Twitter: The Live Tweeting of #SETLA 2009 in WV
One of the things we did was live tweet the event. What does that mean? And why would we do that? To "live tweet" an event means that you have your Twitter account open and you post comments (or "tweets," in the vernacular of Twitter users) as the event progresses. Probably you also employ a #hashtag in your tweets, a #word preceded with a number sign that informs Twitter that your post should be cataloged in its search engine under a particular topic. Why? There are a couple of answers. First, it creates a background conversation where participates at an event can discuss a speaker's ideas or a workshop's content while things are actually happening (instead of later, when it's over). Second, it allows the outside world a glimpse of what's going on at the event. Third, it creates a permanent record of your thoughts that you (and others) can refer to later - like putting your notes on an event online. And final, I suppose it gives you something to do if you're a little hyperactive or you have a case of hypergraphia. Hashtags only show up in a Twitter search for one week, so the #SETLA tag will disappear from the search engine over ther next few days. But the posts themselves can still be found by visiting the individual pages of event tweeters. I counted about 400 posts using the #SETLA hashtag. In no particular, here's a list of the 17 event participates who used the tag: WVTIS wasn't there, but commented on the event a couple of times and used the #hashtag. Keri Baldwin, a Kanahwa County algebra teacher used the tag to comment on the event, but I don't think she was actually there. Tracy Rosen, a Canadian teacher, blogger and friend of mine did the same. Of course, that doesn't count individuals who commented on the event without using the #hashtag, like Last week (July 26-30), I attended SETLA - the Special Education Teacher Leadership Academy - in Charleston, WV. Three other professionals from my school district attended. Over 300 professionals (special education teachers, technology integration specialists, central office staff, and special education directors) were there to participate from across the state.
I think the live tweeting of #SETLA 2009 was a successful experiment for those involved in what can be done with Twitter. It will be interested to see how what we learned gets applied down the road at future events.
Perhaps the biggest lesson was that it helps to have the support of the event and to announce a hashtag for the event. Without that, most of our 17 participants wouldn't have known about each other... (Thanks, Val).
