This is a test post to see if I can get photos from PhotoBucket into a post using WordPress for iPad.

See the video below for the full conversation.  Please be aware there is some strong language.

At the time, if I remember correctly, Twitter was really starting to heat up and the celebrities were using it to share every last detail about their daily lives (I am sure the publicist thumbs were dying from all of the tweeting).  But, the class I was taking required us to try it out and so I began learning the curve that comes with Twitter.  Initially, my tweets seemed very mundane, my second post ever was,

The library book I needed is being held for me. I was worried I was not going to have it in time for my class. All I have to say is woohoo

Who says “woohoo”?  Anyways, I soon found some people to follow and used Twitter more as a 1-to-1 communication tool.  At this point, I did not really enjoy Twitter.  I believe the reason I didn’t enjoy it was the fact that I was gaining anything of real substance.

At some point, I don’t really remember when, I discovered the brilliance of #hashtags.  The #hastag is a brilliant way of being able to add a context to the tweet.  By including #hashtags into a tweet, people could follow conversations on a particular topic.  My first #hashtag follow was #edchat.  I added the #edchat tag to a column in TweetDeck and began to watch the beauty of Twitter.

By following the #edchat #hashtag, I could see conversations between people and could add my own thoughts and opinions.

This is why Twitter is the perfect place to start a PLN.  I have open access to some amazing people sharing ideas in education and #edtech.  I am also able to follow leaders in the area of #abed and #abedtech.

As I continue to share more, ask more questions, and create relationships with individuals within Twitterverse, my knowledge, understanding, and connections continue to grow and grow.

I would suggest that all young teachers get on Twitter and begin to share ideas and get ideas.  I would love to see education classes connect on Twitter using their class codes / sections as #hashtags.  #UAEDSE373 (University of Alberta – Secondary Education 373 [social studies minor class]) students could converse, share ideas and develop an appreciation and understanding of the power of Twitter…for more than what @justinbieber is doing after his show tonight.

*P.S. I actually follow @justinbieber – sorry for throwing you under the bus.

web20classroom Steven W. Anderson
Resources And Guides For All Of Microsoft’s Free Tools For The Classroom: http://bit.ly/hrGaQG

Neilstephenson Neil Stephenson
Digital Storytelling: A powerful Student Exemplar [video] http://bit.ly/dTSFZ8 #edchat #edtech #abed

russeltarr russeltarr
Create drag-and-drop activities in Flash with no programming experience: http://tinyurl.com/ll74hm

courosa Alec Couros
Excellent intro. to Twitter by the amazing @nancywhite on Vimeo http://t.co/RiK815B via @Diigo

This is really neat… create music in the browser just using your mouse to draw on the matrix. Then share. http://bit.ly/bJaobh

*This is super addictive – you have been warned*

I think there should be something like this in every state and every province. This is truly a great way to inform the public of the wonderful work that teachers do.

See http://kcts9.org/education/golden-apple-awards for more information.