Return of the #ELLEdTech Chat: Using Tech Tools for Creation

This past July, I was in Washington D.C. and met my co-host Laurah, from Tools for Teachers by Laurah J, in person for the first time!  Up until then, we'd collaborated (a 4C skill that we'll be discussing soon) only remotely.  We got together for a lovely dinner at a Japanese restaurant and spent a few hours, um, chatting.  It was great to finally communicate (the first 4C skill we discussed back in June!) face-to-face.  Below is a photo Laurah took of the two of us in the DC Metro afterwards.

That's Laurah on the left, me on the right; photo by Laurah

So I am happy to let you know now that the 2018 - 2019 #ELLEdTech series kicks off this Sunday, August 19th, for another school year's worth of Twitter chats!  Laurah and I look forward to discussing with you all manner of using technology with English Language Learners over the next several months.  The chats start at 4:00pm Pacific, 7:00pm Eastern, and 11:00pm UTC time on the third Sunday of each month.

Our August chat will be about Using Tech Tools for Creation.  This is Part 2 of our series exploring how to use education technology within the 4C Framework with ELLs.  To read more about Creativity, please click HERE.

Join us -- All educators are welcome!  Source: The ESL Nexus

Schedule and Questions
7:00 = Introduction:  Tell us your name, location, level/grade and subject taught. #ELLEdTech
7:05 = Q1:  Which tech tools do you use to help your students engage in Creation?    #ELLEdTech
7:13 = Q2:  How does providing opportunities to Create support ELLs in language growth?  #ELLEdTech
7:21 =  Q3:  What are the advantages & benefits of using your favorite Creation tools? #ELLEdTech
7:29 = Q4:  Are there any cons or drawbacks teachers or students might have when using these tools?  #ELLEdTech
7:37 = Q5: What advice do you have for teachers who want to use technology to support Creation with ELLs? #ELLEdTech

Directions for Joining the Chat

1. Log into Twitter on Sunday; the chat runs from 7:00 - 7:45pm Eastern.

2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #ELLEdTech in the search bar.  Make sure to click “All tweets.”

3. The first five minutes will be spent introducing ourselves.

4. Starting at 7:05, @ESOL_Odyssey or @The_ESL_Nexus will post questions every 8 minutes using Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. to identify the questions and the hashtag #ELLEdTech.

5.  Answer the questions by prefacing them with A1, A2, A3, etc. and use the hashtag #ELLEdTech.

6.  Follow any teachers who respond and are also using #ELLEdTech.

7.  Like (click the heart icon) and post responses to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your answers to the questions in advance by using an online scheduler such as TweetDeck or HootSuite (and remember to use A1, A2, etc. and #ELLEdTech).  Links are encouraged, but use tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly to shorten your link so it can be included in your tweet.  Just click one of those links, paste the longer link in the app's box to shorten it for Twitter, then paste the shortened link into your tweet. If you have relevant images, we encourage you to post them, too.



Is this your first Twitter chat? Here are our rules:

1. Please stay on topic.

2. Please do not post about paid products unless explicitly asked.

3. If you arrive after the chat has started, please try to read the previous tweets before joining in.

4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet if you prefer -- we know the first time can be a little overwhelming!

5. Always use the hashtag #ELLEdTech when tweeting.

6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to "public." (And do remember that Twitter is completely public; that means anyone--students, parents, administrators--may see what you tweet.)

You are welcome to let your teacher friends who might be interested in joining us know about this Twitter chat. We look forward to chatting with you on Sunday!