By Alyson Carpenter, NBCT
Instructional Partner
Professional Learning Specialist
Athens City (AL) Schools
Twitter has quickly become the go-to place for educators to congregate and collaborate! Many teachers and school leaders who once used Twitter only to check on what their favorite movie star was up to or get the latest news have found a much more powerful way to utilize the social media tool– for professional learning and collaboration.
As a “teacher of teachers,” I am finding that my conversations about using Twitter for professional growth need to be both personalized and personal in order for usage to take root.
Personalized
Because skill levels vary greatly, to really share the power of Twitter, session time should be spent focused on the “What” and the “Why,” and personalized to each specific group of learners. Once teachers see a purpose for learning to use Twitter, they are usually ready to dive in.
Personal
Only when educators see the power of Twitter as a tool they can use for collaboration and learning will they be interested in the “How” of tweeting. Using a “hook” is a great way to begin a session and make the learning personal.
It usually only takes sharing one “EduHero” account to follow (E.g. Todd Whitaker, Alice Keeler) or showcasing one tweet with an idea that can be put immediately to use in the classroom to have a teacher ready to sign up and start tweeting!
Sharing popular hashtags specific to the group of participants is a great way to build interest (E.g. #1stChat for a group of first grade teachers; #msmathchat for middle school math folks; or #hyperdocs for teachers looking to take Google Apps to the next level with their students).
Check out my TwitterTalk
Last year, I created an ever-changing professional learning tool for sharing about the power of Twitter. It’s my hope that it will serve as a resource rather than a presentation. I leave it with participants for continued exploration of the differentiated links.
This tool has made facilitating professional learning sessions about Twitter much more specific for the learners and less stressful for me as a facilitator who wants to ensure all participants take something away from a session – no matter where their current skill level may be.
Feel free to copy, rebrand and edit this presentation to fit your school needs. Happy Tweeting!
0 Comments on "Great Things Happen When Educators Discover the Power of Twitter"