10 Little-Known Twitter Tools For Connected Educators There’s an array of Twitter tools that make the rounds on the ol’ edtech circle. We chat about Hootsuite , Paper.li , and Bit.ly quite a bit. But there are a lot of little-known Twitter tools that don’t see the light of day on sites like Edudemic. So I thought this would be a good time to start fixing that. Got a tool that you think should be included in this list? Just Tweet It Just Tweet It is a user directory for Twitter organized by genre to allow for users to easily find other Twitter users to connect with. Twibs Twibs lets you find, follow and interact with businesses, apps and services on Twitter. Twittonary The Twitter Dictionary aka Twittonary provides explanations of various Twitter related words. We Follow The goal at We Follow is to simplify the way you find and learn from people online. Twitscoop An interesting idea, Twitscoop lets you monitor Twitter without having to reload the page. Friend or Follow Qwitter TwitSprout Find out which of your tweets was the most popular. Tweet Beep
A Powerful App For Every Level Of Bloom's Taxonomy Bloom’s Taxonomy has been steadily increasing its presence in my everyday reads lately. The revised version is really speaking to a lot of educators who are using it – often in concert with a variety of technologies – to address the different levels of educational objectives. (Note: If you need a quick refresher on the basics of Bloom’s Taxonomy, check out this post). Using Apps There are a ton of apps out there that address different ideas in the Bloom’s Taxonomy hierarchy. Remembering Apps that fit into the ‘remembering’ bucket include those that improve a student’s ability to identify and recall facts, define terms and concepts, and locate information. Screen Chomp is a free app that is a basic doodling board with markers. Understanding The ‘understanding’ bucket should be filled with apps that allow students to explain concepts and ideas that they have come to understand. Applying SimpleMind is mind mapping app that students (and teachers!) Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Leadership Basics: What to Do When You Don't Have All the Answers Leaders are supposed to be all knowing -- at least when it comes to their own company -- aren't they? That's why the three most hated words in leadership are simply: "I don't know." After all, if the leader doesn't know, who does? Of course no one is expected to have all the answers. There are benefits to admitting you don't have the answers asked of you. But that doesn't make admitting you don't know what to do any easier. 1. 2. When you think "who," focus on three things: understanding, experience and expertise. Two cautions: First, beware of the faux expert who has lots of ideas but is short on real-world experience. 3. 4. Leading your team into the future is never risk free, but there is consolation in knowing there are some smart things you can do, even when you don't know what to do. The author is an Entrepreneur contributor. Mark Sanborn is an author, speaker and president of Sanborn & Associates Inc., a leadership development firm based in Lonetree, Colo.
Twitter for Professional Development One of best and worst things about teaching today is the unbelievably unfathomable amount of online resources, tools, websites, lesson plans, and overall good stuff for teaching and learning. However, there are only so many hours and minutes in the day to spend researching and finding resources that are relevant to your life as a teacher. How do you keep up with it all? There is nothing better than having a good group of “goto” people that you can turn to with questions about resources, bounce ideas off of for lessons and projects, and collaborate with on a regular basis. Twitter to the rescue! In addition to just following educators and others with the same interests as you, there are several different hashtags that you can follow that revolve around the educational realm.
22 Effective Ways To Use Twitter In The Classroom Using Twitter in the classroom is a no-brainer. It’s a powerful and free tool that already has wide adoption among educators, students, administrators, and parents. So how do you effectively use Twitter to resonate with students? Why not start by using the following methods that are organized by Bloom’s Taxonomy? The below visual showcases a variety of cases that should be of use for any teacher looking to effectively integrate Twitter into courses, lessons, projects, etc. What if you could use your favorite social network in the classroom? That’d be the cat’s pajamas. (For our many international readers not familiar with that term, it simply means ‘that’d be great.’) You can actually use Twitter with Bloom’s Taxonomy thanks to this below table built by TeachBytes .
A Juicy Collection of Bloom's Digital Taxonomies! Today, educators are overwhelmed (literally drowning!) by thousands of web 2.0/social media/apps that they can use for learning and teaching. But, where/how to start? How do we choose the right solution for a particular learning context or activity? The LMS can certainly not solve all our learning and teaching needs and requirements. Actually, compared to some of the amazing learning possibilities out there, most LMS I have explored (especially Moodle and Blackboard) are not only very limited, but used alone can even kill creative expression and learning in so many ways. One way to find the right tool (or app) for a learning context/activity/situation, is to look through the eyes of Bloom's taxonomy. But, please keep in mind that many tools/apps can easily be used for all the levels of Bloom's taxonomy with an open and creative mindset. Here is a collection of Bloom's digital taxonomies that I have discovered until now: Updated version (2014): Old Version: Source Source Source
How To Effectively Use The Top 4 Social Networks Have you ever wondered why you need to be a member of the top 4 social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the whole host of other social networking sites that your friend invite you to be a part of? Maybe you should only join Facebook. Or maybe Google+ would be the better option. Doesn’t everyone end up connected in all of the same places anyway? Well, the short version of the answer is no. Mom This is How Twitter Works Teachers – The 10 Stages of Twitter Stage 1 Sign up to twitter following persuasion/pestering by colleagues. Follow Stephen Fry, a famous sportsman/popstar and a news channel. Read a few tweets, don’t understand what the fuss is about and mock anyone who uses twitter. Stage 2 Overhear colleagues chatting about twitter and a great article they found. Stage 3 Think about posting first tweet. Stage 4 Upon realising you have no followers ask colleagues how to get them? Stage 5 Have a mini twitter conversation with colleague, even retweet a couple of statements. Stage 6 Practise a couple of tweets that include @names and hashtags. Stage 7 Retweet any link you find interesting as people might read them. Stage 8 Thank colleagues for introducing you to twitter, impressed with the knowledge you have gleaned and your growing number of followers. Stage 9 Reflect that twitter is an incredibly positive place and everyone is full of praise. Stage 10 (the reason for this post) When seeking opinion from a range of people, ask PLN to respond.
4 Visual Guides To Bloom's Taxonomy Apps Yesterday, we looked at an overview of the old and revised versions of Bloom’s taxonomy. We talked a little bit about categorizing current classroom activities to see which of Bloom’s objectives you’re addressing (whether intentionally or unintentionally). Today, we’re looking at some apps and web tools that address the Bloom’s taxonomy objectives – helping bring Mr. There are a ton of great lists out there that showcase many (many, many) apps and digital tools that address the objectives. Rather than reinventing the wheel here, we’ll start by looking at a few lists compiled by different folks along the way. Next, we have a graphic formatted in the same way as the revised taxonomy. Next up, a visually pleasing peacock. Kathy Schrock always puts together great lists of tools that address Bloom’s – here is just one of them.
Leadership, not Process, is the Keystone of Innovation To think differently, act differently. For most, easier said than done. I’ve stressed this over and over again. And will keep on stressing it because I know we’ll never get over it. Simply put, there are those that seek new thoughts before taking action. So, everyone seeks new thoughts about innovation thinking. Again, that means not just thinking differently, but also acting differently. Last week I wrote about how there is a lot of focus on innovation methodologies, but not so much on the leadership part. This is because methodologies spread easily. Mindset precedes methodology The sad thing is that when a company is considering hiring service providers that provide innovation capability their criteria is based on specialization on a specific methodology. Wishful thinking, I know. Although I think methodologies like design thinking are great because it is about putting the customer at the center of what you do, a methodology doesn’t equal mindset. Scale leadership, not process Wait!
How to Use Twitter to Grow Your PLN For many people, Twitter conjures up the worst of the internet: disjointed, meaningless phrases, unrecognizable abbreviations, and endless drivel about where someone's getting their double mocha today. So, Why Tweet?!?! For the inquisitive educator, there are some jewels herein that can lead to stimulating discussions, new resources, and an ongoing supportive network. To that end, here is a list of educationally focused chats that we recommend (listed by day): Chat for educators teaching 4th grade #4thchat Mondays 8pm ET/5pm PT/7pm CT Chat for educators teaching social studies #sschat Mondays 7pm ET/4pm PT/6pm CT Chat for music educators #musedchat Mondays 8pm ET/5pm PT Chat for ELL educators #ellchat Mondays 9pm ET/6pm PT Kindergarten Chat #kinderchat Mondays 9pm ET/6pm PT General education chat #edchat Tuesdays 12 noon ET/ 9am PT 7pm ET/4pm PT Chat for science educators #scichat Tuesdays 9pm ET/6pm PT Chat for new and pre-service teachers #ntchat Wednesdays 8pm ET/5pm PT Set up an account