Network Learning Project Update #2

I am well on my way to being a master of Twitter Chats!  Just look at these before and after shots:

In roughly three weeks I have been involved in eight different Twitter chats from a wide range of topics (spanning from New Teachers to Twitter to a Harry Potter Themed Learn Like a Pirate chat).  Here is an updated list of all the Twitter Chats I’ve been involved in.

Here are some of my Tweets:

 

 

 

The YouTube videos I posted in my previous NLP blog post were very useful to get me started.

Twitter itself also was useful to me as a kind-of help forum.  Before most Twitter Chats, a message like this would arrive from the moderator:

This is very helpful to those that are new to Twitter feel comfortable jumping in.  Here are some other words of wisdom I’ve learned from other Twitter users:

This YouTube Tutorial and comments on Twitter about TweetDeck were especially helpful to me.  Staying organized is key in a Twitter Chat!  Here is a short video I made about how to use Tweet Deck:

 

Overall, I have found other Twitter users’ Tweets to be more helpful than the YouTube videos.  Some of the videos were short (2-3 minutes) and gave me specific information (example).  Others were a bit longer and seemed to ramble on a bit (example).  I found myself skipping through the long video to find the information I needed.  On the other hand, Tweets can only be 140 characters or less, so I was able to get information that I needed fast and concisely.  Maybe this says something about me as a learner — I like immediate, accurate information!

One of the most challenging things for me was figuring out which Chats I should attend.  I received some helpful advice from this video and a Twitter dialogue to visit this site.

The problem with the Twitter Chat list, however, is that the chat is not 100% accurate/current.  For example, I logged on Tuesday night hoping to join the #elachat, but saw no action online.  I learned later that that particular chat did not meet weekly.

The solution I found was to follow other Twitter users that had similar interests to me and/or those that were moderators.  I was able to find Twitter Chats that sounded interesting to me that others were Retweeting.  I saved the chat info and hashtag on the google calendar on my phone so I would not forget to attend the chat.  Being a part of more Twitter Chats, and following more people, has helped make this process easier.

Here are some of the Twitter Chat promos I Retweeted:

 

 

 

I am very pleased with my progress!  I have developed my PLC immensely and learned some great ideas to explore this summer.   I’m very excited to continue to participate in future Twitter Chats.

I feel like this project would have gone completely different if I did not have the ability to choose my own topic.  I would have been less motivated to keep working on my project 1-2 hours a day, and probably would not have gotten as much out of it.  This aspect of choice and authenticity is important to me to remember in the future in the classroom; choice makes all the difference!