Micro-Blogs

HOW TO: Set Up a Twitter Account

September 4, 2012 Laura Pasquini

Go to http://twitter.com and find the sign up box, or go directly to https://twitter.com/signup.
Create a Twitter account. If you are creating a Twitter account for a specific purpose or class requirement, you might want to read Disposable Twitter Accounts for Classroom Use by @ProfHacker – The Chronicle of Higher Education
Enter your full name, email address, and a password.
Click “Sign up for Twitter.”
On the next page, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter) — type your own or choose one Twitter suggests. Twitter will tell you if the username you want is available.
Double-check your name, email address, password, and username.
Click Create my account. You may be asked to complete a Captcha to let Twitter know that you are human and not a spam bot.
Twitter will send a confirmation email to the address you entered on sign up, click the link in that email to confirm your email address and account.
Add a photo (preferably a head shot) and write a short bio about you.

Resources:
Twitter in Plain English – YouTube http://bit.ly/ruNe4g
How to Sign Up for Twitter via the Twitter Help Center
A Beginner’s Guide to Twitter via ReadWriteWeb
Twitter Basics [VIDEO] http://www.jasonrhode.com/twitterbasics
45 Simple Twitter Tips Everyone Should Know About | Edudemic
7 Free Tools For Integrating Twitter With Your WordPress Blog
BreakDrink Twitter Guide http://breakdrink.com/twitter-guide/

Hashtags & Backchannels
Hashtag: A symbol used in Twitter messages, the # symbol, used to identify keywords or topics in a Tweet. The hashtag was an organic creation by Twitter users as a way to categorize Twitter messages and link keywords posted. Our class will use #ugstJOUR hashag on Twitter.

What Are Hashtags? via the Twitter Help Center
#Hashtag + Community = Learning? « TechKNOW Tools
How Hashtagging the Web Could Improve Our Collective Intelligence via Mashable
Backchannel in Education – Nine Uses
10 Ways Twitter Is Reinventing the College Lecture – Online Universities

Learning Community, Micro-Blogs, PLE, PLN, web 2.0

Happy My Twitter Story Day! #mytwitterstory

November 16, 2011November 16, 2011 Laura Pasquini

I often talk about my personal learning network (PLN); however I cannot deny that a large part my PLN is located on Twitter. In honour of the #MyTwitterStory Share event happening today, I will tell you about my Twitter experience, involvement and why I engage. Thanks for your story and initiating the #mytwitterstory blog prompt, @michaelmgrant.

Once upon a Twittersphere, there was a Canadian Princess Laura who moved to Texas to for a new job, new place, new academic program, and a new life adventure. While relocating from the metropolitan county of Toronto to to the Dallas realm, she thought it was wise to stay connected to friends, family and colleagues she was leaving behind. Princess Laura was socially connected via Facebook, Skype, blogging, Flickr, LinkedIn and more. Then in August 2008, she was introduced to Twitter by a new @NACADA friend, Eric Stoller, who wanted to use this tech tool for the 1st #NACADAtech Seminar.

Although Princess Laura was not quite sure about the 140-character perimeters or the random personal updates, she did fancy the cute little bird and thought she would keep an open mind about it. In the beginning, Princess @laurapasquini decided to lurk on Twitter to figure out why others were using this social media tool. Through her observation, Princess Laura discovered a couple of great learning opportunities using Twitter (and other social web resources with@courosa ‘s #ECI831 and #CCK09 facilitated by @gsiemens & @olddaily. While engaging in these open, online classes Princess Laura found the value in connecting to others to share resources, swap ideas, hold discussions and ask questions. Twitter was a space to participate in on-going learning and training initiatives to enhance her personal & professional development. The experiences in open learning courses, conference backchannels, Twitter lists, hashtag communities, following supportive Tweeters, and the participation in a few of the many Twitter Chats opened Princess @laurapasquini up to the educational potential of the Twittersphere.

By using third-party clients like Hootsuite & Seesmic, Princess @laurapasquini was able to discover the power of micro-blogging with great learning communities such as #edtech, #SAchat, #AcAdv, #SAtech, #HigherEd and MORE! Princess @laurapasquini continues to archive her tweets & URLs to her Delicious account via packrati.us, which also pays it forward and shares and RTs. Now Princess @laurapasquini places great value in the tweets of others for news, information, trends and happenings for her personal, professional and academic interests.

This Twitter tale really expresses Princess @laurapasquini’s love for her PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORK…

maintaining old and new CONNECTIONS…

and most of the FRIENDS who make her #MyTwitterStory complete.

The End! [Or is it? Follow along for more Twitter tales @laurpasquini.]

Learning Community, Micro-Blogs

Teaching with Twitter

April 29, 2009August 29, 2017 Laura Pasquini

Some college students may be introduced to instructors & courses that ENCOURAGE micro blogging with Twitter.

Twitter is becoming a fast buzz in both media and celebrity circles, however, I think that more teachers are beginning to realize the power this social media tool for learning.

Here are a few benefits for professors who experiment with Twitter as a teaching tool:

source of news
opinions of peers
gain knowledge from experts
live & archived tweeting in class
capture lecture content
add depth to lecture material
build a learning community inside & beyond the classroom

For those faculty/instructors who might consider tweeting in class, I might recommend that you start up your own Twitter account and play with it. Also, be sure to read up about strategies &tools that to optimize learning with Twitter.

I personally like TweetDeck (an Adobe Air-based app) to organize & categorize my tweets. I can clearly see my messages, replies and content areas I am interested in at a quick glance. Some categories I use for tweets include Higher Ed, Web Tools, Career Research, T.O., Students, etc.

Are YOU tweeting with your students? If so, please share!

Micro-Blogs, Social Media

What the Tweet?

March 11, 2009May 31, 2019 Laura Pasquini

There’s a whole lot of buzz in the news, on the political scene and elsewhere about micro-blogging with Twitter. As an educator, you decided to join to see what the tweet it was all about.

The good news is that educators CAN use this social media tool to connect with resources & individuals in their profession. Be sure to check out The Top 100 Edu Tweeters who share great resources, information & news about education.

Here are a few that I have been following on Twitter [and I am sure that a few more will be added shortly]:

@OpenUniversity: The Open University offers university education to everyone, and shares tips, news, and developments through this Twitter stream.
@utpress: This Tweeter offers news from Canada’s oldest and largest scholarly publisher.
@Librarian: This tweeter works to “reach the parts other libraries have yet to reach.”
@edventures: John Martin is a technology architect for higher education.
@eduguru: Follow edguru to learn about Internet marketing and web development for higher education.
@higheredu: Higher Edu works to get colleges and universities on Twitter.