As part of this course I opted to include two commentaries as part of my learning.
This week’s considered the question, “Can online learning communities foster PD?” ou can read my commentary here if you would like.
In addition, I came across this excellent hour long webinar on the value of online PD moderated by Michelle Davis from educationweek.org
So, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks searching out information on aggregators. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had downloaded Google Reader to my phone during a previous course in order to follow classmates’ blogs but otherwise I hadn’t really used an aggregator before.
In a recent discussion thread posted in my ETEC 590 class I asked people what they used as part of their PLNs and if they had aggregator preferences what were they.
I had a universal response on Tweetdeck. It seems that anyone who uses Twitter, organizes their incoming tweets using Tweetdeck. So, here’s what I discovered.
Tweetdeck is great – for computers – not so for phones, tables, etc. Essentially, when Twitter bought Tweetdeck they decided to focus their energies on creating a better mobile version of Twitter and so canned the mobile version of Tweetdeck. Thankfully Tweetdeck options for home are still available, and according to some reviews, better than ever. icopilot1 has been kind enough to give a video walk-through of the new Tweetdeck.
So, I signed up, which was super easy and I set up a few columns using hashtags such as #edtech, #bced, #cdned, and #alted. Tweetdeck automatically includes other columns like timeline what you would see if you stick with just twitter), interactions (tweets whenever your #name appears), and activities (basically whatever anyone else that you follow does i.e. “#jimsmith followed #becool”. Personally I find activities and interactions a little unnecessary. After a couple of days I deleted them to make way for more columns on subjects of interest to me.
So what do I think? Well, in three words or less – I LOVE IT! At first it is a little overwhelming. I felt like a trader sitting down to my computer with my morning coffee but I absolutely see the value of staying up to date, adding favourites to the ones I want to get back to. It is a great way to get a lot of information without committing an incredible amount of time.
There seems to be only one other giant alternative to Tweetdeck for home and that is Hootsuite. It does have a mobile option as well. Steve Dotto has a great Youtube ssummary of Hootsuite here. It has LOTS of capabilities and would definitely be worth checking out if you want to have multiple people using the same account. It also has collaboration options with: Facebook, WordPress, Google, LinkedIn etc. All I can say is do your homework. I personally DID NOT want an aggregator with imposed relationship with Facebook or Instagram or other tools like that. So, that said, I opted for Tweetdeck.
As for the lack of Tweetdeck for my smartphone – I haven’t resolved that yet. I have been using the Twitter app on my android and so far that is enough for me. I can’t miss something that I never tried.
Others who are accustomed to Tweetdeck seem pretty devastated by it’s demise. However there are lots of other options available. You just have to look around and do the research. Many of the existing products may be linked to other social media providers like: Facebook, Instagram, There are other options out there like: Tweetcaster (all mobile options, free but includes banner ads, get rid of ads for $4.99), Twitterific (iOS), Plume (android and costs $4.99 but looks awesome), Tweetbot (iOS equivalent to Plume – $2.99).
As I said, for now I am sticking with twitter’s mobile version but I am really interested in Plume.
There is still much work to do…Now I’m on to a means of replacing my Google Reader and how to find bloggers worth connecting with on a regular basis. More to follow.
I never understood the importance of #hashtags on twitter. Seriously! But…
Now I get it! Thanks to a bunch of really great videos and articles.
Here is a great video by Beacon SEO that explains the hashtag – in just 4 minutes.
Basically a hashtag (#) makes whatever term you put after it searchable by others.(Just remember – no spaces – where ever the space starts your link to the hashtag ends).
So how can a hashtag help me? Well for instance, what if I send out a tweet about the BCAEA conference. “Learning so much at the BCAEA conference” for example. Those who follow me on twitter will see my tweet but others in the twitterverse will not.
So, what if I want more people to find my tweet and/or what if I want to know what others are saying about the BC Alternate Educator Association conference? In that case, I absolutely MUST put a hashtag in front of any term in my tweet that I want my followers and anyone else to see.
So, if my tweet said something like: “Learning so much at the #BCAEA ! #bced” – now my tweet can be found by two groups of people – those searching info on BCAEA, and those wanting to know what’s going on in BC education.
So, the moral of the story is – USE HASHTAGS! But use them wisely. You have to keep in mind you are working with 140 characters, so the longer your hashtags the fewer your word count can be.
I also found a couple of really useful sites that have compiled extensive lists of existing and commonly used hashtags for education. Check them out – 300 educational hashtags and Educational hashtags to follow.
Another cool site I discovered recently is hashtags.org
This site allows you to search on a particular topic and see who is talking about that topic. To the right is a sample of a topic I knew would effectively demonstrate how the site works. The first shot shows the break down by hour of the number of tweets that have gone out on the chosen search term, in this case #doma (Defense of Marriage Act). As you can see below, tweets started picking up right at the time that the Supreme Court announced their ruling that DOMA was unconstitutional.
The site also lists people who are using that same hashtag in their posts so you can check out what others have to say about your selected topic.
You can sign up and gain more access but really it is not necessary if you are just looking to find others who are tweeting about a topic of interest to you.
Lastly, here are a couple of super helpful twitter guides to get you started and tweeting like a pro in no time.
Adams, D. 150+ Ultimate round-up of helpful twitter and
O’Neil’s The complete guide to twitter.
Stay tuned for my next topic – AGGREGATORS…Yikes!
My twitter profile
Steven Anderson, a prolific tweeter, educator, speaker, and advocate of web 2.0 in education, wrote an article in Teacher Librarian titled “The twitter toolbox for educators“. In it he mentions a couple of great ideas for creating your own twitter presence.
Here are his Must Do’s:
1. Create a username that is short, and represents YOU. It will become your “brand” so choose wisely.
2. Put real thought into your profile. Be sure to include what you do and what you care about. Your profile is the one thing people will read when they decide whether or not they want to follow you, so do think it through carefully. In addition: I would suggest asking friends who know you well to create a profile for you. Sometimes we don’t see ourselves as well as others.
3. Post a picture of yourself. No one wants to follow someone who hasn’t bothered to post a picture. It also helps create a personal presence. (I would suggest avoiding pictures of your family and kids. This is just my two cents, if you are using your account for professional connections I just wouldn’t do it!)
4. Organize those you are following into lists. Remember, if we can benefit from the lists made by others, than they should be able to do the same. It’s important in the world of networking to create and share, rather than simply consuming the efforts of others.
So, be sure to take the time to look closely at your twitter profile and be sure that your picture, profile, and username are a true reflection of who you are and how you want others to see you.
p.s. If you want to follow Steven on twitter his user name is @web20classroom