Tuesday, April 5, 2016

"Follow me! Follow me to Freedom!"

@joe_edtech/@LisaBerghoff

Well, that might be a little dramatic, but I always get excited when we can connect in very cool new ways. And this is cool, I am writing to you from my "spacious" coach seat on board my American Airlines flight to Washington DC. Lisa and I are attending and presenting at the CoSN National Conference on Ed Tech Conference this week. Of course, we'll share our presentation and all of the new resources we get when we get back. But, we really don't want to wait that long to tell you about the great things happening here. 

Even if you never send a Tweet, Twitter can be an amazing Professional Development tool for educators. This week, Lisa and I will be Tweeting out lots of information from the Conference, some of it you'll be able to use in your classes right away. Some of it will just be fun. For instance, we got to hear Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, give the Keynote address. He opened the tech conference by talking about the importance of developing art skills.  And he challenged everyone in the audience. "You can't change everything in your school district at once, but you can find one small thing you can change tomorrow and make things better." He encouraged us to look for the "small wins" as they add up and often become big wins.

We also got to meet Megan Smith, United States Chief Technology Officer, Assistant to the President. In her role, she  focuses on how technology, policy, data and innovation can improve the future of our nation. She talked about the importance of offering creativity tools, maker spaces, and authentic coding experiences to reach even our most disenfranchised students.

Lisa and Joe Hobnobbing with Megan Smith

To follow the rest of the conversation and conference activities, all you have to do is get a FREE Twitter account and search for the hashtag #CoSN16. If you are new to Twitter, here's a short video from Dan Krutka, Ph.D..to help you get started:

Once you get logged in, try following some of these great educational resources:

  • @Edutopia - The George Lucas Foundation for Education
  • @NSBA - The National School Board Association
  • @David Pogue - Tech columnist, NY Times; PBS NOVA host; Missing Manuals creator, dad of 3!
  • @Common Sense Media - Organization for Research Based Digital Citizenship Curriculum
  • @Highland Park High School
  • Tom K.'s handle: @HPHSgiants
  • @LisaBerghoff   (I will follow you back!)
And that doesn't even scratch the surface. You can follow writers, other teachers, colleges, organizations, teams, politicians (ugh, I don't recommend following them).

 Here are some great lists and resources you can use.

 Lisa's What Is Twitter handout. 

All you need to do to get started is create an account on Twitter.com. HOWEVER, before you do, click here and check out "The Ultimate Twitter Guide for Teachers." Jeff Dunn (@edudemic) provides you with:
And much, much more.

Once you start using Twitter, you'll learn about "hashtags" (#). They are used in Tweets to denote important topics, and to make Twitter feeds more searchable and user friendly. The most important hashtag for educators is #edchat. Click here to get an idea of the myriad of topics discussed on Twitter labeled #edchat.

Find Twitter Here - And create your free account today.

By the way, there are two great HashTags (#) you should be following and contributing to if you are on Twitter:



#HPGiantPride = Tag the great staff, students, and accomplishments we have.
#D113PLN = Contribute to our online Professional Learning Network


MOST IMPORTANTLY, this week, follow #CoSN16.  Our session, "What NOT To Do With Technology In The Classroom" will be Tuesday, April 5, from 1:45 to 2:45 Central Time.

 Want to learn more about Twitter but feel like you'd like a coach?  Set up a time with Lisa Berghoff! She's happy to give you a personal tour. 

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)