Collaborate on Twitter

Collaborate on TwitterI’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Twitter is an absolutely fantastic resource for teachers. But it can also be something of a blunt instrument. The daily surge of information, the ever-changing timeline of tweets, the potential to miss entire conversations simply by failing to log in at the right moment… the pitfalls are considerable. The best a teacher can get out of Twitter is truly enriching, meaningful collaboration with other educators – so try these top tips to make sure you manage to achieve just that…

 

1. Stick Together

It’s not easy to collaborate if you’re not online at the same time. Teachers log in at different times, particularly as the rich #EdTech community online is brilliantly diverse, meaning that members are logging in at different times of day from different time zones. But thanks to great tools like Tweetizen you can create groups, so that like-minded tweeters can join forces to discuss a particular topic or area. This is a great way to collaborate across time zones, as it allows members of a particular PLN to tune in and check up on what’s been discussed while they were offline.

 

2. Share Everything

The key to successful long-lasting collaboration is sharing resources, ideas and tools. Using a brilliant resource like TweetCube you can upload as many images, archives, documents, videos and audio files as you like and share them with other educators.

 

3. Collaborate in Real Time

Even taking the time to share documents or explain how to use tools can be time-consuming in the faced-paced world of Twitter. A fantastic tool like Screenr  allows teachers to enjoy real-time collaboration as they go along by transmitting instant screencasts with audio quickly and easily. It couldn’t be simpler – you just click record, capture your screen and voice and share the link! Brilliant for collaborating on joint projects or simultaneously exploring new tools together.

 

4. Stay focused

It’s not easy to stay on top of everything that goes on on Twitter as things move so quickly. Try using TweetDeck  to help you keep up with the flow! TweetDeck is an app that can be used from your desktop or mobile device, on Windows or Mac. It is a vital resource to help teachers collaborate, keep up and avoid missing information, as it streamlines and customizes what you see, enabling you to focus, for example on several different topics throughout the day without missing vital updates.

 

5. Stay Mobile

It’s not easy to collaborate frequently and fluidly if you have to stop and login to a computer every time you want to tweet. Try using a brilliant app like Dial2Do, which allows you to tweet whilst on the go by converting voice commands into text and tweets. This great innovation turns tweeting into a conversation, enabling you to keep up with the dialogue even whilst driving or walking.

 

What are your top tips for Twitter collaboration? Share them with us in the comments below!

 

Image courtesy of Flickr, Rosaura Ochoa

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