Episode 30: Twitter in the Classroom with Leslie Houck

2014-08-13

Like most people I taught myself how to do Twitter… but I wanted to make sure that I did it right! I had the chance to take a class titled Twitter 101 and many of my questions were answered. Leslie Houck is a Social Media Specialist with the Georgia Department of Education who has a background in communication and journalism and says , “I kind of fell into social media as a job.” Leslie gives advice for educators who might be afraid of using Twitter primarily because they only hear about the bad situations that have happened. Leslie comments that Digital Citizenship 101 should be taught in every class to all kids and to th...

Like most people I taught myself how to do Twitter… but I wanted to make sure that I did it right! I had the chance to take a class titled Twitter 101 and many of my questions were answered.

Leslie Houck is a Social Media Specialist with the Georgia Department of Education who has a background in communication and journalism and says , “I kind of fell into social media as a job.”

Leslie gives advice for educators who might be afraid of using Twitter primarily because they only hear about the bad situations that have happened.

Leslie comments that Digital Citizenship 101 should be taught in every class to all kids and to the staff. She noted that New York City Schools, Facebook, and Edutopia have recently released examples of these guidelines for schools to use.

No matter what, she emphasizes that it is important to “be smart with our on-line reputation.” Make sure that you pay extra close attention to this part of the interview as she makes many points that help to address the use of social media in the classroom and as a professional educator.

We also talk about Twitter etiquette, RTs, MTs, follows, Favoriting, the restriction of 140 characters, creating a handle, the list function, and of course the # Hashtag!

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to learn about Twitter from Leslie and I know you will, too!

Check out the links below to some of the resources she referenced.

The GAVS #eTeacherTool Training https://www.openteachertraining.org/

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/

Symbaloo http://www.symbaloo.com/

Hootsuite https://hootsuite.com/dashboard

My Twitter 101 training

My Twitter 102 training

"Tips for My Tweeps" Pinterest Board w Resources

Popular Ed Chats

Guide to Ed Twitter Hashtags

Hashtag Infographic