Public domain image via Pixabay

The useful infographic below was created by TeachThought and the University of Southern California (with permission to re-use). Thanks Anne Hole for tweeting this.

The infographic looks at two important ways to use Twitter: a) in the classroom and b) for professional development. Below are both tips from the infographic and suggestions I have added.

Using Twitter in the classroom

Find resources

• Have students conduct interviews with experts and industry thought leaders during Twitter chats
• Invite alumni speakers and ask students to tweet key points, then curate using Storify
• Find creative lesson plans. education websites and classroom resources from educators using Twitter across the globe

Develop students’ thinking

• Teaching maths? Have students analyse the statistics of a viral tweet using Twitter analystics
• Have students tweet their thesis statements during the writing process so they can share and improve them in small groups
• Take tweet notes during a lecture and add their own links to other resources

Engage with your professional learning network (PLN)

• Connect with like-minded thought leaders in your area. Organise meet-ups and attend conferences
• Take part in open online webinars or courses and tweet useful information with your network
• Strive for 25% of your followers to be people who have unique perspectives. Don’t just focus on your own niche area or specialism.

Using Twitter for professional development

Follow education thought leaders

This may need some research as whilst some examples given such as @TeachThought and @Edutopia are useful across many disciplines irrespective of the age of our students or discipline, it is useful to build a network that meets your needs. In UK higher education my recommendations would include @Jisc, @HEAcademy, @SEDA_UK_, @QAAtweets. Then look at who these accounts follow and identify educators who are sharing and discussing information you find interesting.

Use Twitter’s search bar

Type in keywords of things you’re interested in to see what (and who) people are talking about. Find something interesting e.g. search for ‘online learning’, ‘flipped classroom’, ‘digital classroom’.

Know your hashtags

These are a valuable tool to use to follow and participate in conversations on certain topics and themed Twitter chats. Look into #edchat, #phdchat, #lthechat. Take a look at Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Chat‘s website and follow @LTHEchat to get a flavour.

Engage with your colleagues

Retweeting and favouriting useful resources, asking or answering questions, sharing resources you have found that may be of interest to peers. Remember you will get more out of Twitter if you engage in conversations. You will be surprised how much you can learn with others through informal learning in this space.

Made possible by TeachThought and USC Rossier’s online Master of Arts in Teaching degree