The 100 Best Twitter Tools For Teachers (2012 Edition)
http://edudemic.com/2012/07/best-twitter-tools/
In 2009, we shared our favorite tools for teachers on Twitter, with 100
resources for managing feeds, finding followers, and tackling classroom groups on
the social media site. Since then, many tools have been revamped, replaced, or
simply aren’t available anymore. Clearly, an update is in order, so we’re proud
to present a new list for 2012, featuring the very best tools available to
Twittering teachers today.
Managing Twitter
Take control of your feed, schedule posts, and manage followers with
these all-around great tools for Twittering teachers.
TweetDeck:
Easily one of the most
popular tools for Twitter, period, TweetDeck will help you organize feeds, find
focus, even schedule tweets and manage multiple accounts.
TweetBackup:
Why let your tweets disappear
into Internet history? Save them with this free backup tool for Twitter. It’s
great for teachers who want to archive classroom conversations for later years.
Splitweet:
For teachers with multiple
accounts, Splitweet is a great tool. You can keep all of your accounts in one
place and easily follow contacts’ tweets.
Followize:
Avoid becoming overwhelmed by
loads of classroom tweets. Using Followize, you can read organized tweets, load
timelines, and send out your own tweets lightning fast.
Qwitter:
With Qwitter, you can find
out as soon as students and other followers unfollow you.
SocialOomph:
Boost your social media
productivity with this tool that allows you to schedule tweets, track keywords,
even save and reuse drafted tweets.
HootSuite:
Not just for Twitter,
HootSuite is a powerful tool that allows you to manage all of your social
networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and LinkedIn. It offers
tracking analysis, and other great features for Twittering teachers.
TwitBlock:
Keep things streamlined with
TwitBlock, a great tool for weeding out spammy Twitter followers.
Gremln:
Created for small businesses,
but great for teachers, Gremln makes social media management super easy. You
can stay organized, measure success with statistics and analysis, and save
time.
ManageFlitter:
Work faster and smarter on
Twitter with this tool that allows you to unfollow inactive users, find
relevant people, track with analytics, and even schedule your tweets for
optimal times.
Echofon:
A simple way to manage your
Twitter tasks, Echofon will automatically sync unread tweets, make it easy to
share, and updates with smart notifications.
Seesmic:
Set up multiple accounts,
scheduling, account groups, apps, and more with this full-featured Twitter
management tool.
Twhirl:
Using this desktop client,
you can get notifications, cross-post your updates, search tweets, and
automatically find mentions.
Twepe:
With Twepe, you can Twitter
without actually using Twitter. This tool sends reports, summaries, and tweets
to email, and you can even email your updates to Twitter.
Finding Friends
Get connected with parents, other teachers, and educational experts
with these tools for finding Twitter friends.
Nearby Tweets:
Go local using this tool that
helps you find Twitter posts and users near you.
WeFollow:
Using this Twitter directory,
you can search and find Twitter followers.
Twellow:
Another great Twitter
directory, Twellow is a useful tool for finding Twitter users anywhere.
Twitter Packs:
Find new followers and
friends based on shared interests through Twitter Packs.
Follow Cost:
Teachers haven’t got a lot of
time to mess around on Twitter. Find out how intense it is to follow any user
on Twitter with Follow Cost.
TwitterLocal:
Twitter Local is a great
place to find tweets by location, whether you want to find nearby tweets or
ones from around the world.
PeopleBrowsr:
Using PeopleBrowsr, you can
find and manage your followers on Twitter.
Refollow:
This Twitter relationship
manager makes it easy to create new relationships, manage your friends and
followers, and even sort users by importance.
Tweepi:
Tweepi is a great tool for
cleaning up your Twitter account, offering resources for flushing out
unfollowers, reciprocating follows, cleaning up inactive users, finding new
friends, and even forcing users to unfollow you.
Followerwonk:
Get amazing control of your
Twitter followers with this tool that allows you to search bios, compare users,
analyze followers, and even track and sort your followers.
Contaxio:
Contaxio offers relationship
management for Twitter, allowing you to track followers and friends on Twitter
and even beyond.
DoesFollow:
Are your students following
you back? Find out with this tool.
Friend or Follow:
Another great tool for
analyzing your Twitter followers, Friend or Follow will allow you to see who
isn’t following you back, and who you need to follow as well.
Twollow:
Find followers based on
keywords, monitor mentions, and even find advanced keyword monitoring from
Twollow.
Twtrfrnd:
Check out new followers with
Twtrfrnd, a tool that allows you to find out if you have any common friends.
Twibes:
Find other teachers, educators,
and insightful people to follow on this site for Twitter groups.
Tweepz:
Find people to follow on
Twitter using this app that allows you to search based on names, locations, and
keywords.
Twitaholic:
Want to find the most popular
users in education? Check out Twitaholic to find rankings and stats for Twitter
users.
Twitter Grader:
Find the Twitter Elite in
your location by checking out Tweet Grader.
Sharing
Twitter is a great resource for spreading interesting images, links,
and learning resources, and these tools make it easy to do just that.
TweetCube:
Send files with Twitter using
this super-simple sharing tool.
Twitpic:
A popular tool for sharing
photos on Twitter, you can’t go wrong with Twitpic.
Bit.ly:
So much more than just a URL
shortener, bit.ly is a great tool for tracking and analyzing your links.
Buffer:
Be careful about flooding
your students with lots of content at once. Using Buffer, you can spread your
tweets out throughout the day.
TwitIQ:
With this Twitter client,
it’s easy to track and share what’s happening on Twitter, with real-time
customized tweet streams that can be syndicated and distributed.
Twitcam:
Live-stream video on Twitter
with the Twitcam app.
TwileShare:
Upload and share files on
Twitter using TwileShare, a social sharing app.
Instagram:
One of the most famous apps
in the world, Instagram offers Twitter users a great way to share photos with
Twitter.
Games
Get students engaged on Twitter with these quick and fun games.
Plinky:
Share inspiration with your
students using this fun Twitter game, offering a new prompt to respond to each
day.
Twrivia:
Challenge your students to
answer this daily trivia quiz on Twitter.
Draw Something:
This incredibly popular
drawing game is fun for kids and adults alike, and users can share their
creations on Twitter.
Artwiculate:
This Twitter-based word of
the day game is great for building vocabulary skills.
ChessTweets:
Using Twitter, opponents can
remotely play chess, a really fun way to build strategic thinking skills.
At Libs:
Fill in the blanks of At Libs
as a class to create fun language lessons.
News & Research
Follow topics in your classroom and stay on top of the news with these
Twitter tools.
Twitscoop:
Track trends, events, and
more using Twitscoop.
QuoteURL:
You can organize interesting
tweets to share with your students in one single page with a permanent URL,
thanks to QuoteURL.
Twups:
What’s going on in the world?
Check out this Twitter aggregator to check out the most popular Twitter topics,
and follow topics by category.
TweetGrid:
Use TweetGrid to create a
search dashboard for up to nine different topics, and get updates in real time.
Twilert:
Using this web app, you’ll be
able to get daily updates of tweets containing any keyword you specify. It’s a
great way to follow any classroom topic you’d like.
Twitority:
Keep the riffraff out of your
Twitter searches by using Twitority, an authority-based Twitter search.
Twitter Search:
Twitter itself has a very
powerful search tool, allowing for advanced searches, hashtags, trends, and
more.
TweetMeme:
TweetMeme offers the hottest
links on Twitter, making it easy for you to search, find, and share the latest
news.
Twazzup:
Find real-time news for your
keywords with this Twitter search tool.
Monitter:
Using Monitter, you can
monitor a set of keywords in real time, and even narrow your search to a
particular geographic location.
Topsy:
This Twitter search engine
allows you to search not just tweets, but photos, videos, links, and even
expert users.
Twitterers
Check out these awesome Twitter feeds to find educational resources and
insight for teachers.
@weather:
Follow @weather to get
weather news and updates from ScienceNewsBlog that you can share with your
students.
@donorschoose:
Learn about funding for
public schools and what’s needed in classrooms from @donorschoose.
@Edudemic:
A steady flow of education
resources, news, tips and tricks, and analysis of all the latest education
technology buzz.
@pbsteachers:
PBS Teachers is a great place
to find multimedia resources and professional development.
@BBCeducation:
Follow @BBCeducation for
educational developments from the U.K.
@upromise:
Learn about savings, college,
and more from @upromise.
@educationweek:
Follow @educationweek to get
the best updates from the education world.
@LearnHub:
Join @LearnHub to take
advantage of this great social learning network.
@digidirections:
Find advice, resources, and
trends in educational technology from @digidirections.
@coolcatteacher:
One of the coolest teachers
on Twitter, Vicki Davis is a great person to follow for education news and
edtech.
@Discovery:
Bring curiosity into your
classroom by following @DiscoveryEd.
@levarburton:
Everyone’s favorite Reading
Rainbow host is still very much involved in education. Follow LeVar to learn
about educational resources and new developments.
@EdWeekTeacher:
This resource from Education
Week shares instruction, curriculum, school environment, and more, just for
teachers.
@NEAToday:
Find free resources, news,
and more for education on @NEAToday.
@chronicle:
The Chronicle of Higher
Education shares insightful tweets and news for higher education on @chronicle.
@EdVoices:
Find the best posts from
education blogs on @EdVoices.
@timeshighered:
TimesHigherEducation offers
higher education news, views, and reviews on a global scale.
Groups
If your students are joining you on Twitter or if you’ve got an
educators’ group, these tools are great for keeping things organized.
Tweetizen:
Using Tweetizen, it’s easy to
create your own Twitter groups or find groups to complement classroom learning.
Twtpoll:
Using Twtpoll, you’ll be able
to quickly create classroom polls and get feedback from your students.
GroupTweet:
GroupTweet’s service allows
you to share your Twitter account, even creating a classroom account that
students can all contribute to.
ConnectTweet:
Like GroupTweet, ConnectTweet
makes it easy for multiple users to update a single Twitter account.
Twoolr:
Get statistics about your
Twitter account, like which posts are most popular and how much your account
has grown, using Twoolr.
Paper.li:
Create a classroom newspaper
with minimal effort. Paper.li allows you to create a daily newspaper from your
Twitter feeds.
Commun.it:
Manage your classroom
community on Twitter with this tool, offering engagement history, popular
hashtags, and other great features for analyzing your group.
BirdHerd:
BirdHerd makes Twitter easy
for groups and teams, allowing multiple people to share a single account.
Nurph:
Get a chatroom just for your
classroom on Twitter by using the Nurph app.
Chitty Chat:
Another great way to open up
a private chat for your groups, Chitty Chat lets you chat privately with a
group from Twitter.
TweetChat:
Manage your group Twitter
chat with a hashtag and TweetChat, and you’ll have lots of control over updates
and even put on blinders to the rest of Twitter.
Organization &
Productivity
Don’t let Twitter get overwhelming; just use these tools to keep
everything simple and straight.
Tweetree:
See classroom tweets in a
conversational context using this Twitter organizer.
Twtvite:
Keep students, parents, and
more in the loop for events through Twtvite.
Postica:
Twitter is great for sending
quick notes, and Postica takes things a little further, allowing you to send
sticky notes through Twitter.
TwitterMail:
If you’ve got email, you’ve
got Twitter. Use Twitter Mail to tweet by sending an email.
Twalala:
Too much noise in your
Twitter stream? Use Twalala to control what you see and don’t see.
TweetEffect:
Losing followers? Find out
what made them flee with TweetEffect, and consider adjusting your updates with
this info in mind.
Slipstream:
You’re missing out on lots of
useful tweets each day. Help turn down the noise and get more tweets that
matter by using Slipstream.
Shuush:
Do you have a few very noisy Twitter friends?
Turn down the frequent updates and allow those with fewer updates to shine
through by using Shuush.
Mutely:
This mute button for Twitter
will allow you to silence annoying streams.
LoudTwitter:
Not everyone is on Twitter. Keep parents and
other important people in the know by sending tweets to your blog with
LoudTwitter.
30 Boxes:
Remember classroom birthdays,
stay organized, and be on top of important classroom events, all on Twitter by
using 30 Boxes.
Twitterfeed:
Use Twitterfeed to take your
blog, Facebook, and more to Twitter, and you won’t have to worry about updating
multiple sites.
Twitter Buttons:
Turn your Twitter ID into a
button that you can share on your blog, website, and more.
Xpenser:
Need to track your classroom
time and expenses? Xpenser has you covered, and is easy to update from Twitter.