10 Ed-Tech Voices to Follow on Twitter
Like a lot of people, I was resistant to signing up for a Twitter account. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why anybody would want to hear about every random thought that popped into my head: Yes, I like ice cream. No, I am not a morning person. And so on.
But my techie friends continued to nudge me. They’d say, “That’s not what Twitter is all about. As a journalist, as someone who is connected to an industry, you should sign up. You’d be surprised.”
It took a while, but eventually I caved. And wouldn’t you know it — they were right! I quickly learned that Twitter is more than a forum for posting random thoughts and following celebrities; it is also a place for dialogue, where voices and perspectives from all over can inform and enlighten professional conversations.
As an ed-tech journalist and writer, I use Twitter’s service daily to connect with people and share ideas. If you’re in the know, I want to know you. During my brief Twitter existence, I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with dozens of ed-tech thought leaders, all of whom have something to offer.
If you’re on Twitter, or you’re thinking about signing up for an account, do yourself a favor and consider following these folks — you might just discover something new!
- @coolcatteacher: A full-time teacher and mother of three, Vicki Davis is the author of the Cool Cat Teacher blog, a popular online resource for technology-based lesson plans and other posts. Her bio labels her a self-described “passionate advocate for inspiring and informing teachers, parents, and professionals about how to reach this generation of learners.”
- @dwarlick: David Warlick is a veteran educator, writer and speaker spotted often on the ed-tech circuit. His blog, 2¢ Worth, focuses on teaching and learning in “the new information landscape.”
- @daveandcori: An engineer-turned-physics-teacher and ed-tech specialist, David Andrade publishes Educational Technology Guy, a blog featuring free resources for teachers and offering thoughts on technology-based projects in schools. He tweets often about ed-tech issues.
- @edudemic: Here, you’ll find posts and tweets from a “dedicated community of educators and technologists looking to enhance learning.” The Edudemic blog features articles, tips and tricks for educators who use technology in the classroom.
- @kathyschrock: A longtime educator and school technology director, Kathy Schrock is well known in ed-tech circles, as evidenced by her nearly 16,000 Twitter followers. She presents often at ed-tech events and tweets about what she sees.
- @mcleod: An associate professor at the University of Kentucky and founding director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, Scott McLeod is a prolific tweeter who, like Schrock, has a following of 16,000 and growing. If you’re not following McLeod, somebody you know probably is.
- @rmbyrne: Richard Byrne — “teacher, speaker, writer” — is also publisher of Free Technology for Teachers, a blog with a massive online following in the education industry. If you thought Schrock and McLeod were good, Byrne has more than 26,000 followers on Twitter. That’s amazing! But it’s still not tops on our list.
- @web20classroom: At more than 43,000 followers, instructional technologist and educator Steven W. Anderson boasts the largest following of all the social media champions on this list. He helped create a weekly discussion tag, #edchat, on Twitter, where educators from all walks can gather online to discuss and promote ideas.
- @stevehargadon: An educational technologist and educator who is emerging technologies chair for the International Society for Technology in Education and director of Web 2.0 Labs, a community ed-tech project, Steve Hargadon boasts a Twitter following that is more than 12,000 strong. He tweets often about Web 2.0 technologies, conducts live interviews with other ed-tech experts and comments on issues important to the industry.
- @willrich45: A former educator and father of two, Will Richardson has been blogging about educational technology at Read. Write. Connect. Learn. for 10 years. He’s a writer and frequent speaker on ed-tech issues, with a Twitter following of more than 25,000.
Want to find more experts to follow? Consider searching Twitter for educators using the #edtech hashtag in their tweets.
