All tweets on deck

Well what about TweetDeck? How did it go?

Was it really useful? How do you know?

TweetDeck is super, it helps me a lot,

I love the columns and never get caught.

When I began this inquiry project, I was already sold on the idea of Twitter. I was using it daily, creating a PLN of educators and finding lots of great information, ideas and food for thought. However, I was finding managing the information flow into my Twitter account overwhelming and did not think I was managing it well. Enter TweetDeck - a way to organize the flow of information and keep it manageable.

A PLN or personal learning network, is like differentiated learning. In Why Teachers Should Try Twitter, William Ferriter describes his path to individualized learning (as an educator) through Twitter. 

For educators who use this tool to build a network of people whose Twitter messages connect to their work, Twitter becomes a constant source of new ideas to explore. (Ferriter, 2010).

 In Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter, Laura Knight's reasons are all related to professional growth as a teacher:

• together we're better
• global or local: you choose
• self-awareness and reflective practice
• ideas workshop and sounding board
• newsroom and innovative showcase
• professional development and critical friends
• quality-assured searching
• communicate, communicate, communicate
• getting with the times has never been so easy

Will Richardson (2010) describes Twitter as a "network at my fingertips" for educators (p.86).

So, yes, yes, yes, I am sold on the idea of using Twitter for creating and keeping track of my PLN! I am all over differentiated learning for teachers. I am simply looking for a better way to keep track of it all!

Enter TweetDeck - a platform that allows me to manage the Twitter feeds I follow into columns. I can have columns for various hashtags that I wish to keep track of and can even add my Facebook account into it. Because I am using the Google Chrome add-on of TweetDeck, it shows up as a tab in my web browser which is very convenient. TweetDeck simply enhances my ability to use Twitter and allows me to better take advantage of it.



Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin.

Where am I?

I am still on my web, but where are you?

The spider asks as I wander through.

You've tried so many things on your great big web,

When will you be done? the spider said.

I feel like I need to check in with my progress for this class, and see how I am doing and if I am still on track.

I have been very consumed with creating a video at the moment with students from the environment club at the school. We are putting the final touches on our entry for the BC Green Games. It is created in iMovie, which is not technically Web 2.0, so I am not sure if I should include it as part of my project here.

Anyways . . . where am I?

Facebook

I have set up my Facebook account and have added a bunch of friends. I find it is mostly just something else to check each day for news. I am not interested in most of the items my friends post, but do enjoy seeing the occasional fun photo, etc. I have posted some general questions to my friends and a few pictures of my kids. I have also commented on other's posts.

The most useful part of Facebook for me, so far, is the group that I belong to for the climbing gym where my son trains. I like that the group shows up on my home page and I can immediately see if there is anything new posted by the little number that shows up. This was very useful when there was snow and the gym was cancelled.

I can see how the "group" function would be useful as a school to have for parent communication (elementary) or even for students (secondary).

Twitter or more importantly, Tweetdeck

Part of my inquiry was finding a better way to manage Twitter. I believe I have found that with Tweetdeck.

Integral to my use of Tweetdeck is my installation of Google Chrome. At one point last year, I had actually installed Tweetdeck, but didn't like the fact that it sat on the desktop of my computer. With Chrome, the Tweetdeck plug-in allows it to sit in the web browser on the start-up page. I like this much better.

Tweetdeck has allowed me to organize the information I gather from Twitter. I have also loaded my Facebook account into Tweetdeck, so I can also see my Facebook news feed. I am not sure why the Facebook posts I see are not the same in Tweetdeck as in Facebook. I also can't see the "groups" from Facebook, which means I need to open up Facebook separately as well.

But, overall, I like Tweetdeck. I currently have the following columns:

• Facebook news feed
• Home - which is all the people I follow on Twitter
• #edtech
• #tlchat
• #pbl - for Project Based Learning, but seems to be some sort of foot fetish thing as well
• #frimm - French immersion
• @me - for tweets where I am mentioned
• inbox - for direct messages to me

I can easily skim through the columns and click on things that interest me for more information. I am not feeling as overwhelmed with Twitter now.

Social Bookmarking

I continue to use Diigo personally for keeping track and organizing links, but after exploring the education side of it and finding no filters to the outside world, I don't think I would use it with students.

I have just begun using Pinterest and find it very appealing because it is so visual. I believe this would also appeal to students, so will explore a bit further and see how I might use Pinterest with students.

Blogging

I have explored Kidblog, which I like, and Blogmeister, which I don't. I am excited to have enticed a teacher to begin blogging with her Grade 3/4 class. Next week, I will help her set up Kidblogs for her class.

Still to come:

• Voki
• Glogster
• Voicethread

Stay tuned . . .

Lovin' the deck!

A deck for your tweets, what's that all about?

Sounds like you're balancing words on your snout!

TweetDeck is great, it puts things in a line,

Instead of things wasting too much of my time.

So yes, I am really loving TweetDeck! I actually tried TweetDeck sometime last year when I began using Twitter and didn't like the fact that I had to open up another program on my computer. However, because I am using the Chrome browser, I can now easily open TweetDeck whenever I open up another tab on my browser.

When I started using TweetDeck to follow Twitter, I included Facebook to be included. However, my Facebook messages were all mixed into my general Twitter feed which was kind of weird.

I have since made several columns in TweetDeck, to follow different hashtags of interest and just figured out how to create a column for my Facebook feed as well. This will make TweetDeck even more useful as I won't need to open Facebook to see what is new.

Twitter in the class?

Hey little spider, what do you think?

Will Twitter in the class push the teacher to the brink?

Baby steps are the way I tend to move,

Before the rest of the school can catch up to my groove.

So I am fairly comfortable with Twitter, though it is mostly to gather and find things. I have retweeted a few times, but do not seem to post that much outright. I am just not ready to put all my thoughts and ideas "out there." If I wanted to, I could tweet my posts for this blog - that would get people looking. But . . . I am just not ready for it!

What about in the classroom - how and why should we be using Twitter?

In How to use Twitter in the classroom, Nancy Messieh points out many uses for Twitter in the classroom including:

• connect students using hashtags
• sending assignment reminders
• creating scavenger hunts

While I can see many of these applications useful in secondary school, I think things are a bit more difficult when dealing with elementary students who do not have their own Twitter accounts.  However, Twitter can still be a useful way of connecting teachers and parents.  Additionally, class Twitter accounts can function to allow students to share with a greater audience.

Kist (2010) sees the benefits in using Twitter to help students engage in new literacies, examining the benefits and constraints of limiting one's writing to 140 characters (p. 42) Here is a Twitter Story Competition created by a teacher that does just that. Preparing them for the reality of this type of communication and guiding students to do it effectively will serve them well as they move along in life.

Here are some other fantastic ways to use Twitter in the classroom:

Given that I am not currently a classroom teacher, but rather a teacher-librarian, I think I will continue to urge the teachers at my school to embrace Twitter to enhance their PLNs. Once they are comfortable with this, perhaps I can gently move them into an arena where their classes are using Twitter in a constructive way as well.

References:
Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom: teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin.

Tweetdeck

You need something else to look after the tweets?

Twitter isn't enough to manages your peeps?

Tweetdeck might be a better way for me,

I'll give it a try - just wait and see.

Although exhausted from a full day of work and then two hours at the bank, I did manage to play around a bit last night.

I added Tweetdeck to my Google Chrome browser and played around with it for a while.  I must say that I like how it is embedded right into my Chrome interface and easily accessible when I make a new tab in my browser.

I imported my stuff from both Twitter and Facebook, as I thought this would save me some time as I would only need to check into one place.  However, I didn't like how the Facebook and Twitter were mixed up together so moved the Facebook data.  I think I will play some more, having only my Twitter feeds in the Tweetdeck before trying to add Facebook again.

I like the way the columns are set up in Tweetdeck and how easy it is to add hashtags or lists as separate columns.  I didn't import any of my lists from Twitter as I am not that pleased with them - I may delete them completely and restart with some new columns in Tweetdeck.

I do think this is going to be a better way to manage the information flow in Twitter and I can add new columns as I want to follow various interests.

How's it going?

So how is it going, you've been working so hard?

Twitter and Facebook, no time for the yard!

It's coming along, but it all takes my time.

Thank goodness it is free and not costing a dime!

Twitter Lists

I created some lists within my Twitter account to try to keep things better organized.  I am liking the lists - it allows me to check on various topics that I follow individually, making the entire feed less cluttered.  One thing that I have found (which I read about) is that if I stop following someone, they continue to be on any list they are included in.  There seems to be no way to remove them from the lists.  That is rather frustrating!


Facebook
I have been trying to engage with Facebook since joining up.  I find, however, that it does not interest me all that much.  I have located some faraway friends.  I have also come across some interesting/fun links from some of my friends.  However, much of the posts seem to be happenings of the day that are of no interest to me.  I find it rather ironic as this is what I think many people think of Twitter, yet I find Twitter quite engaging and useful, but am still trying to figure out the appeal of Facebook.  I am trying to engage and have posted some photos and comments, but I am not quite getting it!  Will keep trying!

Mom this is how Twitter works

I still don't get it, the little spider said!

Hashtags and followers are swirling in my head.

It isn't that hard, it just takes some time.

Jump in and try, I know you can make the climb.

I came across this great website that explains all the nuances of Twitter.  I found the "who sees what" section to be particularly interesting, as I have never quite figured out how that works.  Mom this is how Twitter works explains it all!

What's all the Twitter about?

You tweet and you Twitter but what's it all for?

It seems like a hassle and almost a bore.

Well, little spider, it really is fun,

I use it every day to get work done.

I must admit that I was skeptical about beginning to use Twitter, as I thought it was just about celebrities writing about what they had for breakfast and other mundane bits of trivia from their daily lives. I quickly discovered how useful Twitter is though, in establishing a PLN or personal learning network of like minded professionals. I use it daily to find the latest research on education and libraries as well as new and exciting teaching strategies and resources.

In Twimpact: Twitter's impact on my week, Noah Geisel describes the things he has used Twitter for in the past week, including:

• reading dozens of articles
• attending a TED talk
• learning about new apps
• conversed with 16 other educators, most whom he didn't know

I am constantly sending articles, websites and other links to the teachers to my school from things that I have found on Twitter. They are amazing and wonder where I am able to find such things - Twitter - is the simple response.


This cute xtranormal video very simply points out some of the uses for Twitter in education.

What's in a list?

Lists of the tweets asks the spider of me?

Is that like putting your web in a tree?

Lists for the things that I like to learn,

To keep things in order before my eyes start to burn! 

OK - so I took my first step to organizing what is going on in Twitter with the creation of "lists" within Twitter.  We shall see how this works.  It took me about 30 minutes to get the lists created, so hopefully it will be useful.  I created five lists - four based on the major topics that I follow and one "random" list as a catchall for other things (news, sports, family, etc.).  Some of the people I follow are included in more than one list.

My plan is to work with Twitter for about a week or so using these new lists.  This will give me an idea as to whether or not it is allowing me to manage the information better.  Then, I will give one of the desktop or online platforms a try.

Here is a quick video on how to set up lists within Twitter:




References:

Freeman, S. (2012). How to manage your Twitter feed. Retrieved from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/tips/how-to-manage-twitter-feed.htm

Twitter. (2012). Twitter Help Center: How to use Twitter lists. Retrieved from https://support.twitter.com/articles/76460-how-to-use-twitter-lists

Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweeeeettt!!!!!!!!!!!

I've heard my bird friends who often say tweet,

A pleasant sound, it is always short and sweet.

These tweets are quite different, I say to my friend,

Though they are always very quick to get to the end.

One of the things I would like to explore with this inquiry project is how to get a better handle on Twitter.  I began following Twitter last year at about this time.  Right now I am following 94 other people, which really isn't many compared to some others who follow hundreds or thousands.  However, I find it quite overwhelming and difficult to keep track of what is going on.  I am looking for something to streamline the information that comes to me via Twitter.

I know that Twitter has some internal functions to organize things better and their are also applications like Tweetdeck and Hootsuite that can help with this process.  I also just found out about Seesmic Desktop, so I will need to check it out too.

Stay tuned!  Hmm . . . just a quick look to create the hyperlinks showed me that some of these can manage other social media info as well.

References:

Brogan, C. (2009, August 14). How to manage Twitter [Web log message].  Retrieved from http://www.chrisbrogan.com/how-to-manage-twitter/