Twitter for Staff Development

Posted on 27. Dec, 2008 by in All Posts, Cool+Creative, Tech Stuff, Techniques

How many times have you sat in front of a staff development presenter frustrated because it wasn’t relevant or bored you to tears? If you’ve ever wished you could choose your own learning experiences then Twitter may be right for you.

What is Twitter? The video below has a great explanation.

I was wasn’t expecting much when I started using Twitter a few months ago. What could you possibly learn from others in two sentence increments? The simple answer is something new, every day. I’ve gathered great links to websites, fun tools for teaching, and a chance to smile at funny things that happen in education.


Here’s how to get started:
1. Go to Twitter.com and create a username and bio. You won’t know the benefits unless you give it a shot.
2. Find people to follow who share your interests. Art teachers on Twitter listed at The Teaching Palette and TwitterGroups: ArtEd20 are two great places to start.  Browse the Museum Twitter Group for access to great museums world wide.  Look and see who others follow – this is a great way to build your learning network.
3. Look at others’ bios, then look at their recent posts. Both are important in shaping what you learn.
4. Create your first tweet – share a funny line from a student or a favorite website. It is OK if you just sit back and learn through others “tweets” for a while . . when you are ready join in.
5. Add Twitter to your routine or make it your web browser home page.

Email us your user name and we will add you to the Teaching Palette “Art Teachers on Twitter” list!
Use the comment area below to ask questions or just let everyone know what your Twitter experience is like!