Loving this story of how Twitter changed a classroom and connecting globally. From the article

“Now, some four months after signing onto Twitter, my class and the classes of five colleagues have joined this program and are in touch with classrooms of same aged students in Romania, Hawaii and Canada. For students who have not, on the whole, had the opportunity to travel outside of their own suburb, this contact has provided a chance to connect with real people in real time about the issues, ideas, fears, changes and worries which are universal to all teenagers. I nearly cried when one of my least interested students began asking me for spelling and grammar tips because she didn’t want her new pen friend to think she was a ‘moron’. “Plus we’re probably the first Australians that they’ve met aren’t we Miss?” she said. I agreed that this was probably the case. When she replied “So we best make a good impression huh?!” I think I may have actually shed a tear or two.” http://awe.sm/5pAbK

mediaconsumesme:

Before this class, I was an extremely irresponsible Twitter-user. I posted daily (hourly) complaints and useless dribble. I never fully realized Twitter’s potential until I began researching how to use it effectively. Since then, I have become much more responsible with my Tweets, and I have an…

Learning to use Twitter well can improve your life. It has for me (although I am not perfect either.)

(via journalismworkshops)

This teacher has students write a 140 character Tweet for each chapter that must include most important events from the chapter. This would be a struggle but would also require students to think about what is most important. 

A 10 minute video to help someone get started with Twitter.

A ton of creative Twitter Tools. IF you love Twitter, you’ll find some cool ways to use these Twitter tools.

Excellent article about the research from several researchers about Tweets that are compelling and those that are turn-offs. This and the original research are both great reads.

“One piece of advice: Nix the “sandwich tweets.” People do not care what you are eating for lunch. (Specifically: “Sorry, but I don’t care what people are eating,” “too much personal info,” “He moans about this ALL THE TIME. Seriously.”) Twitter, as a communications platform, has evolved beyond nascent Twttr’s charmingly mundane updates (“cleaning my apartment”; “hungry”) and into something more crowd-conscious and curatorial. Though Twitter won’t necessarily replace traditional news, it increasingly functions as a real-time newswire, disseminating and amplifying information gathered from the world and the web.

This report is a comprehensive one for any course discussing social media to review. It provides feedback on why some tweets do well and others don’t.

positivelypersistentteach:

I’d love to have more time / energy to write these types of things.   Most of the Tumblr teachers I know are using facebook regularly, but I think a lot of us miss out on what an asset (in addition to Tumblr of course) that Twitter can be for educators.  Here’s a good little guide to look into if you have the time.

Facebook and Twitter guides for educators.