#17 Twitter and Tweetdeck

I have recently been getting into Tweetdeck, following a renewed appreciation of Twitter as a Personal Learning Network tool.  It was originally developed and launched in July 2008 by Iain Dodsworth, but only recently became 'stable'. Like other Twitter applications it works with Twitter API to allow users to send and receive tweets and view profiles.  It is a popular Twitter application but not as widely used yet as Twitpic and Yfrog - image uploaders - or Bit.ly, a URL shorterner.  There are other useful tools associated with Twitter, like TweetDownload and Twtpoll, which give you the opportunity to copy and paste tweets or to carry out a quick vote on a topic respectively.   Tweetdeck was purchased by Twitter in May 2011, so the two are inextricably linked.

Tweetdeck is a superb interface for using Twitter which allows for much more control over what you see and what you don't.  Like every good tool it is clear and simple to use, giving you options to put your activity into adjustable columns, which can either have sound alerts, pop up alerts or both.  For example, your 'timeline' - tweets from people you follow - can be clearly shown as separate from your own tweets or those in which you have been mentioned.  

Both Twitter and the integrated Twitter are superb for devloping your Personal Learning Network, and I have been doing exactly this over the past 3 months since I began this blog.  Previously I didn't have much purpose to using the tool, but this the number one reason I use it now.  People who tweet love to share their views and resources.   Forget the gossip, go with the truth.

Where it really comes into good effect is when you are following a #hashtag, as you can separate this from other tweets.  For example, as a keen #EFLchat participant, I can keep that as a separate column during the hour long Wednesday chat.  You can also have lists which filter tweets further by theme, such as 'Essential PLN'.  See image below:

 

Here I give a brief 2 minute overview of Twitter and Tweetdeck for beginners, which I made for Dave Dodgson's PLN weekend. Below that, there is a link to Paul Trotter's extensive step-by-step set of training videos for Tweetdeck:

 

Click on image to go to set of Training Videos on using Tweetdeck

I have previously used Twitter itself to conduct feedback in a class based seesion in which students were giving presentations on famous Arabs.  In the future (remember: I am not currently teaching so I've got itchy fingers..) I could use it for gathering opinions of students, giving them a backchannel in a class based discussion or generating discussion - #ELTpics is a great new service for doing this.  See Sandy Millin's blog for more details. 

A great resource for ELT

For more on Personal Learning Networks, I have embedded a presentation for my Professional Practice module which I made when I was unable to attend class, so it was sent from home: