Microblogging

Overview
Microblogging is a method of publishing to the Web in "bite-size" chunks of text, usually up to 140 characters at a time (about the length of a standard text message). Although [|Twitter] is by far the best known of these services, other microblogging sites exist, as does the capability to "roll your own" private microblogging site for use with students.

Twitter
Twitter was launched in the spring of 2006, but really began to pick up steam in educational circles in 2007. Early adopters in our field saw the potential in Twitter for networking with other educators around the world, but debated its utility in the classroom. Since 2007, the educational community on Twitter has exploded, and today there exists a vast global network of not only teachers of all grades and subjects, but also administrators, consultants, and specialists in every related field. As a result, any interested individual can now build a network of global contacts that allows you to discover new websites, blog posts, teaching projects, and, most importantly, **people** who bring a rich variety of experience and perspectives to the table.

Twitter is built on a concept of "following". If you "follow" another user, every time they make a post (or a "tweet"), it will appear in your personal timeline ("Recent"). When people "follow" you, every time you "tweet", that post will appear in their timelines:



If you want to direct a message at a particular user, preface the message the @ symbol, followed by their username:



Messages directed to you will start with your @username. They will appear in your "Recent" timeline as well as your "Replies" timeline.





You can also send private messages via Twitter ("Direct Messages/DMs") DMs can only be sent between mutual followers.

How Public Is This?
Twitter allows you to keep your messages totally public or "protected", which means only people who you invite to see your messages can see them. If you mark your account as "protected", your username and messages will not be "Google-able."

Who Should I Follow?
Building your network from scratch takes time. I started by finding people on Twitter whose blogs I read, then following some of the people they followed or conversed with. To give you a bit of a head start, you can visit [|this wiki] or [|this wiki] for a list of educators on Twitter grouped by subject/interests.

Most educators are happy to follow you back if you follow them, but to increase your chances of getting mutual followers, put some information in the Bio (under My Profile) - that way they'll know you're legit.

Is This Time-Consuming?
You can spend as much or as little time there as you want. Think of it as a busy bar or workroom - there are many conversations happening simultaneously, and you can eavesdrop and jump in whenever and wherever you want.

How Can This Possibly Be Professionally Beneficial?
It's all in how you use the tool. Two of my most rewarding experiences in my Honors British Lit class this year were thanks to [|Dave Stacey] and [|Christian Long], two teachers with whom I had previously corresponded on Twitter. We shared some ideas here, then took the discussion offline to flesh out projects in greater detail.

Classroom Applications
The biggest classroom "success stories" seem to be coming from the university level, where students may sit in 100+ student lecture halls and only meet once or twice a week. In these situations, Twitter allows students to post questions, responses, and messages at any time before, during, or after class.

Implementation in a K-12 classroom may or may not be feasible, depending on many factors. Some middle and high school teachers find Twitter useful for [|backchanneling], conducting silent, written discussion during a lecture or presentation. Such a tool might also be helpful for organizing and addressing questions during inner/outer circle scored discussions.

To easily track tweets for a particular class or teacher, students can either send an @ reply or DM to the teacher/TA **or** use a hashtag or common term (e.g., #US2) in all their tweets. These tags or search terms can be aggregated by using Twitter's [|real-time search function] or an external Twitter client like [|TweetDeck] or [|Twhirl].

Alternatives to Twitter
Privacy concerns exist when students use any publicly accessible site, and Twitter is no exception. The service [|ShoutEm] allows teachers to create their own private microblogging network with most of Twitter's functionality (ShoutEm is also compatible with Twhirl - see above). School districts may also wish to install the [|laconi.ca] microblogging platform on their own server space, thereby eliminating the need for external services entirely.