Tweeting with Twitter 2!!

Tweeting with Twitter 2!!

Date: 16th Oct 2017/Monday

Since I had shared in my earlier post Tweeting with Twitter, that there is still a lot to be explored about Twitter and I will be back soon to share more soon. So here I am to give you all a peek into the much exciting and amazing world of #Twitter. 

This blog post is more interesting because its based on my personal experiences with Twitter over the past last month or so. It has opened doors to #professional development for me, provided me insight into what is going around in the world of #education #technology which I was unaware off, it has let me connect to education technology experts all over the globe, it has given me insight into how various educators are using education technology into classrooms, it has actually opened a window for me to see and learn from their classroom practices, it has given me hope above all that #social media could be used as effectively as one wants , there are no limits, the opportunities it holds are simply endless. 

As Kyle Pace director of Technology for @GV_Schools tweeted and I completely agree "the key to progress or creating innovative, progressive change is not about what you already know. Its about one's drive to know more". Twitter has actually sparked my drive to know more, learn more and share more. It has provided me the opportunity to reflect on my practices, unlearn and relearn ways of teaching and learning with technology.

One of things I found very interesting was an idea about sharing #OneSmallThing which actually celebrates the idea that big impact comes from making small changes. This brilliant idea was championed by two educators named Melissa White and Lacey Snyder. You could customize by adding a graphic, make it individual or team goal, get #motivation and #inspiration by looking at goals set by number of other educators around the globe. I tried setting a goal for myself and found it quiet useful. Goals could be related to your personal or professional development too. Details in link below.

Another interesting thing that I have really liked is the idea of edchats and edcamps. Edcamp is an unconference, because it does not have any pre scheduled sessions, the sessions are set at the beginning of the day by the  teachers based on their needs for learning. These are free and participant driven.   During the past few years a  large number of such unconferences have been held, since its an open opportunity to connect, grow, collaborate and share practices. Anyone attending the edcamp can be a presenter and any school, district or organization can hold an edcamp.  Twitter can connect you to edcamps happening all around the globe with the one powerful hash tag #edcamp. 

#edchat is actually a discussion organized by Twitter every week where educators meet virtually and discuss about education.  The main purpose to create edchat on Twitter was to keep conversations about education on going. These are basically twitter chats where participants use hashtag #edchat to follow the discussion. Moderated edchats happen every Tuesday 7PM EDT and there are almost 250 edchats happening on a weekly bases. Anyone can participate in the edchat by using hastag #edcamp in each tweet. These chats are important because they let you meet new people that otherwise you cannot connect to, get exposed to new ideas, find new resources, oppose view points and end up plannng a course of action for yourself. Some important chats you could join can be #edtechchat #edflipclass #edchat #STEMchat etc. 

Another interesting thing that I would want to share is the The Teacher ToolKit, a very powerful tool for teachers, comes packed with a lot of strategies and tools for effective teaching in classroom. These include tools for classroom management, opening activities, games, group work, individual work, checking for understanding etc. One tool that I really liked was the "Tell me something good" idea for creating a positive and caring atmosphere in the classroom. A portion of the class could be devoted for kids to share something positive related to themselves, family or friends. This will surely set the tone for the class. One Min Note was another interesting strategy to monitor students understanding in class. students are asked to write down key points after a five to ten min input from an oral or written source. It lets the teacher get an insight into students comprehension of the topic under discussion or being taught. The best part about this toolkit is that it consists of short videos of these tools  and gives us a walk through of how these have been used in class. A very interesting tool, details in link below.

One thing more that I liked was that Twitter lets you connect to other apps easily, any good resource on Twitter could be easily shared to #Facebook , saved to #Google drive, emailed , shared through whatsapp or Skype etc. This is  a very useful feature for educators who could share information at the click of a mouse to anyone anywhere in the world. Twitter actually connects you to a larger and diverse audience within no time.

One last thing that I would like to share before ending the blog for today is the #globaledcon they host virtual global education events and these are free to join. There upcoming education conference is scheduled for 13 - 16 Nov 2017 and the call for proposals is open. It involves educators, teachers, students, organizations at all levels. Its a brilliant opportunity to connect with educators from around the globe, sharing classroom practices, supporting different cultures , accepting diversity and encouraging education for all. Such online events add a lot to ones PD and there are often many positive take away resulting in concrete action plans for future.

These were some of my take away's from Twitter in last month, I still feel there is a lot more to be explore , a lot more to learn, a lot more to try and experiment. One blog cannot do justice to the amazing features Twitter offers. Its a whole new world ready to be explored further. 

Enjoy Reading till my next blog on Tweeting with Twitter 3 :)

Sheeba Ajmal

References:

1. One Small Thing

Link: https://www.teacher2teacher.education/one-small-thing/

Accessed Online on 15th Oct 2017

2. Edcamp online

Link: http://edcamponline.weebly.com/what-is-edcamp.html

Accessed Online on 15th Oct 2017

3.  Why edcamp?

Link: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-edcamp-kristen-swanson

Accessed Online on 15th Oct 2017

4. Edcamps

Link: https://www.edcamp.org/

Accessed Online on 15th Oct 2017

5. Edchat  Resource Guide

Link: https://rossieronline.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/edchat-resource-guide5.pdf

Accessed Online on 16th Oct 2017

6. Why Twitter Chats Matter

Link: http://blog.web20classroom.org/2014/05/why-twitter-chats-matter.html

Accessed Online on 16th Oct 2017

7. The Teacher Toolkit

Link: http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/

Accessed Online on 16th Oct 2017

8. The Global Education Conference

Link: http://www.globaleducationconference.com/

Accessed Online on 16th Oct 2017