVenus (my PLN)@profeac& @profenza(teaching handles)Image credit: http://www.distance-education.org/Articles/Top-75-College-Education-Tweets-133.html

2. What Is It?http://www.americandialect.org/index.php/amerdial/2009_word_of_the_year_is_tweet_word_of_the_decade_is_google/

3. Many have criticised tweets to be “banalities” and “mindless”

4. Why and What Do We Tweet?Tweets are a source of information; people in certain places, at certain events, sharing at a global levelTweets his way out of an Egyptian jail (U of California-Berkley student, James Buck—April 2008)Earthquake in China (May 2008)Landing on the Hudson (US Airways Flight—Jan 2009)Earthquake in Italy (April 2009)Mumbai Terror Attacks (Nov 2009)

5. Twitter and Haiti

7. Where Do We Start?Joining the conversation is easy… Select a username / create a password / provide an email address

8. My Twitter PageThe last thing youmicro-blogged:a.k.a. a tweetWhere you update/ tweetThe Timeline with your followingPopulartopics

9. Deciding Who to FollowBy common interest?By geographical location?By influential status?http://www.twibes.com/group/WorldLanguages

10. Let’s tweetTweets are self-perpetuatinggenerativeauthenticTweeps / Twitterers (users)interpret inputproduce output engage in conversations

11. Twitter term: Mention (aka Reply)The @Replies feature was introduced because we noticed lots of folks putting the @ symbol in front of Twitter usernames as a way of addressing one another. For example: @biz what are you drinking in your avatar? (It's a soy latte.)@username also now in the middle of tweets as a way to simply reference another account

12. Twitter term: RetweetSharing and crediting sources

13. Twitter Search: Retweet

14. Twitter term: HashtagCreate groupings by adding context and metadata

15. Tweeting to…Create a personal learning network—i.e., follow people who share your interests by reading their tweets aboutblog postsnews & eventsvideos & musicother followers (who then you begin to follow)The positive spiral of Twitter as a social network

16. The Teacher’s PLNA Personal Learning Network is essential to implementing Web 2.0 technologies to teachingConversation and interactivity are organic with members of the PLN

17. Teaching with TwitterCreate a Twitter handle for academic use onlyUse class time to have students create their handle, follow classmates and tweet for the first timePrompt them initially to have them feel comfortable with TweetingDevelop your best practices for course objectives

18. Teaching & Learning with TwitterClass chatter Classroom communityGet a sense of the WorldTrack a WordTrack a ConferenceInstant FeedbackFollow a ProfessionalFollow a Famous PersonGrammarRule Based WritingMaximizing the Teaching MomentPublic Note PadWriting AssignmentSource: AcademHackwww.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/

19. In & Outside of the ClassroomBEYONDHave them talk about themselves (recycle grammar and vocabulary)Have them investigate topics related to syllabi contentHave them investigate language use (vocabulary building)INHave them brainstorm ideas and post them

20. Get instant feedback on topics using it as poll device using hashtags

21. Allow them to ask questions and get feedback instantaneously from a larger language communitySome Great Ideas!http://www.slideshare.net/travelinlibrarian/twenty-five-interesting-ways-to-use-tw

22. Hands-On TweetingHere’s what to do:Tweet something to share two (2) things about yourself (personal, professional, etc.)Include the hashtag below (#BCTech)Click on the hashtag in your tweet and read what others have tweetedReply to the tweet of two (2) other twitterers