Education Twitter Accounts You Should Be Following
Twitter has proven itself to be a crucial tool for educators around the globe. Whatever skill level you may be at, Twitter is out-and-out fun and worth your time. It can educate you, help enlighten you, make you laugh, and pretty much just keep you in-the-know. But you have to follow the right people/accounts. Otherwise, your Twitter feed can easily fill up with boring, useless tweets – and then, before you know it, you’ll stop checking Twitter and taking advantage of its power.
Where the Education Conversation Is Happening
As one of the most connected social networks available to educators (more so than Facebook or even Pinterest), Twitter keeps teachers, administrators, and any number of other education cohorts aware of educational technology developments, practices, and policies. Educators on Twitter join in Twitter chats and parties, share what works for them, and discuss everything from education reform to the nitty-gritty of using tech in the classroom. In some cases, conversations often take on a life of their own, and the results are motivational and actionable.
So, as you move into the back-to-school groove, take a look at our list of #InnovativeTwitteraccounts to follow. The list includes profiles of teachers, CEOs, and other trendsetters who share the goal of supporting good classroom practice. If you follow all of these influencers, we can guarantee you'll be informed and inspired about all things #education.
Some of Our Favorites
- @KleinErin – Erin Klein is an award-winning educator, national keynote speaker, author, and mother who serves on the Scholastic, Inc. Top Teaching Team. Her recent publication, Amazing Grades, was a collaboration with experts from 13 countries around the world. She regularly speaks about the power of student voice, the ways in which meaningful technology integration can enhance learning experiences, and the impact classroom design has on today’s learner. Her writings on design for education and technology tools for the classroom can be found on Smartblogs for Education, MindShift, Scholastic, Edudemic, Edutopia, EdSurge, and EdReach. Her work can be found on her award-winning educational blog, Kleinspiration.com.
- @WillRich45 – Will Richardson is a former public school educator and the author of three books on topics related to technology in education. He’s an advocate for change in education and for embracing all that technology has to offer young learners.
- @CoolCatTeacher – Vicki Davis is a co-founder of the Flat Classroom Project, a student-centered, multi-modal learning environment for teacher-to-student and student-to-teacher interaction. Vicki embraces technology in the classroom and has over 129K followers. Named the #4 Influencer in Education Technology on Onalytica's list of education influencers, here is one of Vicki’s latest tweets: BLOGGED: 3 Ways to Teach the Way the Brain Wants to Learn.
- @WeAreTeachers – With 324K followers and nearly 21K tweets and counting, WeAreTeachers offers ideas, inspiration, and information for teachers on their best days – and double that for their difficult ones. The website is full of powerful online resources for lesson plans, professional development, grants and contests for teachers, and much more.
- @FSSimon – Approaching 7K followers with 14K tweets, Fran Simon is an engagement expert, consultant, and author who writes about technology, marketing, social media, and webinars for early education and nonprofit organizations. She’s the founder of @ecewebinars and @ecetech. Be sure to check out her website for listings of free, conference-quality webinars.
- @TomWhitby – Tom is a professor of education and the founder of the popular (and totally useful) #EdChat, a Twitter chat that tackles different educational issues and topics. He shares thought-provoking ideas about education with over 72K followers. A recent tweet: How Do I Get a PLN?
- @mpowers3 – Coming from Philadelphia, Margaret Powers has over 7K followers and is recognized as a passionate educator and technologist. She is a consultant and the director of #STEAM Innovation, and regularly uses the hashtags #makered, #Mindfulness, #dtk12chat, #SocialMedia, #GlobalEd, #EarlyEd, @TeachersGuild.
- @21stprincipal –North Carolina principal John Robinson is a lover of education technology, education, and policies that impact public schools. He is a regular ‘tweeter’ to over 18K followers. His tweets revolve around technology in education and advocacy for public education.
- @JustinTarte – Dr. Justin Tarte is a junior high school principal who turns to social media for professional development and collaboration. His encouraging tweets to his more than 57K followers reflect an administrator who believes in the power of social media as a personal learning tool. One recent great tweet: What do the grades in your class reflect? #sblchat #education.
- @JohnKingatED – John B. King is the U.S. Secretary of Education. He tweets about what he’s up to, as well as interesting education-related articles and news releases, and ideas about learning. He recently tweeted: “Every child needs to feel welcome at school and look forward to being there every day.” #BackToSchoolTips
- @ScholasticTeach – This serves as the official Scholastic Teachers account, with over 150K followers. They like to talk books, education trends, and life as an educator.
If you are interested in using Twitter to keep up-to-date with technology in education and to read the conversation, be sure to follow #EdTech and/or some of the above.
And be sure to check out other lists of education twitter accounts at this link: http://gettingsmart.com/2015/07/100-education-twitter-accounts-to-follow/
If you need help “getting your twitter on,” check out this link:
http://www.edudemic.com/guides/guide-to-twitter/
We hope you will be regularly adding to this guide. Feel free to leave your ideas in the Comments below, or tweet us @MimioTechnology or @boxlightinc anytime!
