TwitterWhat, Why and How

Scientix ConferenceBrussels May 7th, 2011

@tarukekkonen

5-year old microblogging service Interaction between people and

organisations Features from blogs, chats, discussion

forums and e-mails Based on messages not more than 140

characters long Status updates (what are you doing / what’s

happening / what’s on your mind) More about listening than shouting

What

March 21st 2006 first tweet by @jack 3 years, 2 months and 1 day – the time from

first to billionth tweet 1 week – the time it now takes for users to

send a billion tweets 140 million - the average number of tweets

people send a day now (March 2011) 460 000 - average number of new accounts

per dayhttp://blog.twitter.com/2011/03/numbers.html

Twitter in Numbers

Follow anyone

President of Finland•followed by 9754•follows 0

I mean, really anyone

President of the United States•followed by 7 606 474•follows 698 381

Connect with people with shared interests Follow news + events Discuss work with colleagues Find help from outside your working

community Tell others what gets your attention right

now Build your PLN (personal learning network) Integrate in teaching

What for?

Be interesting and interested Share links Ask for help Reply Retweet Mention and use #hashtags Promote others (including your students’

work) Inform about your upcoming events

”You are what you tweet”

Tweet – an individual post / to send an individual post

@username – an open message for one of your followers’ attention

DR = Direct Message – a private message directly and only to one of your followers

RT = Retweet – to forward someone else’s tweet to your followers

#Hashtag – a tag that helps track themes and discussions

Twitter Terminology

@tarukekkonen included in a tweet means that someone wants to tell me something or wants me to notice something

@mention

Reply to someone’s tweet by clicking the reply-button below the message (includes the @)

reply

Retweet (RT) interesting tweets from other users to your followers

retweet

Placing the student on the focusActive participation and learningProducing contentConstructing knowledge

Learning communication skills Collaboration with others Connecting students with peers, teachers

and professionals Building personal learning network (PLN)

What’s in there for students?

Engages the learners in more active ways (from receivers to producers)

Easy to track each student’s participation◦ The process becomes visible and is easy to

evaluate if needed Connects the students to a world of

knowledge, experts and resources Opens the school doors / expands the

communication beyond classroom

For Teachers

Letting parents know what you, your school and your students are up to

Opening a window to the school life Once the students are hooked, they don’t

even notice they start sharing their school life with their parents

For Parents

Information and communication skills Media literacy Information literacy ICT literacy Thinking and problem solving skills Interpersonal and self-directional skills

21st Century Skills

Making content relevant to students’ lives Bringing the world into the classroom Taking the students out into the world Creating opportunities for students to

interact with each other, with teachers and with other knowledgeable adults in authentic learning experiences

Source:http://www.thesmartbean.com/magazine/21st-century-skills-magazine/what-are-21st-

century-skills/

How to support these skills at school

Easy to use All about interaction Promotes networking Available on multiple devices Free At its best when mobile

But why Twitter?

Share your experiences at this conference via Twitter?

Hashtag is #scientix Report on what you find interesting (in order to

remember it later, too) Report on what you think others might find

interesting Share tips and links Give feedback to the organizers and speakers Reply to others Retweet interesting tweets Be concise = stick to 140 characters

Why not tweet here and now?

More on http://moodle.scientix.eu

Taru KekkonenTwitter @tarukekkonen

Email taru.kekkonen@otavanopisto.fiSkype taruottawasta

Thanks, tweet you soon!