Another Use for Twitter
I came up with another use for twitter today. This makes three for me.
- The usual: conversation, personal learning network, etc. @mrmosesdotorg
- The slightly unconventional: sending messages about my my school and class to students/parents/staff phones @ochs and @usgovernment please ignore the number of followers for @usgovernment, it just hasn’t taken off
- The new: Where’s my administrator, @whruatmoses
Why would I do this? Well, even though my school is small there is much talk about not being able to find an administrator. I am hoping that this will be part of the solution.
Wait! Your staff uses twitter? I wish. If my staff used twitter there’s lots of communication that could happen which would make our organization flow more smoothly, but alas I’m living in the world of email communication. Solution:
On Monday I’ll send out an email telling my staff that if they swing by the office to see me and I’m not there, then check out the screen. I’ll also encourage them to start using twitter and they won’t have to guess if I’m there or not. Even if I just get a few more teachers using twitter and setting up their own personal learning environment then I’ve got a double good going on here.
Alright, now on to how to make it happen:
Step One: Set up a new twitter account.
Step Two: Deactivate phone posting from @mrmosesdotorg and move it to @whruatmoses so I can post from anywhere. Nothing like walking into a meeting that you didn’t know you were walking into and being stuck there for an hour or two.
Step Two-and-a-half: Download tinytwitter to my phone so I can still post from @mrmosesdotorg
Step Three: Set your computer to stay on and not go to sleep.
Step Four: Add refreshevery addon to firefox so your page will automatically refresh and your new tweets will show up.
Step Five: Point your computer screen some place where people can see it.
I ended up using my old tablet pc for this. It’s way past it’s service life, four years of hard labor, but finding a new use for it makes me feel like I’m squeezing every penny out of the $1500 I paid. You could use any computer to make this happen. An old laptop would work great. An old tower with a lcd screen; awesome. Really any computer that’s just about done or you think has little potential left would work for this project.
That’s about it. If you swing by the office, and you haven’t checked your twitter, well, now you’ll know where to find me.
Technorati Tags: twitter, administration
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Kate Olson responds:
Posted: February 1st, 2008 at 10:00 pm →
I just wanted to say that I’m inspired by this new use! And the fact that you managed to overcome the fact that the teachers aren’t actually using twitter – that would have been a huge one for me. Now, next leap would be actually getting it to the staff without them having to walk to your office, but that might be too much at this point! (maybe some sort of tweetscan that would be automatically forwarded? hmmm……..) As a teacher, I really like reading administrator blogs, I love hearing a different perspective on all of the exciting edtech trends. I look forward to reading more of your work!
P.S. I saw your tweet about this post
cory responds:
Posted: February 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 am →
Okay, okay, you’ve inspired me again. Im signing up for Twitter this weekend. The reason I haven’t signed up is because I dont feel like I deserve to belong to a network. I hope it will be sort of like when I first started reading blogs, I will find one I like and branch out from there. You can be the one I like. If nothing else, students and teachers alike will know where to find you and if that’s any place besides behind a desk, we are all better for it. I love that you are releasing yourself from the confines of your office. While I completely understand the restraints that have held you there, I think this is an awesome solution to breaking the manacles.
On that note, I have to say Im a little disappointed. I was really looking forward to going on campus and seeing a monitor on the wall outside your office. THAT would of been cool.
Nevermind the simplicities of my rambling, any administrator that wants to make know their whereabouts is okay with me!
Ann Oro responds:
Posted: February 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 am →
I’ve been reading you blog for quite a while, not sure if I ever commented. This idea is great! At some point I may use this idea myself. When you see njtechteacher following you on Twitter, you’ll know how I found you.
Ann
mrmoses responds:
Posted: February 4th, 2008 at 1:47 pm →
Thanks, Ann. I’ll keep an eye out for your follow.