Chegg announced today that it has acquired the data and assets of Internships.com for $10 million in cash and $1 million in stock from CareerArc Group LLC. Key Takeaway Through this latest acquisition Chegg will add 2 million registered students, 380 university relationships, and 90,000 internships from 60,000 companies to the Chegg Career Center. Internships.com had already been included in the Career Center since December through a partnership. "With this acquisition, Chegg is poised to disrupt the highly inefficient and fragmented $5 billion college recruiting market. Closing the skills gap and finding students career opportunities is critical for improving student outcomes in a global economy. Adding Internships.com enables Chegg to fundamentally improve matching between students and employers, helping businesses to better identify the best candidates and students to develop the real world job skills they'll need upon graduation." states Dan Rosensweig, Chairman and CEO of Chegg in the press release. The Chegg Career Center launched in May, enabling students to explore internships and career options as well as advice from working professionals. Chegg also plans to add a skills marketplace where students can purchase courses that focus on the skills that are required in the knowledge economy. According to a study commissioned by Chegg in August 2013, 82% of hiring managers stating that it's important for recent grads to have prior internship experiences. All in all, the market around career planning is getting more and more competitive with LinkedIn launching a suite of new tools for student to find the right college, university and career this week. The acquisition of Internships.com is the latest step in Chegg’s transition to a 100% cloud based education business. In June Chegg acquired InstaEdu, an on-demand live video tutoring platform and in August Chegg outsourced its textbook distribution to Ingram. Further Reading Chegg Acquires Internships.com | PR Newswire Related Links Who is going to be Chegg's next acquisition? Here are three Options. HEDLINE: Chegg Career Center to launch later this month HEDLINE: Chegg acquires InstaEDU for $30 million

On Friday, 9/21/2012, I was able to get my hands on the new iPhone 5. I thought I’d share a few of my first impressions here. But first, a little bit of background… Background As a long time Verizon customer (primarily because I have not AT&T coverage at my home and Verizon is the only carrier that provides reliable coverage both at my home as well as our cottage in WI where I spend much of my summer) I was among the first users of iPhone 4 where it finally came to Verizon back in April 2011. As a Mac user and one who is comfortable in the Apple ecosystem, the iPhone quickly became the essential technology device that I use constantly throughout my day. Because I was one of those "early adopters" on Verizon, the 2-yr contract that I signed on for included unlimited data on 3G. As I often have found myself in situations where I need Wi-Fi access, I also have the tethering option (2GB/month) and frequently am using my iPhone as a Wi-Fi hotspot over 3G. The announcement of iPhone 5 was exciting for me, primarily because I was eligible for a discounted upgrade on 10/11/12 and I’ve been longing for LTE speeds. The iPhone 4 has been, and continues to be, a fantastic mobile device and I do still highly recommend it. For me, since I do rely on the hotspot capability frequently, and the fact that I live and work in areas that have LTE coverage with Verizon, the promise of much faster download speeds was the feature that ultimately was enough for me to upgrade. I went ahead and sold back my iPhone 4 to Gazelle, so in order to receive the offered amount, I need to have it in the mail back to Gazelle by Oct. 1st. I figured I’d just go a couple weeks without a phone so that I could get the most possible cash for my current iPhone. I called Verizon and they confirmed that on Oct. 11th I’d be able to upgrade to the new iPhone 5 with the subsidized amount. Yet, because I am a grandfathered unlimited data user, if I were to sign-up for a new 2-yr contract (needed in ordered to purchase iPhone 5 with the carrier discount), I’d have to forfeit my unlimited data plan. Instead, I’d be signing-up for one of Verizon’s "Share Everything Plan" that would end up costing me more per month than what I’m currently paying for data and tethering. While I don’t often go over 2GB of data on my current iPhone, the unlimited data perk is one that I didn’t want to give up if at all possible. In my discussions with Verizon, I learned that if I were to indeed pay full retail price for an iPhone and in essence not extend or renew my current contract, I’d be able to keep my unlimited data plan on the much faster 4G LTE. While my tethering option of 2GB of 3G data on my current plan for $20 would need to be upgraded to LTE data for an extra $10/mo, I would then have UNLIMITED tethered data over LTE! Basically, for $10 more per month, I’d have not only unlimited data over LTE on my iPhone, but also unlimited tethered data over LTE when using my iPhone as a hotspot. For me, the promise of continuing to enjoy unlimited data was well worth paying the extra several hundred dollars for the full retail price of the iPhone. After deciding that I wouldn’t renew my contract, there was no need to wait until October 11th to purchase the new iPhone. However, by the time I had made my decision, there was a 4-week wait for pre-orders. I decided I’d try to get a phone when they went on sale on Fri, 9/21 Buying Experience On Fri, 9/21, I needed to be at a meeting in Indiana at 12PM and would be driving from my home near Rockford, IL. Despite all the reports of people camping out waiting in line for the new iPhone, I decided I’d try just showing up at an Apple store and see if I could perhaps get a phone without an overnight wait. So, I chose to stop at the Apple Store at Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, IL and arrived in line at 7:45AM, just 15 minutes before the store was scheduled to open. While I didn’t count the number of people in line, there were easily over 150 people in line before me, some had chairs and obviously had been waiting quite a while, while many others like me appeared to have just arrived that morning. View of my spot in line At 8AM, the store opened to cheers from the employees and those in line and quickly the line started moving. It was remarkable how quickly the line moved. As the line moved along, I was able to see that there were several Apple associates who had a box of what looked like small cards. What I learned they were doing is asking those in line what carrier, size, and color they were in line for and would then give a card for the device they would be purchasing. Some were buying 2, but most were just purchasing 1. When it was my turn to state which device I was in line for, I asked for a Verizon, 64GB, black, but they only had white still available. While I was hoping for black, I opted for white so I could still walk away with my phone that day. Card I received for my white, 64GB, Verizon iPhone After a few more minutes of waiting, I was finally in the store and minutes later, I walked out with my new iPhone. In total, I spent 55 minutes from the time I stepped in line, until I walked out of the store with my iPhone. I opted for the AppleCare+ coverage as well. All in all, I was so really pleased to have been able to leave that day with phone in hand. Unboxing and Setup As I didn’t return home from traveling for work until Saturday afternoon, that was my first chance to get my phone setup. I personally still backup my iPhone via iTunes on my laptop and so my first step was to do a full backup of my iPhone 4. I had already updated my iPhone 4 to iOS 6, so I’d be able to easily setup my new iPhone by doing a restore from my iPhone 4 backup. My next step was to unbox my new phone and restore from the iPhone 4 backup. The process was seamless and within a matter of approximately 15 minutes my iPhone 5 was setup. The final setup process was to call Verizon and activate. Because I had the unique unlimited plan, I needed to call and speak to Verizon customer service rep and ask that they simply replace my iPhone 4 on my plan with the new iPhone 5. While one the phone, the customer service rep also updated my tethering plan from 3G to LTE. It was just a matter of a couple minutes, and my new phone was activated and ready for use. Everything transferred over, including previous voicemails, messages, etc…completely seamless! Now, it was time to start trying out the new phone First Impressions While I’ve only used iPhone 5 over LTE on Verizon for just 24 hours or so, here are a few of my first impressions: I like white. While in line, I talked with two different Apple Store associates, each of which said they had purchased one color themselves, but now wish they’d purchased the other. Coincidentally, one purchased black, the other white. Now that I have the white, I do like the color, especially the aluminum back. LTE is fast!. I had heard from others how much quicker LTE seemed as compared to 3G, and it is true that the speed difference is amazing. The speeds are definitely comparable to broadband access that I have at my home. The 4″ screen size is perfect. I was a bit skeptical when Apple announced that the screen size would be enlarged, as I really don’t want to have to use 2 hands to operate my phone. The slightly larger screen size is the perfect length for me to be able to reach both the top and bottom of the screen with my thumb. I don’t have overly large hands, so I suspect the same will hold true for most people. The experience of using a thumb as Apple advertises is exactly what I’ve experienced. iPhone is fast. Apps load notably faster than on my iPhone 4 and it overall seems even more responsive than before. AirPlay mirroring is great. The AirPlay mirroring over Wi-Fi to my AppleTV works just like advertised. It just works, and does so flawlessly. Camera is faster. On my iPhone 4, there was a notable delay after taking a photo, before the camera was ready to take another photo. On iPhone 5, the camera is much more responsive and I’ve been able to take photos in rapid succession without delay. Those are just a few of my initial impressions of iPhone 5. Overall, I’m really glad to made the upgrade. Have you also upgraded to iPhone 5? What was your experience like? What were your first impressions? Feel free to leave a comment with your experiences.

Last week Yahoo announced would shut down its vertical portal Yahoo Education on September 30th, followed by its legacy product Yahoo Directory at the end of the year. This, however, does not seem to affect the collaboration between Easyuni and Yahoo Malaysia who announced a partnership for a higher education portal back in May. Yahoo states that it will continue to shut down products that are identified as "areas outside of our core experiences where users’ needs are already well served by alternative online resources." Yahoo Education aimed to connect users with education providers and their products and Yahoo Directory was one of the first portals that helped people to navigate the Internet. Both products are, of course, anachronisms as today’s search and recommendation products are built upon user data and social connections. And only one day after Yahoo Education was shut down LinkedIn announced the launch of its new college finding tools. The tools which aim to help college students to find the right college and career are based upon data points from LinkedIn members and social interaction between students and college counselors on the professional network. Features include Decision Boards which use a combination of organizational, social and insight tools, helping students to "work the problem" from start to decision and share their progress with peers and advisors and University Rankings based upon data from graduates that show which university career led to desirable jobs. Students are also able to find universities based on their desired career, using the new University Finder tool. The new tools are a substantial addition to LinkedIn’s offering for students which started about a year ago with the launch of University Pages. Further Reading Progress Report: Continued Product Focus | Yahoo Social + Data = Better Decisions for Students | LinkedIn Related Links EdTech Startups Asia: easyuni, MyBusMate, SchoolofTutors and Mettl LinkedIn University Pages - Are Internships next on the Feature List?

Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) has surveyed undergraduate students annually since 2004 about technology in higher education. In 2012, ECAR collaborated with 195 institutions to collect responses from more than 100,000 students about their technology experiences. The findings are distilled into the broad thematic message for institutions and educators to balance strategic innovation with solid delivery of basic institutional services and pedagogical practices and to know students well enough to understand which innovations they value the most. Key Findings See the 2012 report for a full list key messages, findings, and supporting data. Blended-learning environments are the norm; students say that these environments best support how they learn. Students want to access academic progress information and course material via their mobile devices, and institutions deliver. Technology training and skill development for students is more important than new, more, or "better" technology. Students use social networks for interacting with friends more than for academic communication. Infographic The following infographic, available here as PDF, highlights some of the key findings: ECAR Recommends See the 2012 report for a full list of actionable results. Look to emerging or established leaders (other institutions, other countries, other industries) for strategies to deliver instruction and curricular content to tablets and smartphones. Learn from their exemplary strategies for IT support and security with student devices as well as planning, funding, deploying, and managing instructional technologies, services, and support. Prioritize the development of mobile-friendly resources and activities that students say are important: access to course websites and syllabi, course and learning management systems, and academic progress reports (i.e., grades). Bridge the gap between the technologies that have seen the greatest growth (e-portfolios, e-books/e-textbooks, and web-based citation/bibliographic tools) and students’ attitudes about their importance. Focus training/skill-building opportunities for students, professional development opportunities for faculty, and support service opportunities on these emerging technologies. Use e-mail and the course and learning management system for formal communication with students. Experiment with text messaging and instant messaging/online chatting, and don’t focus efforts on using social networks and telephone conversations to interact with students. Complete study findings available here.

Mumbai-based private equity fund Kaizen Management Advisors announced that it will invest $150 million in the education projects in India and South East Asia reports the Economic Times. $75 million are going to be invested in the Indian education technology sector, the other $75 million in education projects in Singapore, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Philippines as Kaizen aims to expand into South East Asian markets through its second fund. Kaizen plans to make investments through the new fund between 2015 and 2019. Over the next five months the private equity fund will also be investing the remaining $10 to 12 million from its first $70 million fund which was raised in 2012. The funding came from IFC, Swiss Fund for Emerging Markets, HDFC India, UBS Fund of Funds and Bertelsmann. To date $55 million have been invested in seven school-related project according to Sandeep Aneja, founder and managing director of Kaizen. Further Reading Kaizen to invest $75 million in Indian education sector | Economic Times Links kaizenpe.com

Pearson Affordable Learning Fund and Village Capital announced the thirteen participants of its edupreneurs program in Africa. Six of the participants come from South Africa, two from Tanzania, two from Nigeria, and one from Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia respectively. The thirteen participants were selected out of 120 applicants from across the continent. The startups will now participate in a mentorship program starting on October 16th. Two winners will be selected through peer review of the participants and will receive up to $75k in seed funding in January 2015. Bambisa (South Africa) Bambisa is a multi-platform mobile application for teachers and parents across all education sectors. It combines WhatsApp, Google Calendar, Kalahari and PayPal in one app for parents. Bambisa offers a free broadcast and two way communication and payment platform tailored for the teacher-parent conversation, real time calendaring so that teachers can add events, parents can view an agenda and get reminders, as well as content delivery providing high school content in a ‘chat’ style through the app. Dapt.io (South Africa) Dapt.io provides adaptive learning software that delivers digital learning content and assessments that adapt to a student’s strengths and weaknesses. By leveraging big data and rating algorithms, Dapt.io provides feedback on each student and on the course. Funda Online (South Africa) Funda Online’s cloud-based software-as-a-service platform allows its partners to educate and engage students globally. Its courses are targeted at equipping youth who are neither in employment nor education with new skills to either find employment or develop their entrepreneurship skills. FunDza Literacy Trust (South Africa) FunDza is an organisation dedicated to improving the literacy levels of South African youth by growing a culture of reading and writing. They use technological solutions to scale their impact. HapaWeb (Ghana) HapaWeb is an IT company offering web and mobile applications such as bulk SMS, website design, school management system, and Google Apps for business. HapaSIS is a web-based school management software enabling over 15,000 parents to access student reports online and via SMS through an open-source freemium model specifically for African Senior High Schools and free to download. Kidogo (Kenya) Mothers living in urban slums do not have access to safe, age-appropriate and trained early childhood education centers. Kidogo plans to fill this gap with an innovative hub & spoke model to deliver high quality ECD programs with trained caregivers and locally relevant education. Following a micro-franchise model, Kidogo also empowers local women to become entrepreneurs. Leap Academy (Ethiopia) Leap Academy provides affordable, high quality basic education for children and adults in per-urban Ethiopia through owning schools and building partnerships with other private and public schools to leverage existing infrastructure. Lekki Peninsula Affordable Schools (Nigeria) Lekki Peninsula Schools is a low-cost private school chain in Nigeria with an all-inclusive fee structure and flexible payment system designed for low-income families. Open Futures Foundation (South Africa) Open Futures provides skills, education and training to high school learners and out-of-school-youth, in efforts to empower and enable them to start their own business, qualify & register for tertiary education or find secure employment. Shule Direct (Tanzania) Shule Direct creates local digital educational content. They are building an anytime, anywhere learning platform to enable access to localized content from available devices. Content from the best local teachers and open resources are organized according to the local curriculum in a cloud-based educational content repository. Syafunda (South Africa) Syafunda is an organization with a network of over 900 schools across South Africa that provides innovative learning solutions through mobile technology. They develop products to simplify the learning process and sharing of information in a fun, simple and interactive way. Tutor.ng (Nigeria) Tutor.ng is an online learning platform designed to make education accessible by engaging Africans with online courses, meetups, tutorials and virtual live classes. Ubongo (Tanzania) Ubongo is a Tanzanian social enterprise that creates interactive edutainment for learners in Africa, delivered to them via the technologies they already have. They’re bringing African families a transformational, fun new way to learn through educational media accessible through basic mobile phones and mobile web. Further Reading Pearson backs 13 start-ups in Africa as they demonstrate they can impact educational outcomes for low-income learners | Press Release

Do you use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube? Have you ever considered leveraging social media tools like these in your teaching? During this introductory online session I led on 9/28/2012, we explored what social media are and the pedagogical potential for use of social media in educational settings. We set the stage for future sessions to further explore use of social media tools and the design of engaging and innovative learning activities. Slides are available here. For links to archives of other online workshops offered by NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, visit www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/archives

Indian education service provider CL Educate, formerly known as Career Launcher, has filed papers for an IPO hoping to raise up to $40 million. The company was founded in 1994 and operates centers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi beside Northern India. Among its services are numerous products, programs and services in the test preparation, K12 and higher education as well as vocational training verticals. Those programs and courses take place both online and offline. CL Educate operates ten K12 schools, operates 88 test prep centers and owns 76 test prep centers across India. Currently more than 67,000 students are enrolled in the centers. Since the end of 2011 CL Educate has acted as a publisher of educational content including mock exams, test prep and guides after acquiring GK Publication, selling 1.1 million copies in the financial last year. The company’s revenue from operations was a reported $35.4 million for FY14. Further Reading Career Launcher parent CL Educate files for up to $40M IPO, Gaja Cap to part exit | VCCircle CL Educate | Bloomberg Business Snapshot Links cleducate.com

The Minerva Project, an edtech startup that aims to create a new breed of elite university, announced that it is in the process of raising a $70 million Series B from a Chinese investment consortium led by tutoring service provider TAL Education Group with participation of Yongjin Group and ZhenFund and its existing investor Benchmark Capital. This round brings the total funding raised to $95 million. Benchmark Capital was the sole investor in Minerva’s $25 million round in April 2012. The Chinese consortium invested $25 million in this round with TAL contributing $18 million, and Yongjin Group and ZhenFund contributing the remaining $7 million. To date, 70% of the Series B round has been allocated and 30% will be allocated by the beginning of 2015. Founded by Ben Nelson, the Minerva Project is a hybrid between online education platform and the experience of living on campus. Minerva creates dormitory clusters in major cities across the globe and encourages its students to spend their semesters in different cities. The Minerva Project just recently opened its doors to a first class of 29 students. The rate of acceptance for this class was 2.8% which is lower than any Ivy league university and part of Minerva’s mission to become an elite education provider. The first class is currently not paying tuition, but students will eventually have to pay between $10.000 to $20.000 per year for a bachelor’s degree which would still be significantly lower compared to the established institutions in higher education the Minerva Project aims to compete with. Related The Campus of the Future: Hybrid and Lean Links minervaproject.com | Twitter

Twitter has become a common tool for communicating and collaborating that is part blog, part social networking site, and part mobile phone/IM tool. During this session at the 2012 SLATE Conference, October 12, 2012, Jason Rhode shared his experiences of incorporating online resource sharing chat activities, via Twitter, for mobile learning in an online course, as well as practical recommendations for those considering utilizing Twitter in teaching and learning. Participants were encouraged to bring their Twitter account to participate and use hashtag #twitterinedu Also, this HootCourse was setup and used as an example of creating a restricted Twitter group for a course. Click here to join our backchannel on HootCourse! Session Goals Build a foundation for why educators may wish to incorporate Twitter into their teaching, learning, and professional development Give examples of what a few other educators have done thus far implementing Twitter in their teaching Share the experiences of incorporating online resource sharing chat activities, via Twitter, for mobile learning in an online course Provide practical recommendations for those considering utilizing Twitter in teaching and learning Suggest available tutorials, resources and tools for those interested in getting started Foundation Photo courtesy @inju on Flickr Why should educators consider incorporating Twitter in their teaching? Here are just a few reasons: Extend learning experiences beyond the "walls" of the classroom Bring in current events to the curriculum Engage students within lecture-based instruction Connect students from across multiple sections or institutions Reach out to experts in the field Pull the world into your classroom Introduce students to informal professional development What other reasons come to mind for why educators may want to use Twitter in their teaching? Tweet your ideas using hashtag #twitterinedu Examples Here are a few examples of educators who have already leveraged Twitter in their teaching 50 Ways to Use Twitter in the College Classroom 36 Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom Academic Excellence in 140 Characters [YouTube] - Summary of study by Rey Junco on the effects of Twitter on student engagement and grades. Hotseat at Purdue University - Social networking-powered mobile Web application at Purdue University, creates a collaborative classroom, allowing students to provide near real-time feedback during class and enabling professors to adjust the course content and improve the learning experience. Students can post messages to Hotseat using their Facebook or Twitter accounts, sending text messages, or logging in to the Hotseat Web site. @skipvia’s ED329 web site (includes Twitter/PLN assignment and evaluation) Twitter in the high school classroom? [YouTube] - High schoolers at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, MN are being engaged in the classroom in a whole new way. By using social media tools and giving them access to the Internet, students are able to learn in different ways. Having discussions about their English class online has increased their level of attention and engagement in their studies. Twitter Experiment at UT Dallas [YouTube] - Monica Rankin, professor of History at UT Dallas, wanted to know how to reach more students and involve more people in class discussions both in and out of the classroom. She shares her recommendations for other educators here. Twitter chats with online, graduate-level in-service teachers - Jason Rhode’s reflections on his incorporation of twitter chats into his teaching Are you aware of other examples of educators using Twitter? Tweet links to examples using hashtag #twitterinedu Literature What research has been conducted thus far on the use of Twitter in education? Here are links to a few studies: The Twitter experience: The role of Twitter in the formation and maintenance of personal learning networks The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades The networked student model for construction of personal learning environments: Balancing teacher control and student autonomy Use of microblogging for collaborative learning (p. 71-80) In addition, Jason Rhode maintains a collection of articles on Twitter in education bookmarked here. Have another research article you’d recommend be added to this list? Tweet links to articles using hashtag #twitterinedu Photo courtesy @rosauraochoa on Flickr Experiences In my summer 2012 course, EDT 6060 - Trends and Future of Technology in Education, I tried for the very first time incorporating a required Twitter chat exercise into the weekly activities. My goal in doing so was to expand the discussion beyond the scope of the typical Blackboard discussion space and to encourage my students to begin engaging in conversations with others within the field. Since we were looking at current events within the field of educational technology, this was the perfect course to incorporate such an activity on Twitter given the plethora of resources and fantastic ongoing conversations that take place on Twitter. At the conclusion of the course, my students reflected on their learning experiences in the course. Here are a few quotes from my students concerning the Twitter chats that I wanted to share here in support of these sort of social networking activities within the online learning environment: Even if a teacher/colleague has not yet embraced technology, they should still try to read journal articles either in print or online to stay breadth of the current technologies being offered. Perhaps one of those articles will spark an interest - as it is that spark that will move us into action. I think that people are scared by Twitter or have not experienced it enough to know that it is a way to view up to date information on topics of interest. I would bet that many teacher view Twitter like they view Facebook, as I was one of those in the past. All it takes is one person to force the teachers to use Twitter and they will start to see the benefits. And, I would like to say thank you Dr. J. for forcing me to Twitter, as I love it! I never thought Twitter could be used in such a professional way for my job! I am so thankful to add this skill to my ways to keep up with new and changing educational advances! I feel really proud of the progress that I’ve made (using Twitter in this course), but there’s a whole world on Twitter to explore and learn more about edtech. The articles are fascinating! Twitter is awesome! I will definitely be checking it often and am going to let staff know of its benefits next year. For anyone interested, below are the instructions for the Twitter chat assignments that I included in my course syllabus. You’re welcome to make use of these instructions or revise for your specific needs. If you find this idea helpful and/or if you plan to try in your own teaching, leave me a comment and let me know! Twitter Resource Sharing Chat Instructions In addition to engaging in discussion with classmates via the discussion board in Blackboard, you will share resources and engage with the broader educational community regarding current trends and future of technology in education on Twitter. In doing so, you will continue to expand your perspective beyond the "walls of our course" on the issues we’ll be exploring together.personal learning network and expand your If you haven’t already setup a free Twitter account in a previous class, please do so and be prepared to "tweet" using it throughout the course. For more information on getting started with Twitter, see https://sites.google.com/site/twitterinedu Each week, you are expected to post a minimum of 5 tweets per week using both hashtags #edt6060 and #edtechtrends (only tweets that include both hashtags will be considered as intended for this class chat via Twitter). At least one tweet must have a link to an online resource regarding current technology trends of future of educational technology that hasn’t already been shared by your instructor or classmates thus far in the course At least one tweet must have a link to an online resource related to the topic(s) from the required reading(s) for the week that hasn’t already been shared by your instructor of classmates thus far in the course. At least one tweet must be a public reply to a fellow classmate (beginning your tweet @username of the Twitter user you are responding to). At least one tweet must be a public reply or mention to someone else not a member of the class (including somewhere in your tweet @username of the Twitter user you are responding to or mentioning). One tweet may be a retweet (RT) of someone else Using your preferred Twitter client, save searches of hashtags #edt6060 and #edtechtrends and follow the streams for each hashtag throughout the course. Also, make an effort to follow at least one new educator on Twitter each week. For a directory of educators on Twitter, you may want to search Twitter directories such as wefollow.com, twellow.com, or tweetfind.com What has your experience been using Twitter in your teaching, learning, or professional development? Tweet your experiences using hashtag #twitterinedu Recommendations Image courtesy @rosauraochoa on Flickr Here are recommendations for those getting started teaching with Twitter: Setup an account for yourself and follow a few other educators. The first step is for you yourself to initially become comfortable with using Twitter and to learn from your own experience whether or not Twitter is right for you. After you setup a free account at twitter.com, then follow a few others. For starters, you may want to follow me at @jrhodee and my NIU colleagues @slrichter and @jeffminor. Other great places to find other Twitter users include directories like WeFollow.com or Twellow.com Use a Twitter app. While you can use Twitter from any web broswer, it is even easier to do so from a tablet or smart phone. If you have a mobile device, find an install a Twitter app and start using it. In the tools section below, links to recommended apps are shared. Try participating in a Twitter chat. As you begin following other educators, you may see mention of participating in a "twitter chat." This is simply a specified time during the week when individuals with similar interests engage in a chat on a specified topic using a chosen hashtag. Create a separate account for your class **optional**. If you’d like to keep course-specific tweets separate from your individual Twitter account, you can setup a separate Twitter account for your class. Examples include @wd1231 & @edt6030. Select a hashtag for your class and include it in your posts regarding the class. Select a unique hashtag and search Twitter to see if it is already in use. If not, then begin using it yourself to establish. Have your students who use Twitter follow you and use the designated hashtag in their course-related tweets. Include in your syllabus or other course information areas your Twitter username (or the Twitter username you’ve setup for your course) and remind students that they can follow you on Twitter. Set clear expectations for students on Twitter use in your course. Decide how you will use Twitter and then clearly communicate to students your expectations for their use of Twitter (if you require or simply make it an option) and let them know how/why you will use it. Post announcements, news, and other information items of interest using your selected hashtag. At a minimum, you can use Twitter to post news items for students. Set clear expectations for students on Twitter use in your course. Decide how you will use Twitter and then clearly communicate to students your expectations for their use of Twitter (if you require or simply make it an option) and let them know how/why you will use it. Create a list for each section and/or all students and add students to the list for easy sorting and viewing without following. If you prefer to not follow your students (personal preference), you can create a list and add all your students to your list. Once doing so, you’ll be able to easily view all tweets for a class section. Save a search of your course hashtag for easy access. Once saving a search, you can easily then return to that search from within your preferred Twitter app on Twitter.com Follow your institution. See if your institution is on Twitter, and follow! Don’t feel like you need to read all tweets from users your follow. Twitter is more like a stream than a pond…information just keeps flowing by constantly. Just dip in and dip out as you are able and enjoy! What recommendations do you have for educators looking to get started teaching with Twitter? Tweet your experiences using hashtag #twitterinedu Tutorials and Guides Want to get started with Twitter? Here are some suggested tutorials and printable help guides: 7 Things You Should Know About Twitter [PDF] 7 Things You Should Know About Backchannel Communication [PDF] Jason Rhode’s 10 Tips for Getting Started Teaching with Twitter Personal Learning Networks for Educators [YouTube] by @skipvia Social Media for Educators: Strategies and Best Practices Twitter Tips for Educators by @hopkinsdavid Twitter in Education, What Next? by @hopkinsdavid Twittering, Not Frittering: Professional Development in 140 Characters Twitter in Plain English [YouTube] Teacher’s Guide to Social Media VIDEO TUTORIAL: Why Tweet? A Personal Journey Through the Twitterverse [YouTube: 4 min] VIDEO TUTORIAL: Twitter Basics [Vimeo: 20 min] VIDEO TUTORIAL: Professional Development Through Twitter: 7 Steps to Free and Continuous PD [YouTube: 13 min] VIDEO TUTORIAL: Teaching with Twitter [YouTube: 14 min] VIDEO TUTORIAL: Extending Twitter [Vimeo: 18 min] Know of another Twitter tutorial that you’d recommend for educators? Tweet links to tutorials using hashtag #twitterinedu Resources book by @tjoosten Here are additional suggested resources offering additional perspectives and best practices for educators on teaching with Twitter: Jason Rhode’s list of educators on Twitter 1,048+ educators on Twitter (list at WeFollow.com) 20 Terrific Twitter Chats for Every Kind of Educator How to Use Twitter to Grow Your PLN by @EutopiaBetty Misconceptions About Twitter by mediendidaktik Mom, This is How Twitter Works (not just for mom’s) Professors use Twitter to increase student engagement and grades Teaching and Learning with Twitter - some thoughts and resources by Michael C Johnson regarding the educational potential of Twitter Twitter breaks down barriers in the classroom - look at how microblogging services are reshaping modern communications Twitter Handbook for Teachers Have another Twitter-related resource for educators that you recommend? Tweet links to tutorials using hashtag #twitterinedu Tools Recommended free and/or low cost tools include: Audioboo - mobile app for iOS, Android & Nokia, easily record audio podcasts from your mobile device and post directly to Twitter (free) Bit.ly - create and track custom short URLs (free) Bufferapp.com - setup free account to "buffer" your tweets to be sent later, also makes it easy to tweet via email (free) Flipboard - app for tablet or smart phone to create magazine-style view of tweets for specific course hashtag (free) HootCourse - create secured Twitter channel for your course (free) HootSuite - powerful Twitter management tool, allows for scheduling of tweets (free & premium versions) IFTTT.com - automate various types of posts to/from Twitter (free) Packrati.us - bookmark your Twitter links (free) Screenr.com - easily record screencasts up to 5 mins. in length with no software to install and share via Twitter (free) Tweetbot - preferred Twitter app for iOS, syncs multiple iOS devices using iCloud ($??) Twijector - utility for showing stream of Tweets full-screen during class (free) Twitcam - live stream via Twitter; Twitcam posts your video description and link to Twitter for all your followers to see. While broadcasting, chat with your viewers via Twitter right from your broadcast page. Once you’re done going live, video is archived and displayed on the same page. twitrand - select random twitter follower TwitterFeed - utility for automatically posting new items from any RSS feed to Twitter (free) Twtpoll - conduct polls easily via Twitter (free) Visible Tweets - utility for showing random tweets for a specified hashtag, transitions between (free) Do you use another Twitter tool that you recommend? Tweet your suggested tools using hashtag #twitterinedu