Twitter in a Nutshell

So... What's the BIG deal? Who cares what I had for breakfast, right? Twitter can be much more than that. But first, some background. Twitter is a 'Micro Blog', meaning that users can post their thoughts in 140 characters or less. Each update is referred to as a 'tweet' These tweets are automatically posted or 'pushed' to the tweeter's followers Anyone with an account can follow anyone else, and receive their tweets. There are tags or attributes that enable a more rich, interactive experience... ...Re-tweets will pass on a post from a person you follow to those that follow you, so information can spread rapidly. ...@username, or 'At Replies' are like a direct line to a user. They send a direct message to a user along with your post or retweet. ...#keyword, or 'Hash Tags' allow you, and anyone else using the tag, to view all tweets that include it. Twitter and search engines can search for these tags as well. Can't fit it all in? You can include links to web pages, videos, anything online. You build your own experience by who you follow, and what you tweet. Can it be used in a different way? Can it have more meaning? Yes Follow smart people and you will learn from them. A LOT. Say smart things, and smart people will follow you. Ask your smart followers questions, and you will get good answers. It's also a quick and easy way to 'push' updates about what you are doing in class to parents... ...and easily remind students what happened in class that day, and where they can get the resources used. Can twitter be an effective tool? http://twitter.com/sedcclint First off, thank you Dr. Tim Tyson for covering most of the items we'll discuss today... Instead of 'What are you doing?' encourage your students to tweet 'What are you learning?' or 'What questions are you having?' Answer questions and instruct your students anytime, anywhere - virtual office hours! Students could even answer each others questions - perish the thought... Here's how: