People sometimes look at me strangely when I suggest it. You post messages saying what you’re doing right now: that might not rock your socks. But as with any conversation, you just have to find the right people …

Imagine that one day you come across a whole lot of people, milling around in groups, chatting. They’re talking to people with similar interests – project management, say, or civil engineering, or knitting. And they’re sharing whatever interests them – social news, if it’s that kind of group, or the latest research, or technologies. You don’t have to stay very long – most people wander in for a while, then go away again, and wander back later.

The groups aren’t fixed at all – most people are listening in to different sorts of people: they might be part of a big group of educators, for example, but also following a few people who’re into photography, an old friend from high school who’s now a fishing guide in Minsk, and a researcher from Peru that they’re collaborating with. There are many other conversations going on, but they’re only tuning in to the ones that interest them.

This is the power of Twitter. It lets you connect with people who’re talking about the things you’re interested in. It’s also in very short bites – max 140 characters – so the conversation can’t get hijacked by the bore from the 3rd floor. And if it does, you can simply stop listening to him.

Some real-life examples of how I use twitter: I follow people who “tweet” about the latest educational technology. I follow a research librarian who asks for questions when she’s on the desk (thanks ailie!). And I asked the twitterverse for ideas for a web 2.0 presentation, and got some excellent suggestions. Alex Courosa recently used twitter “live” in class to ask for thoughts on online bullying – it was a real eye-opener to his students that so many people are out there; and demonstrated to them that the web really is a public place.

As with any group, it’s good to find a friend to introduce you. But if you don’t know anyone, search for terms you’re interested in – ‘molecular biology’ for example – to find people who are talking about that. Check out their posts, and if they seem to be saying interesting stuff, follow them. And check out the people that they follow, too (look for the photos on the right hand side of the page). If you’re into education technology, you could check out my network at www.twitter.com/onekim.

It pays to follow a bunch of people – those “in the know” suggest about 150. Less than that, you don’t get as good information, apparently. I’m happy with my current group of 65, though.

Twitter’s not a place for drawn-out conversations: it’s about small bites of information, and brief public exchanges. Don’t use it as an instant messenger – that’s what MSN is for. Share stuff that will be of interest to the people you’re following. And, above all, use it as a tool to connect with people in your field.

There are several firefox extensions you can use instead of twitter’s website, but the website works fine too. There’s some migration to similar tools in plurk, friendfeed and
facebook at the moment, because twitter’s getting big, fast, and having trouble coping. But I think twitter’s still the place to start – for now, it’s still the leader of the pack.

As always, to learn more, google “twitter”.

Enjoy!

Blogs can be written by anyone – experts, teachers, writers, or just ordinary people. There are blogs on every topic imaginable, from apple growing to zoology. People write blogs to share information, keep an online journal, or connect with people with similar interests. This blog is about sharing things I’ve learnt about learning.

Why blogs are great for students: You can find blogs related to your courses, about studying, and about your interests. They are a great way to keep up to date with new developments, get insights and learn new things. Because the information is in short doses it’s quick to read and easy to remember.

You can also start to build connections with people in your area of interest by reading blogs and adding useful comments, and by blogging yourself.

How to find blogs:

1. Use Google’s blogsearch
2. Look at technorati
3. Once you find a blogger you like, follow their blogroll (a list of blogs they read & recommend) & other blogs they quote.

I absolutely recommend that you find a selection of good blogs in the topics you’re studying, and about general study skills.

Once you’re following a few blogs, you’ll find you don’t want to check a dozen websites every day – so the next post will explain “RSS feeds” and “feed readers”, which allow you see new posts from all your blogs in one place.

For more information about blogs, here’s a great video explanation of what they are and why they’re useful from commoncraft.

Enjoy!

This would be a great way to explain concepts to students – simply link to the page or embed the video.

What it is: del.icio.us is a “social bookmarking” site. When you’re surfing the internet, and want to go back to a page,
you probably save it to your Favorites or Bookmarks, right? Instead you can save it to del.icio.us, which is online, not on your computer. You can then access it on any computer – I’m constantly coming across things at home for school, and vice versa.

That’s handy, but what’s even cooler is that you can share your bookmarks with others (you can also choose to keep it private). So my friends can see what I’m reading.

Why this is great for students:

1. You can access the pages you bookmark from home at school, and vice versa.

2. If your lecturer uses del.icio.us they can bookmark useful sites for you (to see mine, go to http://del.icio.us/1kim)

3. You can use the bookmarks for research – my o my!

When you find a blogger in your area of interest, check out theirdel.icio.us bookmarks. You can also see who else has bookmarked the page, then look at their bookmarks, and so on, and so on (I’ve circled this bit in the screenshot above).

You can also search from the del.icio.us website, say on “project management” and follow the trail from there. Instead of doing a basic google search, you’re limiting your search to sites that people already think are useful. Cool, eh?

I absolutely recommend that you check it out. I can’t believe how many useful sites I found in one day using this – it would previously have taken me days to find this much research. It’s wonderful. Of course, it can get addictive, so you have to know when to cut off.

Here’s some more information that you might find useful:

• A simple explanation of del.icio.us at eduGuru
• Top 10 ways to use del.icio.us (the top few are a bit techie, but keep reading).
• There’s heaps of cool del.icio.us apps and ideas at Lifehacker or Quick Online Tips.

First up: del.icio.us.

Yes, it has a funny name. But bear with me … it’s awesome.

What it is: It’s called a “social bookmarking” site. When you’re surfing the internet, and want to go back to a page, you probably save it to your Favorites or Bookmarks, right? Instead you can save it to del.icio.us, which is online, not on your computer. You can then access it on any computer – I’m constantly coming across things at home for work, and vice versa.

That’s handy, but what’s even cooler is that you can share your bookmarks with others (you can also choose to keep it private). So my friends can see what I’m reading.

Why this is great for educators:

1. When you find a site that would be useful for your students you can bookmark it. You can tell them how to get to your bookmarks (to see mine, go to http://del.icio.us/1kim), or you can put a link to your bookmarks on a web page (including your online learning system or blog).

A neat way to display your bookmarks to your students or readers is to display your bookmarks or tags on the website itself, rather than just link to them (to see what I mean, check out the “What I’m reading” section in the sidebar, which is a selection of my del.icio.us bookmarks).

2. Use the bookmarks for research – my o my!

When you find a blogger in your area of interest, check out their del.icio.us bookmarks. You can also see who else has bookmarked the page, then look at their bookmarks, and so on, and so on (I’ve circled this bit in the screenshot above).

You can also search from the del.icio.us website, say on “edutech” and follow the trail from there. Instead of doing a basic google search, you’re limiting your search to sites that people already think are useful. Cool, eh?

I absolutely recommend that you check it out. I can’t believe how many useful sites I found in one day using this – it would previously have taken me days to find this much reasearch. It’s wonderful. Of course, it can get addictive, so you have to know when to cut off.

Here’s some more information that you might find useful:

• A simple explanation of del.icio.us and how you can use it in higher education at eduGuru
• Top 10 ways to use del.icio.us (the top few are a bit techie, but keep reading).
• Check out the edublogger for easy-to-follow explanations of why and how to use common online tools.
• There’s heaps of cool del.icio.us apps and ideas at Lifehacker or Quick Online Tips.