It’s all about the hashtag: 20 essential #EduChats for Teachers

For me, Twitter is a powerful educational tool, not only because it allows me to engage with likeminded professionals and expand my ever-growing PLN (Personal Learning Network), but because it also provides me an opportunity to reflect and question my own teaching practice. However, with so many chats covering so many topics, where do you start. Here is my guide to some of the best Edu chats on the web:


Using the Hashtag

The hashtag (#) symbol is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created by Twitter users as a way to categorise messages. 

You can use the hashtag symbol before a relevant keyword or phrase in your Tweet to categorise your Tweets and help the right people find your tweets more easily. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message also shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword. Education examples:

Education technology: #edTech #eduTech 

Education chat: #edChat  #UKEdChat 

For more help on using hashtags, visit the official twitter hashtag guide: Using hashtags on Twitter 


20 Essential EdChats

General Edu Chats

#AussieEd – #AussieEd is a weekly #edchat which unites educators from around the world to share best practice and explore the latest educational theories. It is hosted by Brett Salakas - @MRsalakas – Brett is a primary school teacher based in Australian educator and is passionately committed to turning educational theory into real classroom practice.  Join Brett every Sunday, 8.30am AEST / 11.30 (BST)/10.30 (GMT).

#BETTChat – Every fortnight on a Tuesday at 4.30pm, educators from around the world get together to debate and discuss the most pressing matters in education today – Thursday 4.30-5.30pm (GMT) 11.30am (EDT) 11.30pm (SGT)

#DojoChat / #DojoChatEu / #DojoChatAnz – Moderated by Jenna Kleine  (@jenna_kleine) – Community Marketing Manager at Class Dojo. DojoChat discusses topics such as how to use #edtech to support teaching & learning and classroom management. Join Jenna and her team of Class Dojo Ambassadors every Wednesday, 8.30pm GMT/BST

#Edchat - #Edchat is a weekly award winning Twitter conversation that any educator can join to discuss and learn about current teaching trends. Founded and hosted by Shelly Sanchez Terrell (@ShellTerrell), EdChat explores how to integrate technology, transform teaching & learning, and connect with inspiring educators worldwide. – Join #Edchat every Tuesday (Twice daily), 12pm ET/ 5pm GMT and 7pm ET/ 12am GMT.

#EdShowChat – EdShowChat is a great place to discuss anything related to pedagogy and edtech. – Join #EdShowChat fortnightly Thursday, 4.45pm -5.30pm.

#NT2t (New To Twitter chat) - #NT2t is an edchat session designed for teachers that are new to twitter. Supported by a plethora of experienced educators, #NT2t aims to help new tweachers to navigate the twitter-universe by recommending who to follow and how to tweet. #NT2t is also a great place for sharing best practice and exploring how to integrate technology to enhance teaching and learning. #NT2t is hosted by Julie Szaj (@shyj) – Join Julie for #NT2t every Saturday morning at 2pm GMT / 3pm BST.

#PedagooFriday – Weekly slow chat where teachers share / discuss their best moments of the week. – Every Friday (All day)

#PrimaryRocks – A twitter chat for all things primary – Every Monday, 7pm – 8pm (GMT)

#SatChat – General chat about education and leadership - Saturday, 7.30am ET

#SunChat – General chat about education - Sunday, 9am ET

#UkEdChat – UkEdChat is a weekly Twitter based discussion for educators, similar to #edchat but timed more convenient for UK based educators. Each week, a guest hosts discuss a variety of education related topics. – Thursday, 8-9pm GMT

#WhatIsSchool – WhatIsSchool is an award winning #edchat which provides teachers from around the globe a voice in shaping the future of education. WhatIsSchool is hosted by Craig Kemp (@mrkempnz) and Laura Hill (@CandyLandCaper) – both are passionate 21st century educators and a huge advocates for the use of Social Media to support teaching and learning. - Every Thursday evening (11pm GMT / 12pm BST)


SLT / Leadership

#SLTChat – Discussions about school leadership (Aimed at Senior Leaders/Managers) – Sunday, 8-8.30pm GMT.

 
Student Leadership / Student TechSperts

#DLChat – #DLChat is a weekly edchat which celebrates student Digital Leaders. Hosted by the queen of #DLChat, Sheli Blackburn (@SheliBB), a plethora of Digital Leader evangelists discuss all things related to student Digital Leaders / student voice – Every Thursday, 9-10pm GMT.


English

#EngChatUK & #LiteracyChat – English & literacy chat every Monday 8pm GMT.


Maths

#MathsChat – Maths related chat every Wednesday 8pm GMT.


Science

#ASEchat - #ASEchat is a weekly online science education discussion group conducted via twitter that takes place on Monday evenings from 8.00-9.00pm GMT.


SEN

#SENChat - #SENchat is a weekly chat about Special Education Needs. Run by Thomas Norman (@DJTom3) – Every Tuesday 8pm GMT.

#SENexchange #SENexchange - Weekly micro caht (3)SEN chat every Wednesday 8pm GMT 

Computing

#TweachCode – TweachCode is a weekly Twitter chat session for teachers to share ideas on teaching the new computing curriculum. Hosted by CPD for Teachers lead trainers Matt Venn (@matthewvenn), Les Pounder (@biglesp) and Owen (@TweachCode), TweachCode explores how to deliver the programming strand of the new Computing Programme of Study – Monday, 8-9pm GMT

#CompEdUK – Best place to find / post anything related to the teaching of Computing/Computer Science