Twitter Reflection

Before this course I had never used Twitter. I vaguely understood how it worked. I knew from seeing Twitter referenced on TV, in magazines, and on websites, that @ marked twitter handles for tweeters and # hashtags related tweets of the same content. However,  I thought it was just for keeping up with the latest celeb gossip and pop culture news. I never imagined the wealth of education resources on Twitter.

Some of the most useful tweeters that I found in my Twitter Feed included: @mathchat, @NCTM, @DiscoveryEd, and @maggiev.   Unfortunately, many of the education tweets that came up in my Twitter Feed were related to Education Politics, which I would rather not have to filter through when looking for classroom ideas. When searching for information on twitter I would use hashtag searches like: #edtech, #math, #teaching, #mathchat, #edtechnology. Through these twitter searches I would find links to useful information that other educators had found useful and wanted to share with fellow educators. I enjoyed the @mathchat tweets the most because they provided the most useful information that I could directly apply to my curriculum. Searches for #edtech and #edtechnology lead me to a variety a resources that were helpful when looking for information for assignments in this course and technology use in the classroom.

I could see using Twitter as one tool to relay information to parents and students on class/school news. Even though all parents and students may not have a twitter account, it is still a great option for those who do. The key to great parent communication is to use a variety of media to get the word out. Teachers could tweet about school functions, upcoming assignments, exams, fundraisers, ect. The tweets may be hashtagged #YourSchoolsName or #MrsCollinsClass.

I think that by refining the list of who I follow on Twitter, it would be an even better resource for finding information that will help me improve my teaching and curriculum. There is a wide variety of useful information on twitter. I just need to filter out some of the information that is not useful to me personally. However, I think using it as a tool for communicating with parents and teachers is how I would more than likely use Twitter in the future.

 

For more information on “Finding Valuable Information on Twitter” you can visit Michele Eaton’s Blog http://www.teaching-with-technology.com/2012/02/part-3-developing-pln-finding-valuable.html