Social Media for Learning

Social Media Jargon: What are all these new words and abbreviations?!

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

On my Twitter page I have listed some of the words and abbreviations associated with Twitter and tweeting. These include:

RT or Retweet – this is when a message is reused and the originator is acknowledged

MT or Modified Tweet – a retweet that has been modified slightly (often to reduce the character count but sometimes to add emphasis)

DM or Direct Message – this is where you can send or receive a private message (providing both parties follow each other)

HT or Hat Tip – to acknowledge finding another person’s tweet or link interesting. Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs | Tagged jargon | 3 Comments

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

Alternative Communication Channels for Educators: The TweetChat

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There’s more to YouTube than videos about cats (entertaining as they may be!)

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

YouTube continues to provide a social forum that entertains us through videos uploaded by individuals all over the world. In it’s 7th year (yes prior to 2005 there was no YouTube!) is now owned by Google. Three hours of video is uploaded from mobile phones alone. Here are few more statistics:

Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
YouTube is localized in 43 countries and across 60 languages
More than 20% of global YouTube views come from mobile devices

But beyond the funny videos we all enjoy viewing and sharing or maybe even creating and uploading ourselves, there are a wide range of educational videos. You can search for how to guides to help you learn new tasks and also follow YouTube channels where you can bookmark a series of videos on a given topic. Continue reading →

Posted in Communication tools, Visual Communication | Tagged Education, Entertainment, Google Hangouts on Air, Google+, video, YouTube | Leave a comment

Twitter #hashtags explained

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

The use of a # hashtag (US pound sign) was introduced by Chris Messina in 2007 as a way to group tweet conversations. Little did he know then how much they would go on to be used!

how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?

— 𐄥Chris Messina𐄮 (@chrismessina) 23 August 2007

The famous tweet is also preserved as a photo on Chris’s Flickr account.

Continue reading →

Posted in Twitter | Tagged hashtag | 4 Comments

A blueprint plan to achieving a complete LinkedIn profile

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

To achieve a 100% complete profile in the eyes of LinkedIn they say it must contain the following:

Industry and postal code
A current position with description
Two more positions
Education
At least 5 skills
Profile photo
At least 50 connections
A summary

Prior to completing these areas you will see your profile completeness score on your profile page along with recommendations of how you can improve this. Continue reading →

Posted in LinkedIn | Tagged networking, online presence | 2 Comments

Getting started on Twitter? Help is at hand

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

If you have just joined Twitter welcome to the Twittersphere! Rest assured that whilst it may seem a bit daunting to start with, once you start to follow people that interest you (this is important) you will start to engage in very interesting conversations. If you prefer you can initially simply follow others who are doing so and this is fine. As you add people you wish to follow, you will see that their tweets provide you with links to websites, photos and videos on topics of interest you share. In the event someone is not interesting unfollow them. In the event you are followed by someone you don’t like you can block them.

Twitter follow button

You can find more information about using Twitter by going to the Twitter tab at the top of this page or via this link: https://socialmedia4us.wordpress.com/twitter/

Everyone has a Twitter name or handle. Mine is @suebecks.

Follow @suebecks

It is helpful to others when choosing your handle to keep it succinct so it will be easy for your followers to remember. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Learning Network, Twitter | Tagged Online Communities, Social Networking | 5 Comments

How to network professionally online

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

LinkedIn is renowned as the world’s largest professional social network site with over 175 million members and growing. I have often heard people say that as they are not looking for a new job, they don’t don’t take much notice of a) what their profile looks like or b) the connections they have there.

What people tend to forget is that once they have created a profile this can be found every time anyone uses Google or other search engines to search for their name. The person will without doubt click on the profile and this could be their first impression of you as a professional. It is therefore very important to keep your details up to date and ensure that what you have written portrays you in a good light. LinkedIn is an excellent way to connect you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals. It enables you to build a network through the people you already know. Continue reading →

Posted in LinkedIn | Tagged networking, online presence | 1 Comment