Twitter: Beyond the Fast and Furious

Q: A tweet is so much more than a 140-character text. Can’t Ts or Ss pose a question to followers or to a hashtag and invite discussion?

Social media for learning comes in many forms, but my focus for this post is on Twitter-its unique features and uses in the #EdTech world.

Edu, Bus, Gov, anyone with a message has the potential to connect with a large local or global audience quickly. #MAPS #digitalfootprint

My sample tweets above attempt to demonstrate not only how to compress words into abbreviations, but also in applying all elements of the MAPS heuristic, how to craft a tweet with purpose and creativity. Hicks (2013) points out that we can do this effectively “if we understand our audience and the situation” and if we pay attention to framing the tweet (p. 142). Using hashtags and ‘at replies’ in specific tweets, the writer can identify and expand the audience surrounding a topic. Fitting the desired meaning, enough details, and any #s or @s into the tweet frame is the challenge of crafting the perfect tweet. I prefer not to go overboard with hashtags, placing them strategically into my message or at the end when necessary. If people see my message and are prompted to reply, the conversation begins. They might also favorite my comment or retweet it to their feed, which will bring even more people into the discussion. 

If you are not yet comfortable with composing a new tweet on your own feed, then start off by watching others tweet, like #USedchat, #edtech or #elemchat. In live Twitter chats, educators often use the ‘Q’ to begin the next phase of a discussion. Participants who want to submit a response simply put ‘A’ and the number of the question to start their tweet. Everyone involved in the live chat uses the # chatname in every tweet so it posts to the chat for everyone in the audience to see. Education Twitter chats happen every week, and it is easy to find and participate in these for a higher level and quite unique professional development experience. You do not have to tweet or reply; many first-timers watch the feed and just take it all in. 

In this excerpt from the Nov. 17 #ALedchat, you can see how the Q and A style promotes intense and thoughtful discussion among education leaders in Alabama and across the U.S. This type of PD is increasingly popular with teachers and administrators who struggle for time to connect with colleagues and who are looking for innovative ideas and creative solutions to everyday issues. Busy schedules, family time, and personal commitments mean limited space in the week or month for our own learning. Few options are more effective than learning from other educators in a digital professional learning community consistently each week.


Once you get past the fast and seemingly chaotic nature of Twitter, you begin to appreciate the convenience of finding creative ideas and instant information directly from others. You may know your connections personally or they may be educators from across the country that you have never met. The same is true for students who use social media; they can have a global audience too. Guiding students through the digital writing process for social media promotes the goal of being intentional about their writing (p. 140) and creating a strong digital footprint (p. 153). The power and responsibility that come along with hypermedia is immense. I agree with Hicks’ statement, “we need to see the increasing ease of use and compatibility of web-based writing tools as a new means of producing digital writing, one that will both meet Common Core State Standards and engage writers” (p. 155). We can invite students and colleagues into the fast and furious world of social media for learning and for developing writing skills. 

Keeping up with so much at once can be challenging, so I sometimes use TweetDeck to monitor my Twitter feed and other conversations going on. This can be an alternate way to immerse yourself in Twitter without actually tweeting. Since Twitter does involve creating an account, knowing about other similar tools like Today’s Meet and Twiducate is helpful when you want students to participate. No matter what level of experience you have with social media, its benefits far outweigh the risks and it is a virtual learning space you can visit anywhere, anytime.

References:

Hicks, T. (2013) Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres.