I am by admission not an early Twitter adopter. But after getting a formal training on Twitter for a job, my eyes were opened! I couldn't believe how much I learned from my Twitter network!
Here are a few things you can do to start or possibly expand your social media learning experience:
1. If you're unfamiliar with Twitter, read this short Twitter 101 from edudemic.com: http://edudemic.com/2010/05/twitter-101-a-7-step-guide-for-teachers-newbies-and-everyone/
2. Sign up for a Twitter Account. It's not that hard. Don't be scared. For a professional account, it's much more common to use your first or last name or a variation thereof. No need to spend hours thinking of something catchy. http://twitter.com/signup
3. Discover the world of hashtags. http://edudemic.com/2011/10/twitter-hashtag-dictionary/. My favorites are #edchat, #edrefrom, #highered, #edtech, #DigLN, and of course, #DLDay.
4. Start with a few interesting people to follow: one way to do this is to go to @DLDay2012 and see who WE'RE following - trust me, they are good! Click on each one's profile, peruse their tweets, and if you're interested, click follow!
5. Use the search box - start looking for topics of interest! You'll be amazed at what's out there.
What to post on Twitter? That will come another time. For now, just watch, read, and learn!
When you feel ready, you can really start creating a professional learning network. Here's how.
http://kapilbhatia.com/blog/how-to-become-twitter-teachertt-in-23-steps-or-less/
If you have other helpful Twitter hints, feel free to post them in the comments below.
If you'd like to receive these daily tips by email, sign up to participate in Digital Learning Day at http://www.digitallearningday.org.
You can also "like" Digital Learning Day on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NationalDigitalLearningDay and follow the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #DLDay or @DLDay2012. Another popular hashtag for digital learning is #DigLN.
Access previous Digital Learning Day Tips of the Day at http://www.all4ed.org/blog_categories/dld_daily_quick_tip.
Sara White Hall is the director of the Center for Secondary School Digital Learning and Policy at the Alliance for Excellent Education.