Has anyone asked you to use Twitter? Has your response been, “Have you lost your mind? I am way too busy to follow #JustinTimberlake or #MileyCyrus or care if @KimKardashian has a new line of clothes!”
But Twitter isn’t just another pretty face! It’s free professional development, 24/7, whenever you want, with whomever you want, for however long you want! This is the perfect tool for a busy life. It only allows 140 characters per tweet. One-hundred and forty! You don’t have to read someone’s rant for 700 lines like on FaceBook. In addition, you can narrow down the topics that are most important to you by using the old pound sign (#), or in the 21st century it is now known as the “hashtag.” Talk about an upgrade. You can narrow down your topics using the hashtag and narrow your “tweeple” by following only those that talk about #specialed or #edtech…that means you don’t have to follow celebrities if you don’t want.
Some have even gone as far as to create set times that like-minded educators gather on twitter at the same time every week to discuss pertinent topics in education. What is great about this, is you can be working around the house and follow quick tweets as they happen. You can respond, again in less than 140 characters, and get back to what you were doing.
Many educators use this as a Q&A time too. Post a question to your Twitterverse and quick responses pour in to you in minutes. Looking for an app to use in your classroom? Tweet a question and add the hashtag to your subject; others who follow that subject will see your tweet and respond knowledgeably. For instance, a good tweet would be, “Anyone know of a good #biologyapp?” It’s that simple.
There are thousands of resources available…just sign up for twitter, create an account, and see what’s all atwitter.
My account is KC Testerman if you’d like to follow me and see what is atwitter in my life.
Here is a Smore page I made with lots of resources for using Twitter. https://www.smore.com/bxjfp-twitter-is-my-super-power
Testin' Tech 