In 2014 I blogged about the 8 Twitter Chats that I love and visit regularly, I then did an update here. As a globally connected educator – this list is constantly changing! I love being involved in Twitter chats because it is where I get to connect and engage on a personal level with other like-minded educators.
Before I begin with my list, it would pay for you to familiarise yourself with what a Twitter chat is by clicking here.
Every opportunity I can get I involve myself in the 1-hour twitter chats that surface themselves in my twitter feed. It gives me the opportunity to connect and collaborate with like-minded educators, network with the best in the business and pick up new and interesting things to use to make me a better educator. PD in the palm of my hands (literally).
Here is the 2018 list of my 9 favorite education-related chats, the hashtags, a short description and when you can join them:
- #edchat – the original chat and by far the fastest paced and hardest to keep up with. It features the best of the best and is one of the most popular chats. It is held on Tuesdays from 12-1pm and 7-8pm EST. It attracts educators from all over the world. You can find out more by clicking here.
- #digcit – is from one of my edu-heroes (Marialice Curran) focuses on global citizenship and digital literacy. Its goal is to encourage discussions with students, educators and parents on social responsibility, on and offline. Some topics include creative credit & copyright, digital footprints, online identity, privacy issues, information literacy, communication and digital etiquette. The discussion is on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month from 7 to 8 pm ET. Find out more by clicking here.
- #satchat – one of my old haunts. an oldie but a goodie. It is fast paced and full of the best educators you can find on twitter. You can join #satchat every Saturday 7.30-8.30am ET. If mornings are not your thing, there is always #satchatwc (West Coast) at 10.30am ET and #satchatoc Friday night at 8pm ET – #satchatoc is popular with international educators. Click here for more information about #satchat.
- #sunchat – Fascinating discussions – similar to #satchat, you can find a plethora of spectacular educators sharing their knowledge and ideas as well as newbies to twitter chats. So many of my favourite ideas that I use in my professional career have come from this chat. You can find it 9-10am every Sunday morning EDT.
- #nt2t – NT2T stands for “New Teachers to Twitter”. It is an open chat for teachers who are new to twitter and a must visit to learn more about how to use twitter and chats more effectively. Full of veteran twitter users to support you and newbies just like you, it is a chat you just can’t miss. Learn to tweet, who to follow and access the very best resources to support teaching and learning. Join the #nt2t chat crew every Saturday 9-10am EDT. For more information, click here.
- #CollaborativePD – Join the Collaborative Professional Development movement! Every month, @JenWilliamsEdu, @spirrison, and @participate discuss how you are incorporating blended learning tools and ideas derived from other educators into your instruction and professional development. This chat is great if you are new to Twitter, or a seasoned social media maven. Ultimately, it’s about empowerment and self-discovery through the expansion of personal learning networks, and the ability to blend voices, concepts, and tools from all over the world. Every 3rd Wednesday of the month 8-8:30pm ET (30 min, 4Qs)
- #aussieED – One of the most exciting things to come out of Australia since Russell Crowe (or is he a kiwi?). #aussieED has quickly become the go-to chat for all Southern Hemisphere educators. The #aussieEd team consists of several Australian based educators who have a diverse range of skills and knowledge in Education. Their chats are on every Sunday at 8.30pm AEST (6.30am EDT). For more information, click here.
- #EngageChat – is a weekly chat session moderated by @DavisWelcome that focuses on engagement in schools. Every Friday evening at 8.00pm ET.
- #Edtechchat is a weekly Twitter chat about all things education technology related on Monday nights at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. The purpose of the chat is to encourage participants to share ideas and best practices related to the meaningful use of education technology in the classroom. Weekly topics are as diverse as the field; past topics have included professional learning, digital citizenship, maker spaces coding, classroom management, getting stakeholder buy-in, social media, media literacy, content creation, collaboration, and more.
And I can’t leave without plugging my baby –> #whatisschool – (a little bit bias) an edchat space where people can express an unbiased response to questions about schooling, where educators have a voice in shaping the future through their experiences, recommendations and interests. This chat is moderated by myself and guests each week. You can join #whatisschool every Thursday at 7pm EDT, 6pm CDT (Fri 9am AEST, Fri 11am NZT) and all questions and archives from the past 10 weeks can be found here.
So there we have it – my current list of 9 (+1) must follow chats. For the interests of an engaging and enlightening article (and not to overwhelm people), I have not included every one of the chats that I try and visit. Twitter chats are personal preference, so I would love to know: “What are your favorite chats?” – please share below in the comments and via Twitter and please do share with your PLN.
Thank you for the great share. As a future educator I am always looking for some great twitter accounts to follow. I love seeing the different perspectives on teaching. It helps to build the creativity in my future lesson plans.
I would also had the #espechat which is a Twitter chat for elementary PE teachers at 8pm Tuesdays.
I have actually been involved in a few of these Twitter chats. I enjoyed them because everyone was very welcoming and the stuff posted was very informative. I learned a lot of tips and tricks when it comes to lesson planning and teaching based on student needs.