Twitter for your PLN


Hi! A few days ago I was reflecting on how much Twitter has helped me to grow professionally. In a short time I feel my learning curve has skyrocketed. It also made me realize that there are very few teachers in my school that actually use Twitter. So, I decided to spend this week's training time on evangelizing Twitter and showing them how to form a professional learning network (PLN) through Twitter.

Yes, there are other ways to form a network, but not as easy, quick, and simple as Twitter. Just join Twitter, start following the right people, and see the flow of knowledge instantly pour in! You can't go wrong. Focus on your interests and look for who shares them too.

Why tweet?

  • Create a community with people sharing your same interests.
  • Find recommended articles, books, web sites, information, tips, etc.
  • Stay up-to-date
  • Open a window and see what others are reading, doing, saying, thinking.

Basics things to know:

  • Composing new tweets
  • Reading the tweet stream
  • List of Followers/Following
  • What are Retweets (RT), Favorites, Mentions (@), and Direct messages (DM)
  • What are Hashtags (#) 

How can you extend your network?

  • Search by categories in #Discover.
  • Search for people you know by their name.
  • See the recommendations Twitter makes of who to follow.
  • See who others are following.
  • Click on the "Follow Me" button when you see it on a web site.

Recommendations:

  • Make sure you complete your Bio with what reflects who you are and what you want others to know about you.
  • Change the egg picture right away!
  • Retweet the gems you find so you can forward the goodness to your followers.
  • Remember, you can have several Twitter accounts, so maybe you'd like to separate personal from professional networks.

Helpful links:


If you have a story of how Twitter has helped you, please add a comment, or better yet, follow me @dianasaldana and share on Twitter.

Cheers!

Comments

  1. Marybell RodriguezJanuary 19, 2013 at 10:11 AM

    Diana, great post!! I specially liked when you say "Retweet the gems you find so you can forward the goodness to your followers". We are all sharing and we are all learning!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Diana Irene SaldanaJanuary 19, 2013 at 11:44 AM

    Exactly! We're all learning from each other!

    ReplyDelete

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