Growing my Friends-List

Twitter and Social Networking for Educators

When was the last time you…

• Discussed educational research?• Discussed pedagogy?• Shared ideas or advice?• Argued over your curriculum?• Suggested readings or read someone else’s?• Left your classroom for ideas?

The problem with teaching in South Dakota?

• Isolation– Never leave your room– Never go into someone else’s– Only one teaching subject

The problem with teaching in South Dakota?

• Professional Development– Expensive– Limited Local Options

The Solution

• Expand your PLN!?!

P L N/P/EPersonal Learning Network

Professional Plan

Environment

What is a PLN/PLP/PLE?

Whatever distinctions you choose to make, and whatever you call it, it is tailored to you.

Map of My PLN before

August 2009

Grand total42 People

Map of my PLN Today

Over 3,540 Members of EduPLNOver 2,800 members of the AP-Chem List-servOver 2,200 members of the AP-Physics List-servOver 350 people connected to me on Twitter

Tools that I’ve used

• Del.icio.us• Distributed Lists• Twitter• Ning• Google Reader/RSS

Del.icio.us

• Just one of many social bookmarking sites, Digg, StumbleUpon, Mixx,

• Use tags to mark websites• See who else has marked that website• See what other sites they have marked

http://delicious.com/Mr.Haugen

Mail Distribution Lists

• Get to know your mail options.– Using Rules to pre-sort– Sort by thread

College Board DiscussionsTeachers.netGoogle for Educators

Twitterhttp://www.commoncraft.com/twitter

Pros•Instantaneous•Conversational•Great Search tools

Cons•Overwhelming• Too Fast• Too many conversations

•A lot of ‘junk’•You miss things when you aren’t online

http://www.twitter.com/JR_Haugen

Tips for Using Twitter

Adapted from David Hopkins’s blog Don’t Waste Your Time• Work out what you want to get out of Twitter• Make sure you put some relevant and interesting

information in your Twitter profile• Share and share alike.• Look at the people who follow someone in your network.• Don’t be afraid to ‘block’ people who you don’t think you

want following you.• Don’t worry about numbers

More Basic Tips

• Re-Tweet the ideas of others• @<username> - respond to others, have

conversations• #followfriday (#ff)– suggest people to follow• #edchat – Video• Use groups• Skip the celebrities…

More Advanced Tips

• Use What the Hashtag? – find out what the abbreviations mean

• Use Twitcleaner – • Use URL Shortening services– Tiny URL

• Use Desktop applications to manage Twitter– Tweetdeck

Who to follow?

• The founders of #edchat– @ShellTerrell– @tomwhitby– @web20classroom

• @bhsprincipal• @MrR0g3rs• @irasocol• @TeachPaperless• Many more by subject at

http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com/

NingNing is a site where you can build your own Social Network, like

Facebook. Ning is just one of many such tools.

Pros•Great for storage•More moderated•Persistent•Totally self contained

Cons•Ning is converting to a pay only service.

http://edupln.ning.com Look for changes

Imagine…

• Having someone there for you when you need it… at any time

Closing Thought

The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what (awards) he is capable of receiving. The most important motive … in life is the pleasure of working and thereby obtaining results which will serve the community. The most important task for our educators is to awaken and encourage these psychological forces in a young man {or woman}. Such a basis alone can lead to the joy of possessing one of the most precious assets in the world - knowledge or artistic skill. ~Albert Einstein

References

• Hopkins, David. "Twitter Tips: for Teachers & Educators." eLearning Blog Don't Waste Your Time. David Hopkins, 09 MAY 2009. Web. 13 Apr 2010.

• Cassinelli, Colette. "What is a PLN and Why do I need one?." edtech VISION. Colette Cassinelli, 15 Feb 2010. Web. 14 Apr 2010.