Topic outline

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    Title Twitter


    Twitter
    Course outline...
    1. Some uses of Twitter
    2. Create a Twitter Account and Understanding Privacy Options
    3. How to Read a Tweet.
    4. Following People - How and Why.
    5. Using the #HashTag for...
    6. Using Twitter for conducting Surveys
    7. Other Twitter Tools
    8. Desk Top Twitter Clients
    9. Summary Guide for Download
    10. Post Course thoughts and Twitter Twaddle

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    A short video on Why YOU might want to use Twitter

  • Some Uses of Twitter...

    • Uses in Twitter Wordle
    • Exclamation Icon TASK - Look at the Wordle above (generated from www.wordle.net) list of Twitter uses below. On a sheet of paper, create two lists.
      1 - A list of items which you never knew Twitter could help with. 
      2 - A list of items which you think may be of interest to you (this might contain items from the first list as well).
    • How I use Twitter - Contribue your ideas to the Forum ?
      If you are using Twitter and have a few minutes spare, please share your ideas of why its useful with others. Include links to resources and tips that you think others would find useful. Click on the FORUM link below.

      Thank you.

    • 60 Second iconREVIEW TASK....60 Seconds !
      Have a go at the short Quiz on the Uses for Twitter.. CLICK HERE

  • Creating a Twitter Account and Understanding Privacy Options

    • Creating a Twitter Account in 2 minutes.
      Think of a short unique name. Because Tweets are only ever 140 characters maximum, then every character your Twitter names takes up is 1 less character of the 140 available in any Tweet you post. So try to think of shorter names that will be unique.

    • Twitter Login guide

    • Exclamation IconTASK - CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT at Twitter
      Click on the link to visit the Twitter website to set up your own account.
      www.twitter.com

    • Tick IconREVIEW TASK....

      1. Create your own Twitter Account and update your profile. Be careful to explore the privacy settings and decide what is suitable for your own use.

      NOTE ! - You might want to have a Separate Account for your Professional use and another name and account for your own private use.

  • How to read a tweet.

    Anatomy of a Tweet

    • Tick IconREVIEW TASK.....60 Seconds! 60 second icon

      1.       Do the 60 Second Mix & Match exercise - CLICK HERE

      2. Download the 5 minute Review sheet and see if you can answer the questions with the sample Tweet provided. Answers are provided on the second page of the download.
      CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE REVIEW SHEET

  • Following People - Why & How

    Twitter Follower pictureThe value of Twitter to YOU depends a lot upon the people you choose to follow. You can think of Twitter as a magazine that is packed with very short articles (about 140 characters long in fact!). Each article provides you with information, news, an opinion, an idle gossip or quip, but the content or the authors at least, are YOUR choice.

    If you are interested in eLearning news you could choose to follow some eLearning experts from anywhere in the world;
    Physics, follow some of the leading research phycists;
    studying politics, follow some of our politicians or @Downing_Street;
    education funding opportunities, follow one of the @JISC services,
    Local town news, follow a local newspaper.

    By following a selection of people from your interest areas, you can create an up to date digital magazine of information that is tailored to your reading interests.

    • Following interesting people on Twitter makes your reading more useful...

    • Need to know how to follow someone...

      Watch this 2 minute Screentoast video: http://tiny.cc/twitterfollow

      Using LISTS to Manage the people & Tweets you are interested in

      CLICK HERE to view 2 Minute Video in YOUTUBE.

    • Icon Exclamation Mark TASK...

      Visit www.twitter.com and using the search box, search for other people's Tweets on subjects you may be interested in. Look at some of the Twitterers and decide on 5 to 10 to follow. 

      You could choose to follow several on a range of different topics so that you have a greater range of information to read from your the people you Follow.

    • Tick Icon REVIEW TASK....

      Have a go at the short Quiz on the Main Features of Twitter..

      CLICK HERE

  • Using #HashTags for...

    • The Effect of Using a #HashTag in a Search is to Filter Out all the comments where the phrase is just casually mentioned. The Tweets you are left with are Tweets where the person has thought that their information is particularly relevant to someone interested in that subject,.....

      Twitter HashTags Animation
    • Uses for #HashTags...

      1. Creating Peer Support Groups
      2. Doing Research on specific topics
      3. Allowing people to network with each other related to a single Event, Conference or Exhibition by creating your own Unique Tag for the event (eg:#HHL09)
      4. Helping to market specific organisaiton events.

    • How do I make a #HashTag?

      You can create your own HashTag by simply thinking of the phrase you want to use, and placing a # symbol infront of the word. eg: #HHL09 or #Aylesbury #England, #UKElection #SELF10)

      It is useful to do a quick search in Twitter for the phrase you are thinking about using to see if anyone else has already chosen to use it for some other topic. You ideally want a completely unique HashTag phrase which people will only use for your particular event, course group, project topic etc.

    • Icon Exclamation Mark TASK...

      Using the search window in www.twitter.com, look for Tweets related to your own town or city. First do this without using a HashTag and then try the same search with a #HashTag.

      Is there a difference in the type of results displayed?

    • Tick IconREVIEW TASK....

      1.       Explain to a colleague, the difference between doing a search on Twitter with and without using a HashTag.
      2. Give 3 examples of where how you could use a HashTag

  • Using Twitter for conducting Surveys

    Twitter Vot pictureThere are a range of online tools which can be used to conduct surveys and display the results in the classroom live as they come in.
    The link here provides a list of some of these...

    • Twitter Surveys Displayed in PowerPoint.

      A very nice tool for displaying Tweets in a PowerPoint presentation (so long as you have a web connection) is available from the site here. Down load the slides and insert them into your own presentations to make them much more interactive either with the audience tweeting their own responses, or for displaying views from the Twittersphere. To download the slides CLICK HERE

  • Other Twitter Tools....


    Twitter Tool Box Logo

    • Logo Visible Tweets

      Visible Tweets

      Possible Education Activity: 

      1. Display Tweets from subject experts related to a particular class topic.
      2. Display Tweets for audience feedback while delivering an event.

      - A very nice site for displaying Tweets relating to specific HashTags in a classroom or presentation setting. Three types of customisation are available the the dynamic nature of the site which updates automatically helps to make a visually very useful display of Tweets.
      Toris Eye

      Tori Eye

      Possible Education Activity:

      1. Anonymise class feedback relating to a question or topic and randomly select items for discussion.
      2. A visually 'funny' way of seeing Tweets arrive on a specific subject. Requires the user to click on 'birds' flying across the screen. Could it be used for a luck dip game perhaps?
      Twitter Magnets

      Twitter Magnets 

      Possible Education Activity:

      1. Use to motivate basic skills students with their use of English and short phrases. -
      2. This site allows you to play about with short words rather like the Fridge Magnet words you might find, to create short poems which can be Tweeted.
      3. Might be nice for encouraging basic word use and for ESOL. Recommend having SOUND enabled to enhance the 'ambience'.
      Twitter Sheep

      Twitter Sheep  

      Possible Education Activity:

      1. Personal Use, periodically review the people who are following you to identify who may be worthwhile Following Back.
      2.  A tool for showing a CLOUD TAG of the bio's of the people who are following you.
      Trends Map

      Trends Map

      Possible Education Activity:

      1. Use for current political / geographical topics where you would like to see what current information is being communicated from current events and news around the world (eg: Protests, natural disasters, wars, elections.
      2. Shows you current Twitter trends around particular geographic areas. May be of limited use in a classroom situation, but interesting for perhaps following a topical news item or event and bringing the contents into the classroom.
      Twapper Keeper

      Twapper Keeper

      Possible Education Activity: 

      1. Create a HashTag for your course for all students to use. This tool will keep a log of all the tweets using that HashTag.
      2. A Very useful tool for keeping a log of all the tweets relating to a particular HashTag (a particular subject, event, topic etc). If you are going to use Twitter seriously, investigate the use of this site to help support your activities.
      Tweet Grid

      Tweet Grid

      Possible Education Activity: 

      1. A useful tool for using as a desktop display to look at Tweets coming on particular subjects.
      2. A useful Twitter Dashboard which can be used to view customised subject areas.
      Tweet Chat

      Tweet Chat 

      Possible Education Activity:

      1. An alternative and simpler way to follow tweets. May be a more suitable Twitter tool for Basic skills activities, perhaps for ESOL lessons where you would prefer to have a simpler display for Tweets.
      2. A simple Twitter tool which makes following the dialogue of a particular topic (HashTag) easy.
      Twitter Fall

      Twitter Fall

      Possible Education Activity:

      1. A sophisticated twitter filter application allowing you to follow selective hashtag results displayed on a screen. So if you were interested in Volcanoes in Island, you could use this tool to filter for related Tweets and the results displayed on the board.
      2. Allowing you to select complex subject queries to be displayed and updated automatically in a display setting. Very good customisation and tools available. Useful for a classroom situation where you would like to follow current thoughts on a particular topic.
      Co Tweet

      CoTweet -

      Possible Education Activity:

      1. Create a Twitter account for a Department to which all staff members can Tweet.
      2. Create a course name for all course students to tweet from. This single log on will enable a profile to be produced that is uniquely identified with the course.
      3. Use C0-Tweet as a short information / data collection broadcasting tool for specific projects with a class.

      This site allows multiple users to Tweet from the same twitter account. Very useful for a department or group that want to be able to update the same common Twitter account. (eg: A Twitter account for a course project or the Twitter account for a specific education organisation or department.
      To Do Tweet

      To Do Tweet -

      This Twitter tool allows you to create a list of To Do items which will be Tweeted to an account (your own? students course group?). It provides a useful notification tool. Possible uses might be assignment deadlines, projects etc
    • Tick IconREVIEW TASK....

      1.       First look back at this topic and see if you can remember all the different tools.

      2. Now, Open the Mix and Match Exercise here, and see how many you can get correct without referring to the Course Page

  • Desk Top Twitter Clients.

    There are various ways of displaying and using Twitter from the desktop.
    Each has its own type of User interface and range of features. Which you might choose depends upon personal preference. Bear in mind, each one is being updated almost every few months so it sometimes pays to look at some of the others from time to time.

    Mobile PhoneEach of the ones below also have options for mobile phones. Check the sites for details on options for your mobile phone if you would like to Twitter from your phone on the go.

    • Twitter Logo

      Twitter - DeskTop 

      Also available for Android and iPhone.
      Hootsuite

      HootSuite -  

      Also for Android, iPhone.
      Twitter Seesmic Desktop client

      Seesmic - Desktop-

      Also for Android, iPhone, Blackberry
      Tweetsride

      Tweetride -

      For Android Phones
      TweetDeck

      TweetDeck - Desktop

      And for iPhone, iPad, iTouch.
      Twitter Gravity for Symbian phones

      Gravity -

      For Symbian Phones

  • Summary Guide for Download

    This handy pdf guide contains all of the direct weblinks for Twitter resources referred to.

    Title, The Value of Twitter

    • Need more help ?
      If you are in the South East of England, working for a post-16 organisations and need more help with using web2 or developing a training programme for eLearning in your organisation, contact the JISC RSC Southeast, we can help.

      Contact any JISC RSC Southeast E-Advisor for further help.
      Contact details for all of us can be found at http://www.rsc-southeast.ac.uk

  • POST COURSE THOUGHTS - And Twitter Twaddle..