Twitter Tutorial: How-To LinksCompanion Document For

Twitter Power: For Literacy Educators & Activists

TWITTER POWER : This document supplements “Twitter Power: For Literacy Educators & Activists,” a small-screen/online presentation developed for the 2011 International Dyslexia Association conference session, “Legislative Call to Action: Access to Literacy for All.” The presentation is posted at http://www.slideshare.net/carolyndcowen. Be sure to open the most recent draft.

TARGET AUDIENCE : Educators/IDA members working to change the teaching-learning landscape for children at-risk for reading failure—struggling readers, English language learners, economically disadvantaged youth, and students with dyslexia or specific learning difficulties. For those who want to understand and leverage Twitter’s power, the presentation combined with this companion document covers Twitter’s basic whys and hows.

TWITTER TUTORIAL: HOW-TO LINKS : This companion document (also posted at http://www.slideshare.net/carolyndcowen), provides the detailed “how-to information” via links to online material targeted to educators new to Twitter. The list is not exhaustive and simply reflects resources I have come across and found useful for educators. That said, inclusion on this list does not constitute endorsement and omission does not signify the opposite. Check back periodically for updates, including contributions from viewers.

Cowen: 11/14/11 twitter.com/#!/cdcowen; paper.li/cdcowen; slideshare.net/carolyndcowen 1

Why Educators Should Tweet:

http://adaptivelearnin.edu.glogster.com/why-teachers-should-join-twitter#.Tq6N9gc8Wvg.twitterA Twitter newbie created an infographic with links on why teachers should join Twitter.

http://edudemic.com/2011/09/twitter-in-education/Advertised as the “Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter in Education,” it covers lots of whys and hows.

Twitter Orientations:

http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/A complete collection of resources for mastering Twitter.

http://www.slideshare.net/oreillymedia/the-twitter-book-a-sneak-previewThis one is a few years old, but still provides good introductory information.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/teachers-teaching-teachers-on-twitter-q-and-a-on-edchats/NY Times article “Teachers Teaching Teachers on Twitter – A nice overview for educators with valuable links to related Twitter topics. Consider following the people mentioned.

http://davidwees.com/content/eight-videos-help-teachers-get-started-using-twitter8 short to-the-point videos to help teachers get started on Twitter

http://www.teachertechvids.com/tools-for-advanced-users#!__tools-for-advanced-users/vstc3=twitter3 videos covering Twitter basics and beyond for teachers

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/05/18/the-best-resources-for-beginning-to-learn-what-twitter-is-all-about/A comprehensive (if not exhaustive!) list of Twitter resources/links covering EVERYTHING from hastags to who to follow to dos and don’ts. It is a few years old, so a bit dated. But it reflects the perspective of someone just getting on the Twitter train—especially helpful for newbies. Eventually, links take you to more current links.

Cowen: 11/14/11 twitter.com/#!/cdcowen; paper.li/cdcowen; slideshare.net/carolyndcowen 2

Twitter Edchats & Ed-Related Hastags:

http://www.cybraryman.com/chats.htmlThis pretty much covers everything about Twitter education hashtgs and chats!

Klout Score Value/Cautions & Who to Follow

http://coolcatteacher.visibli.com/share/moxXBfIt’s a good idea to have some sense of Klout Scores and their value … or lack thereof. This offers great perspective for educators. I recommend following her, too.

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2011/07/lesson-learned-influence-is-personal.htmlMore perspective on influence and Personal Learning Networks (PLNs). I recommend following him, too.

http://educationnext.org/all-a-twitter-about-education/And, here is the article from Education Next the two blog posts above reference. I wanted you to get their insights before you review this list. That said, I do recommend following many of these Tweeters. I follow all of them, but you probably will want to be more selective. Remember, it’s OK to unfollow – in fact, you should! The people you follow will evolve over time to reflect current interests. Be careful not to follow just people with whom you agree!

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2058946,00.htmlNot sure which non-educators to follow? Check out this list from Time.

Social Media-Facilitated Professional Development:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/26/09edtech-social.h31.html?tkn=LLRF8EAoDiC236zaT9a%2Fq5BaqS6Gfs3%2Fno3L&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2

http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/e-learning-2011-professionaldevelopment/index.html?cmp=ENL-CC-NEWS1Ed Weeks’ comprehensive report on how a digital and freewheeling approach to professional development is trending in education. Be sure to check out the fourth article, which includes info about using Twitter in PD. (Note: You probably need to subscribe to Ed Week to get into this one.)

http://h30411.www3.hp.com/discussions/68996?mcid=TwitterOver a year old, but the basic concepts are still relevant. Addresses how one teacher found Twitter to be a useful tool in his own professional learning. Also offers good info in how to harness hashtags.

Misc. Ed-Tech Resources – more to come!

http://h30411.www3.hp.com/sessions/48376-Guided_tour_of_web_2_0_tools?mcid=TwitterA guided tour of web 2.0 for educators

http://jeffthomastech.com/blog/?p=11269

Cowen: 11/14/11 twitter.com/#!/cdcowen; paper.li/cdcowen; slideshare.net/carolyndcowen 3

Regular postings on various ed-tech resources

Twitter Tools – more to come!

http://twitpic.com/Post photos or videos on Twitter in real time. Haven’t done this myself …. yet! Looks interesting.

http://paper.li/I turned to paper.li when I became overwhelmed trying to keep up with tweets, which happens as you follow more people. Paper.li organized my tweeter feed into a newspaper format—much easier for a non-digital native to scan and digest at the end of the day! It also turns you into a curator of content and you begin acquiring subscribers to your paper.li. Finally, it makes it easy to re-tweet content, which you can do directly from your own paper.li or from others you subscribe to. I haven’t learned yet how to be more selective about the content that gets published in my paper.li, but I have noticed that others have figured this out. Probably it is just a matter of spending the time to learn. I think this tool has potential for being very powerful.

www. hootsuite .com A social media dashboard that allows you to post and monitor Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more—making everything much more manageable. It also provides Klout scores and various analytics. But the reason I like HootSuite is that I can schedule a series of thoughtful or promotional tweets well in advance, and then splice them on an ongoing basis with current topics.

Pay it forward!

As you come across really great material that you think will help other literacy leaders learn about various aspects of Twitter, pop us a tweet and we’ll include some of the best suggestions. (See my twitter address below.) Yes, this is a bit old-school. Maybe we’ll create some kind of Twitter wiki just for Literate Nation in the future, but for now ….

Cowen: 11/14/11 twitter.com/#!/cdcowen; paper.li/cdcowen; slideshare.net/carolyndcowen 4