Twitter+in+the+Classroom

by Jeremy Brueck, Jonathon Becker, Christopher Craft brueckei.org/moodle
 * 1) tweet.#learn.#lead.

1. First the basics if you don't know about Twitter
 * Twitter is a way to communicate via the web using 140 characters or less
 * users can follow friends, family, or anyone with a Twitter account
 * it is free to use

2. Why would I want to do this?
 * you can have your students follow famous authors or world leaders (ie Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela)
 * they can do this from their cell phones or computers with internet access
 * you can establish your own user messages called tweets that your students can respond to or follow
 * get on Twitter and establish an account
 * end your message with a **hashtag (#)** this will allow students to follow your message

3. How would I use this in my class?
 * One idea might be as a W2L.
 * For example if I am teaching a concept in my classes and I want to see if my students got the point of the lesson I might say: "From our lesson on the French Revolution: What would 'liberty' mean to an 18th century French peasant?
 * Once you get on Twitter search for the hashtag #thayerliberty and type in your responses before class tomorrow."
 * If you want your students to follow a current event or a famous author they can use Twitter to send you their thoughts or ideas on the subject.
 * Students working on group projects can use Twitter to respond back and forth about their progress and ideas. If you give them a hashtag (#) that they all have to use you can follow this as well.

4. I don't want to spend hours on the internet viewing all of my students tweets!
 * You don't have to. There are several ways to view all of the tweets at once or to manage multiple accounts:
 * Hootsuite.com (helps you to manage multiple social networks from one website)
 * Tweetdeck (allows you to view lists of tweets as a spreadsheet)
 * On Tweetdeck you can respond to these by email if you like by
 * finding their message
 * hovering over the avitar (picture)
 * then hover over the right icon to send an email
 * other Twitter listing or organizing sites:
 * Tweetgrid.com
 * Tweetsearch.com
 * Listorious.com (find and interview experts on Twitter)
 * Twitterific (for Mac users by iconfactory.com)