Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Twitter Chatter

Last week's post was about the granddaddy of social media, Facebook. Facebook is yesterday's news as many new social medias have emerged as the popularity of social media took off with Facebook's success. Since we deal with children, adolescents, and/or young adults, it is important for us to stay abreast of the new technologies our patrons are using. In this spirit, this week's post is going to focus on Twitter.

 Twitter is similar to Facebook in that you can post status, called "tweets" comprised of words, pictures, videos, and links to other information. You have followers, you follow people you are interested in, but most off all, you can escalate issues. How, you might ask? Hashtags #. Just about all social media sites use hashtags, but Twitter pioneered this technology. Adding hashtags is not all that different from adding a subject heading to a book. The hashtag makes the post searchable when looking for information on a certain issue. If enough people post using the same hashtag, then the issue is said to be "trending."

 Let's look at some tweets from some people I follow:

 Linda Braun @lbraun2000 - Youth Services Manager at the Seattle Public Library
Why do I like this tweet? Properly citing sources can be a pain for even the experienced writer, not to mention the burgeoning writer. Anything that helps people navigate the nuances of properly citing a source is ok in my book.

 Tony Vincent @tonyvincent - teacher and technology guru

This tweet takes you to a blog post by Mr. Vincent on note taking apps for the iPad. I plan on using it with my students this fall as I am teaching a success class for first generation college students. Note taking as always plagued students, just ask Professor Pauk creator of Cornell notes, and I am always looking for ways to make note taking simpler for students.

 Buffy Hamilton @buffyjhamilton - librarian and teacher
This tweet rang home with me because I have wondered just how useful the iPad is compared to a laptop. Like many of the students/teachers in the article, I see iPads as entertainment platforms and laptops as workstations.

 The Daring Librarian @GwynethJones - click on her handle because her description of herself is fabulous!
A worry I have too, but I think Kathy Shrock's tweet (below) will help ameliorate this worry.

 Jim Lerman @jimlerman - teacher, leader, networker, learner

I taught U.S. History when I was in the classroom, so being able to access historic photos easily is wunderbar!

 Kathy Schrock @kathyschrock - educational technologist
We are all familiar with the phrase, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." With the number of technologies available to students, it is vitally important we are teaching students what is necessary to be successful in this century not last century.

 Like some of these tweets? Click on their handles (what names are called in the Twittersphere), and read more of what they have to say! I have a Twitter account if you would like to follow me, my handle is @Hensley221B (I like BBC's Sherlock). Twitter can be a bit intimidating in the beginning, but once you get how it works, it is actually a great place to learn.

 Happy Tweeting!

 Brittany
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