Twitter has over 500 million users. It's easy to claim that the platform is here to stay (well, until the next big thing, of course). Your students are using it. Your colleagues are using it. Your vendors are using it. But how can you effectively use it as a classroom and a professional development tool? There is much to be learned from Twitter, and we will discuss how you can use Twitter to educate both your students, as well how best to leverage Twitter to your needs.

1. Education is Now Social
Leveraging Twitter to engage students
and expand your professional
knowledge

2. Who We Are, What We Do
EasyBib is an intuitive
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evaluation, research, note
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Emily Gover, MSIS Caity Selleck, MLIS
ResearchReady is a cloud-
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teaches students important
critical thinking and
information literacy skills.

3. In the Classroom

4. Comfort Levels
What do teens share on social media?
• 91% post photos
• 71% post city/town of residence
• 53% post their email address
• 20% share their cell phone numbers
"Teens, Social Media, and Privacy." Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

5. Student Success
“Social networking sites serve as an integral
mode of communication for middle school
students.”
"Teacher Tweets Improve Achievement for Eighth Grade Science Students." Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics & Informatics.
Middle school
students use
social media at
least 2x per week.
60%
Use social
media
2x+/wk.

6. Direct Correlation
"Teacher Tweets Improve Achievement for Eighth Grade Science Students." Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics & Informatics.
TwitterUse
Test Performance
Reminders about:
• Homework assignments
• Test dates
• Study guides

7. Encourage Participation
College professor used Twitter to:
• Create live stream of discussion
• Encourage participation
• Connect students directly during class
Could also serve as a “catch-up”
option for missed classes.
"Twitter Takes a Trip to College." U.S. News & World Report.

8. Classroom Hashtag Chat
• Create unique name for hashtag
• Not #eng103
• But #eng103SBU
• Have students follow your account for
updates (required or optional)
• Retweet questions from students (and reply)
• Hold class discussions
“Social Media in Online Higher Education: Implementing Live Twitter Chat Discussion Sessions." Online College.

9. Primary Sources
Locate quotes from public figures to use
as primary source in research

10. Verified Accounts
Determine authority by looking for
Twitter’s Verified icon
Verified Accounts
(identified by this blue
icon) “establish
authenticity of
identities on Twitter.”
“FAQs about Verified Accounts.” Twitter Help Center.

11. Track Public Opinion
• National events, such
as the State of the
Union, can be tracked
by hashtags
• Gather opinions from
reporters, public figures
and the general public

12. Track Breaking News
Opportunity to:
• Evaluate news sources
• Collect primary
sources/first-hand accounts
• Compare conflicting
information
• Discuss pros/cons of
breaking news via social
media

13. For Professional Development

14. • Facilitate discussion with professional
peers
• Share resources
• Discover resources
• Professional literature
• Breaking news
Why Twitter for PD?

15. Personal Learning Networks
(PLNs)
• Converse with
educational leaders in
the field
• Form working
relationships
• Explore opportunities
to collaborate with
others (Skype chats)
• Receive support,
advice in an open
forum
“The Twitter Toolbox for Educators.” Teacher Librarian.

16. Hashtags
• Classify tweets based on topic/keywords
• Aggregate relevant tweets
• Group live discussion into one stream
• Several “established” hashtags (#edchat #tlchat)
• Uncontrolled – you can create hashtag on
anything

17. View all, or filter by
popularity/people you
follow
Hashtag
Hashtag Search
 See what’s trending
(most popular hashtags)
 Find new people to
follow
 Participate in
discussions

18. Hashtags for K-12

19. Hashtags for Academia

20. Twitter Tools
Save for
later
Share with
others
Discuss

21. Increase Your Visibility
BE ACTIVE!
• Add hashtags in or at end of tweet
• Share your knowledge/experiences
• Offer advice, reach out for help
• Retweet others (give credit!)
• Don’t be shy: start
conversations/discussions

22. Bibliography
Anderson, Steven. "The Twitter Toolbox for Educators." Teacher Librarian Oct. 2011: 27-30. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 17 June 2013.
Blumengarten, Jerry. "Some Educational Hashtags." Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites. N.p., 2013. Web. 17
June 2013. <http://cybraryman.com/edhashtags.html>.
Carol, Van Vooren, and Bess Corey. "Teacher Tweets Improve Achievement for Eighth Grade Science Students."
Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics & Informatics 11.1 (2013): 33-36. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14
June 2013.
Devaney, Laura. "The Benefits of Using Social Media in the Classroom | ESchool News." ESchool News. ESchool
Media, 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 June 2013. <http://www.eschoolnews.com/2013/01/23/the-benefits-of-
using-social-media-in-the-classroom/>.
Duggan, Maeve, and Joanna Brenner. "The Demographics of Social Media Users — 2012." Pew Research
Center's Internet & American Life Project. PewResearchCenter, 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 12 June 2013.
<http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Social-media-users.aspx>.
"FAQs about Verified Accounts." Twitter Help Center. Twitter, 2013. Web. 19 June 2013.
<https://support.twitter.com/groups/31-twitter-basics/topics/111-features/articles/119135-about-
verified-accounts>.
Lepi, Katie. "300+ Educational Twitter Hashtags Being Used Right Now." Edudemic. Edudemic, 17 Sept. 2012.
Web. 14 June 2013. <http://www.edudemic.com/2012/09/twitter-hashtags-now/>.

23. Madden, Mary, Amanda Lenhart, Sandra Cortesi, Urs Gasser, Maeve Duggan, and Aaron Smith. "Teens, Social
Media, and Privacy." Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. PewResearchCenter, 21 May
2013. Web. 12 June 2013. <http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teens-Social-Media-And-
Privacy.aspx>.
Meng-Fen, Lin, Hoffman Ellen, and Borengasser Claire. "Is Social Media Too Social for Class? A Case Study of
Twitter Use." TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning 57.2 (2013): 39-45. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 14 June 2013.
Miners, Zach. "Twitter Takes a Trip to College." U.S. News & World Report Sept. 2009: 56-57. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 14 June 2013.
Murray, Tom, Chad Evans, and Jerry Blumengarten. "Weekly Twitter Chat Times." Weekly Twitter Chat Times.
N.p., 2013. Web. 17 June 2013.
<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiftIdjCeWSXdDRLRzNsVktUUGJpRWJhdUlWLS1Genc>.
Nussbaum-Beach, Sheryl. "Just the Facts: PLNs." Phi Delta Kappan 1 Apr. 2013: 16-17. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 17 June 2013.
Rao, Aditi. "22 Ways To Use Twitter With Bloom’s Taxonomy." Weblog post. TeachBytes. TeachBytes, 25 Mar.
2013. Web. 17 June 2013. <http://teachbytes.com/2013/03/25/22-ways-to-use-twitter-with-blooms-
taxonomy/>.
Venable, Melissa A., and Laura Milligan. Social Media in Online Higher Education: Implementing Live Twitter Chat
Discussion Sessions. N.p.: Online College, Mar. 2012. PDF.
Bibliography

24. Emily Gover
emily@imagineeasy.com
@Emily_EasyBib
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