Four P's for Twitter Newbies

This is a guide that has been put together based on personal experiences. While it is targeted at educational minded Twitter newbies, the principles certainly will apply to people from all walks interested in getting started on Twitter. These are the Four P's for Twitter Newbies.


Patience
It is rare that someone will understand how Twitter works in their first usage. Instead, newbies should be patient with themselves and with Twitter and take in advice from different websites and from users they trust. While there is no right way to use Twitter, there are certainly pitfalls and things to avoid. If you want to get something out of Twitter, spend at least three months actively reading about Twitter, discovering educational sites that tout the strengths of Twitter, and, most importantly, being an active participant on Twitter.

People
The people you follow will lead you to topics of interest, to follow more people, and to read blogs and websites of interest. Therefor, you will want to choose wisely. Don't be afraid to follow a lot of people and then unfollow people who don't tweet much, or who tweet things that annoy you. Are they tweeting more about breakfast than world languages? Unfollow. Are they tweeting every minute with bits of info that are unhelpful to you? Unfollow. While there are artificial ways to get lots of followers, you will not get value unless the people you follow and the people who follow you will further the discussions you are interested in. Some good ways to get new followers include:

• Follow people who are tweeting frequently on topics that are of interest to you
• Click on people you follow to see who they follow (and follow those that interest you)
• Leave your account public - you can always boot people you don't want to have following you
• Be interesting in your tweets and true to yourself and your interests

Participation
Getting involved in Twitter can be well worth the time investment. Increase your participation by tweeting at least once a day. Increase this number every couple of weeks until it feels natural for you to want to tweet about things you read and experience. Participation will be one of the top ways you can gain followers and get the most out of Twitter. Including hashtags and links to topics that interest you will draw people into your circle who are interested in similar topics.

You will also find that joining in on Twitter discussions can be a great way to participate. Every weekday there are multiple educational chats that take place on topics of all types. Topics range from discipline specific, to age level, to pedagogy and general interests. You can find the entire list  of topics on Jerry Blumengarten's (a.k.a. Cybraryman) website as well as a calendar with scheduled chats.

Finally, you can also participate by being social. After all, this is a social network. Be social by...

• Following people and occasionally retweeting what they have tweeted (if you really like it)
• Replying to other's tweets...if they say something interesting, you hit reply and make a comment
• Sending direct messages to followers, and thanking people who follow you
• Recognizing anyone who retweets you or mentions you in a way that you appreciate

Remember to use @ when mentioning someone by their Twitter name.

Probability
Increasing the probability of your tweets being read will increase the number of followers you have and the more followers you have the more influence your voice will have. Improve the probability of Twitter working for you by increasing your interactions on Twitter. The probability of any one of your tweets being read is completely dependent on three factors:

1. How many followers you have
2. How well your words and hashtags are chosen and
3. The time at which you tweet

Get more followers in ways that are legitimate to your interests. This will provide the most professional value to you. Read above for ideas on how to get more followers.

People who know how to use Twitter to gain information also know how to search Twitter. This can be done through hashtags and any words included in tweets. Therefor, when people are searching, they will find your tweets if you are including appropriate hashtags and key words or phrases relevant to your topic of interest.

Timing your tweets can be an art-form. In general, if you are including hashtags or you have several followers, people will see your tweets. Knowing your followers will allow you to improve your odds with timing. In education that can mean tweeting during the school day. I find tweets that land in the mid-morning are more frequently read because there are less tweets at that hour. Therefore, whatever I have to say may stay in search results longer. The lunch hour is also a predictable time that all teachers will have at least 20 minutes to be on Twitter and more than you can imagine, actually are. You will have to practice this and get a sense of what works best in your area of interests.

Teachable Moment: Being Inappropriate on Collaborative Documents

This blog entry was inspired by a class I run in which I recently introduced using a collaborative Google Doc. While the intention and ultimate success of the document has met my expectations, the trip could have easily gone down a different path. The views expressed in this blog are completely my own. I respect and appreciate those with similar views or different views who are able to express them in a respectful manner. 


Having students working online, I am constantly confronted by teachable moments. I feel it is my job to teach within the moment, instead of snapping to conclusions and handing out punishments for momentary lapses in judgement on the part of my students. Facing this choice recently, I was reminded of the importance of my job. While my students are of the cyber-generation, they do not yet have the years of experience that we, as teachers, have.

It all happened in an instant. One moment I was demonstrating to the students how we would be utilizing a shared Google Document for our classroom bibliography on the current project. The next moment I was restricting student access, shaking my head, and reassessing what we would be doing next. It was in my reassessment that I was able to see the teachable moment.

Just after I had introduced the Google Doc, three students decided to use the document inappropriately. Beside the names of their classmates, they were adding descriptors that were offensive and completely inappropriate for the classroom setting. They had a good laugh and quickly erased their transgressions. Almost immediately, I restricted their access and told them to knock it off. Had I left it at that, there would have been no teaching. Had I chosen to punish them by giving a detention or by sending them to the office, I would have missed the moment. Here is what I did.

After gathering my thoughts for a couple of minutes and sitting at my desk contemplating my next move, I chose what I felt was the only course of action that would really have an impact on student behavior. I shared with the class how the Internet works. "Everything you ever do online is recorded on multiple computers instantly. Facebook, email, Edmodo, Twitter, etc." I said. "When you decide to be silly or stupid or offensive and put something online that you may later regret, you have lost the opportunity to change your mind. It already exists, permanently." In their minds they were feeling skeptical about what I was saying, so I showed them the proof.

I asked all of the students to open our shared Google Document. I returned the user status to 'can edit' for my offenders. Then I had all students go to File > Revision History. They instantly got it. Even before finding their offensive edits that they thought had been erased, they knew I was telling the truth. It was in that moment that the teachable moment was captured, utilized and had its impact.

I concluded by telling the students "What Google has done here with your Google Document, every website is doing on the Internet whether you want it to or not. Your words, your postings, your actions are being recorded. What will you choose to do next time?"

Google Apps Changed Our Culture

In 2009 our school officially adopted the Google Apps for Education platform. It was our second major change in about three years. The reception at first was luke-warm at best. Now, three years later, there is a clear shift in the culture of our school system. More teachers and administrators have websites, email usage is through the roof and tools like Google Docs are helping to shift the norm from teacher centric to student centric classrooms.

Google has turned out (with a little time and patience) to be everything our previous platform, FirstClass, wanted to be and much more. Most importantly, it is easily accessible anywhere and that coincides nicely with the expansion of hotspots, mobile technology and a variety of online Web 2.0 tools. Unlike previous rollouts of email and web development tools in our district, the Google Apps rollout was met with much less resistance and a faster rate of adoption among teachers.

The culture shifted away from naysayers and into action. Communication was at the center of it. Easy email organization, simple to create and edit websites, documents that could be posted to websites and shared with parents. The culture revolution was on.

In the three years of implementation, our training has evolved from how to use the tools, to how to effectively integrate the tools into the curriculum. This shift signifies a change in culture. We are getting away from being scared of using the tools and into a place of curiosity and possibility. While the fears are never eliminated, mainly because the technology never stays static, the fact that teachers are signing up for professional development that focus on developing a 21st Century Classroom, says that we have come a long way.

Today we see Google Apps used for a variety of purposes in classrooms, main offices, and for communication with families and the greater community. Our district administrators participate in a weekly blog, many teachers have at least one website/wiki, if not multiple, and we use Google Docs unendingly to create lessons, collaborative activities, and whatever other things we need. No printing, no files lost on thumb drives, and no excuses.

Teachers are now creating lessons and units that require online interaction with Google Docs, or wiki style websites. Teachers are flipping their classrooms and showing others how to take baby-steps forward. Teachers are trying to develop ways to interact with the global community, not just the local one. While not all of the credit should go to Google Apps, the timing of our emergence is not just coincidence.

Next, we will bring the students fully on board with the teachers. All students (grades 6-12) have accounts as of this year. Now, they can create just as easily as the teachers. In many ways, we know the students can lead the way for us. Collaboration can take on a whole new level of partnership from student to teacher, student to student, and student to world.

Not everything is perfect. There are always features that teachers would like to see, and no one loves how frequently they have to adjust to a new Google layout, but the key here is that the teachers do adapt and the community thrives. It took us the right tool at the right time, and now the culture at our school is one waiting to try new things and find that next tool that fits just right in the educators toolbox.

Participating in Online Discussions on Time

As an avid moderator and participant of online discussions for both "traditional" classes and online professional development, I am often faced with the question: "Is it too late to post?" My response: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?" Or, in relation to our discussions, if a participant submits a response a week after everyone else has left the discussion, is there any value in the post?

discussion: consideration of a question in an open and usually informal debate  (source)

I love to read what participants have to say, even when they are late, but the truth is that the point of an online discussion is missed when participants post after the end of the discussion. The debate has ended.

Why do participants think it is OK to (chronically) miss the discussion?
Everyone can make excuses for missing a discussion, but the truth is that everyone in the discussion usually has a busy life with lots of good reasons to be doing something else. The majority are still able to participate on-time. What is missing for the chronically late participant? The missing ingredient is the sense of urgency that should be present in his or her participation. The late participant gets to read what everyone else said and still gets to say something. The big deal is that online discussion is not just about reading thoughts and posting a thought, it is a two-way street, or more often it is a ten-way street with lots of people posting lots of thoughts, providing critical feedback to each other, furthering understanding, and knocking down the walls of old limitations. This all takes place in the immediate aftermath of the discussion getting started. It lasts until the end. Then everyone moves on to the next topic.

The second culprit of the late participant is poor management by the moderator. This comes in the form of not having well-stated expectations. It also comes in the form of not following through on those expectations. Troubles arise too when the moderator is too distant and is not actually aware of who is and who is not participating. These factors can make a huge difference in increasing on-time participation and, more importantly, increasing the value of return for all the participants.

Why is showing up well into the discussion different from being late?
It is one thing to show up well after the discussion has started or halfway through the dance. These participants may have missed the early meaty debate, but they also have an opportunity to stoke the fire anew. Their participation can renew and refresh the conversation with a different take, leading the entire group down a path less taken. They can be truly, fashionably late. But, missing the dance entirely is a bummer. Showing up in a newly purchased three piece suit with the most amazing thoughts and insights will be completely wasted if a person arrives when everyone else has left to attend the next party.

How can we better foster on-time participation?
The moderator can take control of participation in a discussion by following two steps:

1. Set and follow strict expectations that do not give credit for participation after a discussion has ended. Each moderator can decide what this window is, perhaps even allowing for a day or two of overlap with the new discussion.
2. Be in communication with participants on an ongoing basis regarding their participation. This can be done through grading, comments, and direct messaging via email or other methods.

It would be inaccurate to tell the late participant that their post will have no value. If she or he has done research, put together a meaningful post, and wants to share it, at least the participant, likely has gained something. Yet this person needs also to understand that the post cannot be considered part of a discussion because, by that point, the discussion has ended.

Conclusion
If creating valuable online discussions is important to a class, then the leaders have to take a stand for full participation in a timely manner. The online discussion is not a throw-away portion of a course; it is potentially the heart of the course, the source of inspiration and the nexus of what comes next.

6 Keys to Fostering Quality Online Discussions

If there is one thing I know about fostering quality online discussions with students, it is that thinking about having them won't make them happen. Creating an online discussion that is more than just functional has been a quest of mine for several years now. I started four years ago with a high school video production course. Every year since then I have worked to develop the quality of the discussions, and I have been willing to shift platforms to find exactly what I want.

 Fostering a continuous, quality online discussion requires these six key ingredients:

• Relevance
• Teacher involvement
• Student involvement
• Schedule
• Expectations
• Commitment & Patience

Relevance

The most important part of an online discussion is holding a discussion on something that is both relevant to the course and relevant to the students. Teachers should avoid creating online discussions just for the sake of doing it. Why hold a discussion online if it could be completed in five minutes in a classroom? Students are much more interested in participating when they are interested in the topic and there can be a lot to say about it.

Teacher Involvement

Fostering quality discussion also means modeling quality discussion. While trying to create an online forum for most of my classes, I find that I can burn out quickly in trying to be part of every discussion. Instead, I find a balance that sustains the conversation and sustains my participation. I do this by trying to read everything (Edmodo makes this really easy) and by only replying when the conversation needs a boost or when there is a direct question I should reply to. Three things to remember:

1. Don't get in the way.
2. Ask good questions to foster more thoughts and discussion.
3. Respond as needed, focusing on student questions, misguided responses, and items of interest.

Student Involvement

Students are often only asked to be involved in the discussion through posting responses to the teacher's questions. To enrich students' participation, the teacher can hand over the reigns of developing online discussion to the students. Ask all students to develop questions, pick out five favorites, then let students decide on the top ideas each week. This can be done through online polling, response systems, etc. The teacher can also have a student or a group of students responsible for moderating a discussion. This technique is particularly effective after students have had some experience with online discussions, and is great to experiment with later in the year or in courses that are offered at different levels (i.e. Web Design 1, Web Design 2, etc.)

Schedule

If both teacher and students are new to online discussion, they will find it is like flexing a new muscle. Creating a schedule of discussions and keeping to it can make a huge difference in the quality of the discussions. I highly recommend requiring participation be complete within one week. Also, try to keep to a schedule that includes posting a new topic each week. Getting it down to a habit will keep the students coming back!

Expectations

Establish clear expectations in the beginning. If the discussion is not required, some students who may actually love getting involved could end up never logging in. Have a clear set of guidelines that indicates if participation is graded, how it is graded, and what is considered participation.
Things to consider are:

• How students initially respond
• How they respond to the ongoing conversation
• How they use the Internet to find resources, post links and even videos. 

I grade each weekly discussion on a ten point scale. I give up to eight points for student initial responses to the topic of the week, and up to two additional points for how a student engages with classmates in further discussion. Teachers should experiment to find what works best for their class.

Commitment and Patience

Have a clear commitment to fostering quality online discussions. Allow for the patience to struggle, fall down, and most importantly, get back up. Each time this happens it will be a valuable lesson to carry forward. It took me two years of discussions with the same course content before I felt confident enough to expanded to all of my courses. Everyone takes a different path. Those who are committed to online discussion as a tool for improving learning AND have the patience to try different things will have the most success.

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Choosing a Platform

There are several platforms that people use for online discussions. I am currently an avid user of Edmodo. In the past, I have tried Google Groups as well as Yahoo Groups. I also know other teachers who dedicate space on their websites through Moodle or a wiki, such as Wikispaces, to hold online discussions with students. These are just a few.

Summary
Today I have three different discussion groups going with three different courses I teach and they continue to improve and expand. Just last week I had a student feed a tweet into our discussion by using our class hashtag (a commonly used technique among those who use Twitter.) As my experience with social media expands and the boundaries breakdown, the future of online discussion becomes brighter and the possibilities become endless.

The Web is My Website

I started my first website for teaching when I got my second job as a teacher. It was 1999 and I had just started in Massachusetts as a middle school math teacher. I wanted to post my homework, and so I did. Within two years I had several teachers joining me (somehow it still lives!)

Over the years, my use of a single home-base website has had its ups and downs. There have always been some teachers that I look up to who create and maintain immaculate websites. Mine, on the other hand, has always tended to be a mess of links to documents and maybe a calendar or two. I recently added my Twitter feed. While I still have a website, and it still has important documents, I don't know that it serves a major purpose in my suite of online classroom tools anymore. Instead I find that I am finding several different tools to fill several different needs.

Edmodo (link): Currently I use the site Edmodo.com as a homebase of sorts. While it does not provide me with a face for the public, it does give me a great online launching spot for all of my classes. I post assignments, related documents, classroom discussions and much more. My online presence doesn't stop there.

Google Docs (link): I also use Google Docs. I now create all my new assignments in Google Docs. I am slowly uploading and converting all of my old assignments. From Google Docs, I can share whatever I want and I can grant editing access to various people, students included. The collaboration and interactivity are what make this tool so enticing. I also use it for the free storage. The tool continues to grow and is now getting integrated into other websites. See Edmodo's latest integration

SchoolTube (link): All of my video students have accounts with SchoolTube.com and all of the videos they upload fall under the umbrella of our school channel on that site. It is one more place for students to post and for me to observe, comment on, and enjoy the growth of my students. I moderate everything they post. If I don't like something, I block it, have a discussion with the student, and have them resubmit the video based on the outcome of that discussion.

Twitter (link): Twitter is allowing me to interact with professionals from all over the globe. I can share thoughts with people who have similar interests in education and in technology. It is an amazing platform that is only becoming more powerful. Two years ago I was ready to dismiss it as a fad, yet it is not. I strongly encourage others to check into Twitter. I have integrated my Tweets into Edmodo so students can see tweets relevant to our discussions. I keep it professional, and it is not always on topic for students, but it is a great way for them to see me as a professional.

Blogger (link): This blog is a place where I can voice my thoughts and people can read or not. This is a natural tool to transition technology into the classroom. Students can create blogs, write stories, summarize learning, share insights, and comment on other blogs. Whether it is Blogger, Edublog,  Wordpress or some other platform, the interactivity of these writing spaces is raising the education bar. Students are reading, sorting, and developing critical thinking skills when the tools are applied properly.

CONCLUSION: I have accounts on dozens of websites for various purposes. Many are educational, some can be educational if I wish, and others are just for personal or entertainment purposes. What has been lost in the abundance of quality options, is my classroom website. I am not ready to abandon it just yet. There are still a few things that work about it, and when a parent wants easy access to my expectations and grading policies, all the information is right there. However, reality says it is only a matter of time until I abandon it for something better and more fully featured, something that makes me say "That's what I've been looking for!!" Until then, the web is my website.

Edmodo for Professional Development

Last fall I ran a workshop on Google Apps. The workshop lasted for six weeks and the participants learned several new ways to take advantage of Google Docs and other related apps. What I learned was how to use Edmodo as a delivery platform for professional development. As a tool, Edmodo was not quite perfect, but it was wonderfully easy to use and it was a great way to introduce other teachers to the platform.

Currently, I am teaching an eight week course entitled The 21st Century Classroom. Not only am I using Edmodo as the delivery platform, I am also teaching others how to use Edmodo as one of their many tools for creating a 21st Century Classroom.

How I use Edmodo for Professional Develoment
To manage the online classroom for professional development through Edmodo, I begin by creating an Edmodo group and then within that group I create one 'small group' for each week of the course.

How to create small groups in Edmodo

Using the small group feature makes managing the course much easier. Here is the process I use:

• I create a small group for each week of the course (Week 1, Week 2, etc.) 
• Then, at the beginning of each new week I add the entire class into that week's small group
• Finally, I begin the new weekly discussion within the small group, allowing each weekly discussion to be less cluttered and appear more focused.

Once the groups are all set, I then use the Google Docs feature of the Edmodo library (video tutorial) to open access to all of the Google Docs I use for professional development. I can add these to specific library folders and share the folders with the PD group. Documents I use include:

• Course Syllabus
• Course Resources
• Weekly documents to describe the goals, readings, and assignments for the week

Once I have Edmodo setup and Google Docs integrated, I am ready to roll. I use the group home page on Edmodo for course introductions, to feed in certain Twitter hashtags, and to post occasional important Edmodo tips.

Things are working well so far. I am even considering changing my high school discussions over to a similar format. At the end of each term I can archive individual small groups, creating a fresh set of small groups for the new term.

This experiment is ongoing. I will come back and update this post when I have some results and reflections that are worth sharing. I would also appreciate your ideas below on how to better utilize Edmodo for delivering professional development. Please email me or leave a comment.