Upgrading Online Conference Slides: June 2015: Twitter Slides

Showing posts with label Twitter Slides. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Twitter Slides. Show all posts

Twitter Slides Overview

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Overall Plan. I'll be covering lots of Twitter features in this presentation, and I hope it can be useful both for Twitter beginners as well as for people who are using Twitter already. If you are already a Twitter user, please chime in with your own ideas and tips during the presentation using the hashtag for the conference: #UOConference. If you have room, include my handle so that I can make sure to catch each tweet: @OnlineCrsLady.

Slide Pages. Each slide page has a few chosen words plus a graphic or active Twitter content, and there is also additional information below the slide if you scroll on down. I prepared this presentation in considerable haste at the last minute when another presenter had to cancel, so the notes are not detailed; leave a comment if anything is not clear, and I'll expand on the notes as needed!

Ask Questions, Please! You can ask questions via the Adobe chat if there are items you'd like me to go over in more detail, or you can use Twitter: #UOConference. In addition, you can contact me after the talk with any questions you have (Twitter, G+, or email: laurakgibbs@gmail.com).

About the Blog. I've also explained here how and why I hacked a blog to be like a slideshow (it's an experiment I've always wanted to try). After the presentation is over, I'll move the widgets at the bottom of the pages to go in a sidebar, and the blog will look much more like a blog!

Here is a list of "slide" posts in the presentation:

Twitter confession

I am not a Twitter expert by any means, but I am a big Twitter fan, and I hope that by filling in for a missing presenter here in the program I can share some Twitter tips and tricks that will be useful to you! [next]

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Additional comments:

For those of you who are Twitter users, please chime in at Twitter with your favorite tips and tricks, and how Twitter is useful to you as an educator. Use the #UOConference hashtag, and I'll go back and create a Storify with people's ideas. Thanks in advance for your contributions! :-)

The graphic is from Pixabay (CC0).

The power of the PLN

I remember the first time I heard the phrase PLN: personal learning network, just a few years ago — and now I cannot imagine working without my the help of my PLN, for which Twitter is a great nexus of connections. [next]

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Additional comments:

The image is from a blog post by Jackie Gerstein, one of my favorite edu-bloggers: Learning: It’s All About the Connections. And yes, you can find her at Twitter: @JackieGerstein.

For specific ideas about Twitter and how educators can use them to build their PLN and connect with both colleagues and students, the Twitter-tagged articles at Profhacker are a great place to browse.

Are there some people and/or organizations who are key players in your personal learning network? If so, give them a shout-out with the #UOConference hashtag!

Model users

When I first got started using Twitter, one model user I watched closely was World Literature Today at my school. I learned so much from paying careful attention to how they use Twitter! [next]

Tweets by @worldlittoday

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World Literature Today also inspired me to start using Pinterest; they have some wonderful Pinterest Boards: World Literature Today Pinterest. There are a lot (a LOT) of different organizations at my school using social media for various purposes, but World Literature Today was the organization that was using it to promote literature and the arts in a way that really resonated with me!

Do you have a model user — either a person or an organizational Twitter presence — which has really inspired you in your use of Twitter? If so, share with the #UOConference hashtag!

Twitter and other social networks

My main social network is Google+ but it's easy to strike a balance between the two because they are so different, and the same is true for using both Twitter and Facebook, etc. Find YOUR best balance! [next]

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Additional comments:

The infographic points out some distinctive features of the different networks, but it's important to remember that everybody uses these powerful tools in their own, different ways. For example, my use of Google+ as an educator is very different from the way a photographer might use Google+, and when it comes to a social network like Pinterest, my educational goals are not even close to the "typical" Pinterest user. Don't worry about what's typical, though: just figure out which network(s) are most useful for you, and then think about how you can best coordinate your efforts across networks.

Have you come up with a good combination of social networks for education? If so, share with the #UOConference hashtag!

Infographic is from Search Engine Watch.

Twitter for teachers

Especially if you are just getting started, here's a useful infographic: Twitter For Teachers, and a link to the full-sized image. [next]

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Additional comments:

If you are interested in more infographics and articles about twitter for educators, just Google Twitter for educators — you'll find lots of links!

Do you have some favorite infographics and "getting started" tip sheets? If so, share with the #UOConference hashtag!

Twitter Chats

A Twitter chat relies on a hashtag to conduct an online conversation in real time, and it's become very popular with educators, going back to #edchat which began back in 2009! [next]

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Additional comments:

Twitter chats are really easy to organize, with a few questions decided in advance to help pace the discussion. One of the things you'll notice if you participate in a Twitter chat is that the moderator will release the "question" tweets periodically during the chat, with the questions labeled Q1, Q2, etc. People can then put A1, A2, etc. at the beginning of their tweets as they respond, in addition to including the hashtag. Including the A1 in your tweet is helpful, but the essential thing is to include the hashtag: the hashtag is what holds the chat together.

Are there some educational Twitter chats in which you participate? If so, share with the #UOConference hashtag!

Twitter Chat: #OpenTeachingOU

I am really proud that we started to use Twitter chats at my school during the Spring 2015 semester, with plans to continue in Fall. Here's a Storify from our last chat of the semester: [next]

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Additional comments:

You can find out more from the blog we created to support our chats here: #OpenTeachingOU. In particular, you will find some administrative information that might be useful if you want to organize your own Twitter chat.

I'll be explaining more about Storify in an upcoming slide.

Upgrading Online Chat

You can find lots of great education-related Twitter chats out there . . . including some Twitter chats from the nice people at Upgrading Online! Here are their chats from last year. [next]

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Additional comments:

You may notice people you follow at Twitter participating in chats since the things they tweet for the chat are part of their timeline. So, don't be shy to just join in when you see a chat going on. You may also find chats happening as back-channels for conferences. You can find a calendar of chats here: Education Chats.

Twitter for cMOOCs

One of the main reasons I started using Twitter a lot was because I wanted to participate in online learning experiences like #ccourses, #Rhizo15, and #clmooc. Twitter can be your virtual classroom! [next]

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Additional comments:

One of my biggest complaints about MOOC providers like Coursera or Janux (my school's MOOC program) is that their software does not have good integration with Twitter, even though it is so easy to embed a Twitter widget in any kind of web environment, as you can see. If you really want people both to explore and to make connections, Twitter is a really important tool, and the fact that the Coursera software did not have any Twitter-awareness (maybe they have since fixed that...?) was, to me, a sign that they really had not thought about what it would take to create a truly social environment for learning.

Have you participated in a cMOOC that you would like to recommend? Was Twitter an important part of that experience for you? Share your reflections with the #UOConference hashtag!

Twitter for emergencies

Twitter is also useful during tech outages and real-world emergenices. When there are weather emergencies in Oklahoma, for example, the Mesonet feed is where I look for information. [next]

Tweets by @okmesonet

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Additional comments:

Twitter is also very useful during computer outages. At least once a year, there is some kind of email and/or website outage which takes my university offline, but because IT staff can update Twitter with their mobile phones, you can usually get the latest information about the outage at Twitter.

Have you relied on Twitter during a real-life emergency? If so, share your story with the #UOConference hashtag!

Multiple accounts

I use two Twitter accounts: OnlineCrsLady AND OnlineMythIndia for my Myth-Folklore and India classes. For me, the easiest way to keep them separate is to be logged in with separate browsers. [next]

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Additional comments:

Making the decision to start a new Twitter account for my class was really liberating for me; I'd been trying to use just one account to accomplish both tasks, and it was really awkward. As soon as I created the new account for my class Twitter, everything fell into place. So if you are feeling really discombobulated in your Twitter usage, you might need to think about having two different accounts, or even more!

The two-browser solution works great for me, but there are other tools for managing multiple accounts, like Tweetdeck, which I'll discuss in a later slide.

Do you use multiple accounts? And what prompted you to do that? Share your strategies with the #UOConference hashtag!

Twitter Profiles

Make good use of your Twitter profile by filling in the available fields, including an avatar picture. You can always change your avatar later. I use a fox for my avatar at Twitter as I do at all my social networks. [next]

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Additional comments:

It's easy to fill out the profile, and it really does make a big difference if you can add a few words plus a link to your main online space. In addition to the profile, you can adjust lots of Twitter preferences, which I'll discuss in a later slide: Your Twitter Account Settings.

Ever since I first started using social networks (for me it was Ning, back in 2007), I've been using variations on the fox as my avatar. You can see my OnlineCrsLady fox above, and I use a Fox-in-Socks postage stamp for my OnlineMythIndia class account (and that's also my avatar in the course management system, D2L, at my school).

And why a fox? Because the fox is the arch-trickster in Aesop's fables, and Aesop's fables are my academic speciality. Go, foxes!!!

Does your avatar picture have a story that goes with it? And do you use the same avatar across different spaces, or different pictures for different spaces? Share your avatar stories with the #UOConference hashtag!

Twitter Handles

If you include @[handle] in a tweet, the person gets notified. Here's an example of a tweet that notifies my colleague Keegan (@CraZyIriShman7) — we're both doing #CLMOOC. [next]

a smashing un-intro #CLMOOC: meet @CraZyIriShman7 smashed into puzzle pieces. Can U find him? http://t.co/QUul55l491 pic.twitter.com/1ht8CCagBT
— Laura Gibbs (@OnlineCrsLady) June 22, 2015

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Additional comments:

You can click on someone's handle in any tweet to see their profile in a pop-up window, and that will show their name in addition to their handle.

When you type someone's name in a tweet following the ampersand, you can type their name or their handle, and Twitter will try to autocomplete for you (and it usually does a good job, especially if you are already following that person).

I've heard people argue that educators should always use their real names instead of a made-up handle at Twitter, but I'm ambivalent about that, especially now that Twitter makes your name so easily discoverable. There's nothing special about my handle, but I do like the way that when I set up my class Twitter I could pair it up that way with my existing handle: OnlineCrsLady and OnlineMythIndia. And some of my favorite Twitter people have really creative and memorable handles like the great canines dogtrax and cogdog.

Does your Twitter handle have a story that goes with it? If so, share with the #UOConference hashtag!

Composing a tweet

Yes, they really are not kidding: you only get 140 characters. That is HARD for me. Over time, though, I've gotten better at it, but it's still hard not to use commas where I know they belong! :-) [next]

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Additional comments:

You can find all kinds of abbreviation lists and dictionaries online. Just like with any dictionary, look up abbreviations that you don't recognize. You'll find the answer, no problem!

I'll confess that I am really fond of OMG and LOL and IMO even when I'm not typing under Twitter's character count constraints. Do you have any favorite abbreviations that have become part of your online vocabulary? If so, share with the #UOConference hashtag!

This particular chart is from E-PRO® Blog.

Images in tweets

The ability to include images in tweets is crucial for me; I try to include an image in my tweets whenever I can. I also pay more attention to tweets with images! My class Twitter stream especially is FULL of images. [next]

Tweets by @OnlineMythIndia

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Additional comments:

Sometimes a Twitter image might not fully display, but you will see a "view photo" link that will expand the photo link for you. You can also include more than one image, but that can start to look very strange; it's better to use a more congenial webspace for multiple images (a blog post, Flickr, etc.) and just link to that from your Twitter.

I'm usually not sharing actual photos at Twitter, although there are all kinds of features related to photo-sharing. You can find out more here: Posting photos on Twitter.

Videos in tweets

I love the way that videos will show up even in a Twitter widget, complete with a tiny media viewer option that lets you play the video in the widget. The video also plays in an embedded tweet! [next]

Watching @maatibaani 's Funky Pawa video always puts me in a good mood!!! :-) https://t.co/AscsNSAQwJ Animation by Ekabhuya! #OU4993
— Laura Gibbs (@OnlineMythIndia) June 23, 2015

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Additional comments:

In addition to having a class Twitter feed, I have dedicated my YouTube channel to music that would be of interest to the students in my Indian Epics class. If you like Maati Baani, you can find their playlist and more Indian music at my YouTube channel.

You can also upload your own videos at Twitter, although that is not something I have ever done! Here is the Twitter help page for sharing your own videos via Twitter: Life, camera, action.

Do you have a favorite YouTube or Vimeo or other video that you use in your teaching? Share with the #UOConference hashtag!

The power of Hashtags

Hashtags are one of the most powerful features for making connections at Twitter... and they can be a lot of fun! This infographic lists some of the hashtags you might commonly find in tweets by educators. [next]

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Additional comments:

Hashtags are a truly fascinating linguistic phenomena. If you are interested in learning more, follow Gretchen McCulloch, a linguistic who likes hashtags. She writes at Slate, and you can also find her at her blog and on Twitter of course.

Wikipedia also has a detailed article: Hashtags.

I found the infographic at School Library Journal.

Using Hashtags

You can click on a hashtag on a tweet to see more tweets with that hashtag, and you can also do a hashtag search. Pay attention to Top versus All result options. It defaults to "top" but you will probably want to see "all" instead. [next]

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Additional comments:

The hashtag search, including the "all" versus "top" parameters, are part of the URL, which means you can bookmark a hashtag in your browser bookmarks and access it whenever you want. So, for example, here is the URL I see when I click on the #clmooc hashtag in a tweet:

https://twitter.com/hashtag/clmooc?src=hash

Here's what happens when I switch from the default "top" to "all" tweets instead:

https://twitter.com/hashtag/clmooc?f=realtime&src=hash

That "f=realtime" in the URL is the parameter that gives you all tweets. You can bookmark the option you prefer and have access to the hashtag with just a single click at any time.

RT: Retweet

Retweet other people's tweets is a big part of what makes Twitter a strong network: you are helping to spread valuable information when you retweet! [next]

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Additional comments:

When you retweet, the people who follow you will see the items you retweet, with a little indication above the tweet that the retweet came from you. So, you should retweet those items that you want to be part of your Twitter stream.

Each person strikes their own balance between how much they retweet and how much of their stream consists of their own tweets. My class Twitter consists almost entirely of retweets, but my OnlineCrsLady account is a mix of original tweets and retweets.

That Chaucer Doth Tweet account is one of my very favorite Twitter accounts. Sometimes he goes on a "road trip" with Dante, too! Very fun stuff.

Do you have some favorite fun Twitter accounts that you follow? Share with the #UOConference hashtag!

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