Feb 8, 2011

Part II - IMEA Recap: Using Twitter for Professional Development

At the 2011 Illinois Music Educator's Association Conference in Peoria, Kyle Freesen (@kfreesen) and I were privileged to present to a group of music teachers about using social networking to create their own professional development.  This is the second of a three part series from our session.


Twitter for Music Educators
When compared to Facebook popularity, Twitter does not have near the number of users.  There are about 106 million users compared to Facebook's 500+ billion users.  Not even close! But, there is something compelling Twitter has that Facebook doesn't.  Twitter has the ability to allow users a simple interface for anyone to share resources like websites, blogs, pictures, and any info that is 140 characters or less.  There is no need to "friend" a fellow Twitter user.  A simple "follow" on Twitter will open the door to collaboration.


Collaboration
Twitter bleeds collaboration!  It creates the ability for users to connect on a world-wide scale.  Music educators can collaborate with other teachers from Australia to the UK, as well as throughout the United States.  Basically, anywhere someone has a Twitter account!


There are two engaging discussions that happen on Twitter each week.  #MusEdChat - Monday's at 8:00pm EST & #EdChat - Tuesday's at 7:00pm EST.  To participate, all you need is an account and a Twitter client like TweetDeck or Hootsuite.  This will allow you to follow the conversation in real-time using the keywords or hashtags #musedchat & #edchat.  If I have lost you, have no fear.  Read on!


Getting Started
How do I get started with #MusEdChat?  Start here!  There is a ton of information, including how the weekly topic is chosen and how to participate.  I highly recommend reading the #MusEdChat Basics - by Dr. Pisano too!

Here are some other helpful resources to get started with Twitter:

  • @teaching_music
  • @reading_music
  • @band_techie
  • @kfreesen
  • @pisanojm
  • @DoremiGirl
  • @musicednews
  • @ericwhitacre
  • @Wrightstuffmusic
  • @inspired_clsrm
  • @MusicMarth
  • @web20classroom
  • @MusicEdTech
  • @jimfrankel
  • @techmusiced
  • @mrsbrownmusic
  • @bmuench
  • @Zweibz7
  • @Dougbutchy
  • @thomasjwest
  • @NicholasCowall
  • @TravisJWeller
Please, if you are a new Twitter user, share your success story with a comment below or simply ask a question. I will always respond! If I don't know the answer, I will be able to point you in the right direction.

Good luck!

    1 comment:

    1. Nice!

      Thanks for posting all of these great music educator Twitter Users!

      ReplyDelete