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For Educators:: A Beginner's Guide

This document provides guidelines for educators on using Twitter. It explains what Twitter is and how educators can use it to share resources, participate in professional development, and communicate with parents and other organizations. It offers tips for getting started with Twitter, including choosing a username and password, finding people to follow, getting people to follow you, understanding common Twitter lingo, and using various Twitter programs and apps. It concludes with best practices and guidelines for educators using Twitter, such as maintaining a separation between personal and professional profiles and using appropriate language.

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63 views

For Educators:: A Beginner's Guide

This document provides guidelines for educators on using Twitter. It explains what Twitter is and how educators can use it to share resources, participate in professional development, and communicate with parents and other organizations. It offers tips for getting started with Twitter, including choosing a username and password, finding people to follow, getting people to follow you, understanding common Twitter lingo, and using various Twitter programs and apps. It concludes with best practices and guidelines for educators using Twitter, such as maintaining a separation between personal and professional profiles and using appropriate language.

Uploaded by

api-96707430
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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for Educators:

A Beginners Guide
TWEET!

Created by: Amber Coggin @ambercoggin [email protected] http:/smartboardgoodies.com

Contributors: Alison Flowers Deana Nunn @Alli_Flowers @deananunn

Contents
What is Twitter? Why would Educators use Twitter? Getting Started Finding People to Follow Getting People to Follow You Twitter Lingo Programs & Apps Guidelines & Best Practices Other Tools & Resources

What is Twitter?
Twitter is an online social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".

Twitter in Plain English

Twitter in 60 Seconds

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Why would Educators use Twitter?


Twitter is more than just Whats happening? Educators can use Twitter to

Share resources with other educators.


@brainpop: Join us for a free webinar at 4:30 & learn how to make your IWB lessons "pop!" http://t.co/YYppkNCL

@ambercoggin: Check out this cool website for interactive games in all subjects.
http://www.e-learningforkids.org

Participate in real-time online Professional Development.


@CollierES: Make-up pictures will be taken Friday. All students must be in uniform.

Communicate with parents.


@MobilePublicSch: Regular Board meeting tonight - Morningside Ele. or view via live stream from our website 6 pm- www.mcpss.com

Get updates from other educational organizations.


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Getting Started
Visit twitter.com to create your free account.

Choosing a Username
Your real name:

@ambercoggin @deananunn
A name to describe your interests:

@techteacher @spedtchr78
A name to describe the organization you represent:

@CollierES

@MobilePublicSch
Not for public computers!

Choosing a Password Twitter passwords must contain 6 characters or more. Make your password something easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess. If your account gets hacked, meaning tweets are sent under your account but not by you, change your password immediately!

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Finding People to Follow


In order to make Twitter interesting, you first must find people to Follow. Follow people who have the same interests as you (other educators, people who like to garden, etc.), friends or family, news organizations, or just those you want to learn more about (actors, musicians, politicians, etc.). In order to follow someone, simply visit their Twitter page and click Follow.
Follow: To follow someone on Twitter means to subscribe to their tweets or updates on the site. Once you follow someone, their tweets will show up on your timeline. You can reply to their tweet or retweet it to those who follow you so they can read it too!

How do I find people to follow? Twitters Who to Follow Feature


-Located on the Twitter homepage -View suggestions -Browse interests

Compiled Educator Databases


-Educators on Twitter -Twitter4Teachers -Seven Ways to Find Teachers on Twitter

Follow who I Follow!


Visit the Twitter profile of another educator. Click on the Following link and see who theyre following. They may interest you too!

Twitter Lists
Timeline: The tweets of all the folks Im following appear here with the most recent tweet at the top.
Twitter users can organize others into groups, or lists. When you click to view a list, you'll see a stream of Tweets from all the users included in that group. Read more about Lists.

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Getting People to Follow You


Now that you know how to find people to follow on Twitter, what about getting people to follow you? Its not fun to talk when no one is listening! Upload a Profile Picture Dont be an Egg Head!
Twitter will assign the dreaded egg as your profile picture by default until you change it. As an educator, its best to upload a true photo of yourself. It will make you credible and will connect you to your Followers.
7 Ways to Be Worth Following on Twitter 1. Be Interesting (Dont just tweet about what you had for lunch!) 2. Be Informative (Share links and other resources.) 3. Be Interactive (Spend some time on the site. Dont just tweet and run!) 4. Be Promotional (Dont be afraid to share the good work youve done.) 5. Be Personal (Respond to others and answer questions.) 6. Be Considerate (There is such thing as tweeting too much and flooding others Timelines. Oh, and dont type in ALL CAPS. Its considered YELLING!) 7. Find a Balance (Balance all of the above, and you will be a good, respectable Tweeter that others will want to follow.) Followers: Followers are people who receive your tweets. If someone follows you, they will get your updates, or your tweets, on their timeline when they log in.

Fill out your Bio


Most seasoned Twitter users will hardly ever follow someone who doesnt have a biography. Your biography is the only place to tell others about yourself. Leaving it blank or non-descriptive doesnt encourage people to follow you. To complete your bio, click Settings, then Profile.
Click

Here are some informative Twitter Bios:


Click here!

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Twitter Lingo
What does the @ symbol mean on Twitter? Why do I keep seeing a number sign #? What is a RT? These questions are asked by almost everyone when learning to use Twitter. Here is some of the most commonly used Lingo on Twitter.

Follow To follow someone on Twitter means to subscribe to their Tweets or updates on the site.
Find out more about following, or learn how to follow others.

Following Your following number reflects the quantity of other Twitter users you have chosen to
follow on the site. Find out more about following.

# Hashtag The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was
created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. Example: Below, @ambercoggin added the hashtag before the word "smartboard" in or at the end of her tweet. The word is now a clickable link to search results for all Tweets containing "#smartboard".

Retweet (RT) The act of forwarding another user's Tweet to all of your followers. Find out
more about retweets.

@ Sign The @ sign is used to call out, or Mention, usernames in Tweets. When a username is
preceded by the @ sign, it becomes a link to a Twitter profile. It also allows the tweet to show up in the Mentions tab on the users Twitter page.
Example: If I wanted my followers to follow a really informative educator I found, I might tweet: Please follow @Alli_Flowers for great secondary Language Arts resources. #Langchat

Timeline A real-time list of Tweets on Twitter. See also Home Timeline. Find out more about
your timeline. Click for the entire

Trending Topics A subject algorithmically determined to be one of


the most popular on Twitter at the moment. Find out more about trending topics.

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Programs & Apps


There are more ways to use Twitter besides Twitter.com! You can use Twitter through desktop programs, apps on your Smart Phone, or even through text messaging. Here are a few of the most popular.
TweetDeck is a program that can be downloaded and used to organize Twitter feeds. Multiple columns can be organized to follow and monitor conversations with groups, topics of interest, or #hashtags. One of the major benefits of TweetDeck is that you can post updates to Twitter and Facebook at the same time. Visit Tweetdeck.com to get started.

HootSuite.com is a web-based Twitter client that is considered the ultimate Twitter toolbox. With HootSuite, you can manage multiple Twitter accounts and other social media profiles such as Facebook and Foursquare within your Internet browser. You can also preschedule tweets and add custom Twitter streams. TweetDeck and HootSuite are similar, so we recommend trying both out before you commit.

Twitter for iPhone Twitter for iPad Twitter for Android How to Use Twitter via Text Messaging

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Guidelines & Best Practices


MCPSS Board policy prohibits Employees from communicating with individual or small groups of students outside of System owned means and resources. Mobile County prefers that its Employees utilize only school owned resources to communicate and interact with students. It is recognized however that the proper use of Social Networking sites may have a valid place in todays educational environment. To that end, employees are urged to consider the following suggestions (in addition to Board and System policies) in utilizing social networking sites in the classroom.

Do not mix personal and school profiles. Employees should not utilize their personal social network profiles to interact with any student. You may even consider creating two separate Twitter accounts: one professional and one personal.

Any written text, whether in a text message, an email or posted on a Facebook or Twitter page, can easily be taken out of context or misunderstood. Always use appropriate language. Avoid inappropriate language, exaggeration, provocation and sarcasm. Think twice before posting. Privacy does not exist in the world of the internet and social media. Consider what could happen if a post (including posts on personal profiles) becomes widely known and how that may reflect both on the employee and MCPSS. Search engines can turn up posts years after they are created, and comments can be forwarded or copied. If you wouldnt say something in your classroom, at a conference or to a member of the media, consider whether you should post it online. Remember, whatever gets put on the Internet stays there forever. There is no delete key once you've posted.

Remember that anyone can access the Internet and view what you write on a blog or, in many cases, your personal social network profile (in this case, Twitter). Twitter DOES allow you to set your profile as Private. This means only those you accept as Followers will be able to view your tweets; however, it still doesnt stop your approved Followers from retweeting what youve posted. You may consider sending someone a Direct Message (DM) on Twitter that only they can see. Read more about Public and Protected Tweets. Be fair and accurate. Avoid online fights. Be respectful. Dont use social media for personal attacks or inflammatory arguments.

MCPSS Policies and Procedures The Twitter Rules 10 Commandments of Twitter Etiquette

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Other Tools & Resources


Guides and Tutorials
-Twitter Support -An Educators Guide to Twitter -25 Important Twitter Guides and Apps for Teachers -10 Steps for Educators New to Twitter -10 Twitter Tips for Teachers Facebook is for people you know in real life. Twitter is for people you WISH you knew in real life.- Unknown

Sharing Media on Twitter


-Posting Links -Sharing Photos -Sharing Videos -Twitter Polls

Teaching with Twitter


-100 Ways to Teach with Twitter -Twitter in the Classroom -50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom

Twitter Real-Time Search


Twitter is the new Google! Type in a keyword on Twitter to find out whats being said about that topic right now! (e.g. Interactive math)

Join Twitter! Now Follow @ambercoggin Follow @MobileCountySch

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