When it comes to exciting ways to boost personal learning, few activities can match the personal learning empowerment of Twitter chats. Not only are Twitter chats great for building a personal learning network, they provide a personalized, on-demand method of learning through a conversational timeline. Education themed Twitter chats occur every day of the week throughout the year. Here is the "official" schedule of education chats on Twitter. (Credit; @cybraryman1@conniehamilton @thomascmurray @cevans5095 @jrochelle )
Initially, the pace and flow of Twitter chats can be a bit hectic and confusing, but here are three helpful hacks to make Twitter chats enjoyable learning and relationship-building conversations. First off, Twitter chats are scheduled meetings, typically lasting an hour, focusing on school / education topics. Participants are able to focus into the conversation stream by isolating the chat hashtag (#). There are hundreds of education chat hashtags including the popular; #edchat, #satchat, #edtech, and #tlap. Whether a lurker, participant, or moderator, there are strategies to help make the most of the Twitter chat experience.
Lurkers, despite the negative sounding term, are learners who have their toes dangling in the water, but are not quite ready to jump in. Not to worry, nearly all Twitter chat participants start out by lurking. Twitter lurkers learn by observing the interactions of the chat moderators and participants. Here are three ways in which lurkers can enhance their Twitter chat experience.
Initially, the pace and flow of Twitter chats can be a bit hectic and confusing, but here are three helpful hacks to make Twitter chats enjoyable learning and relationship-building conversations. First off, Twitter chats are scheduled meetings, typically lasting an hour, focusing on school / education topics. Participants are able to focus into the conversation stream by isolating the chat hashtag (#). There are hundreds of education chat hashtags including the popular; #edchat, #satchat, #edtech, and #tlap. Whether a lurker, participant, or moderator, there are strategies to help make the most of the Twitter chat experience.
Lurkers, despite the negative sounding term, are learners who have their toes dangling in the water, but are not quite ready to jump in. Not to worry, nearly all Twitter chat participants start out by lurking. Twitter lurkers learn by observing the interactions of the chat moderators and participants. Here are three ways in which lurkers can enhance their Twitter chat experience.
- FOCUS - Use an app like TweetDeck to isolate the chat conversation in a column created with the chat hashtag. I find the chat easier to follow if I create a search column for the chat hashtag, as well as, one for the moderator. This helps keep track of questions if I drift into a tertiary conversation. Expert lurkers will follow people who contribute to their learning. These contributors become apparent quickly. "Elegant lurkers", as David White calls them, have developed techniques for tuning out some of the Twitter noise to better focus on meaningful contributions.
- RECORD - 140 characters can be restrictive when people have something to contribute to the chat. Chat participants will add media, graphics, and hyperlinks in their tweets. It's good to have a bookmarking system established to grab and save relevant resources for further review. I use Flipboard to automate the curating process. However, Pocket, Evernote, and Delicious make excellent repositories for curated resources. Like some tweeps, I use Twitter for social bookmarking.
- REFLECT - Lurkers gain confidence through picking up the "pseudo-shorthand" structure of tweets. (Anatomy of a Tweet) Taking notes, sketchnoting, or composing a reflective summary of the chat, helps lurkers process themes, and transfer learning to other educational pursuits. Conscientious moderators will provide a transcript of the chat so others can review the conversation timeline at their convenience. Storify is a popular and effective tool for archiving Twitter chats. When shared transparently these notes, observations, and reflections help others to "learn from the learner".
Related Resources
The Teacher's Guide to Twitter - Edudemic
Elegant Lurking - David White
Twitter Chats 101 - Buffer Social, Nicole Miller
The Best Twitter Chats For Teachers in 2015 - Te@chThought
The Best Twitter Chats For Teachers in 2015 - Te@chThought
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