Twitter - Create a Twitter Account (Verification Required)

It's time to jump into the stream! This quest will walk you through the creation of your own Twitter account.

Your Techpedition:

Create A Twitter Account

So, you want to dig a little deeper, huh? Fantastic! It's time to create your own Twitter account. This quest will walk you through setting up your account and building your profile.

To begin, you'll need to visit Twitter.com.

Fill out the information required. I typically suggest using your real name as this makes it easier for others you know to find you. For your email, you may wish to use a personal email rather than a work-based email since some school districts might filter emails from Twitter. And of course, choose a secure password!

The biggest task here is in deciding on a username. I suggest simply creating an account based on your real-life name. Again, that makes it easier for others to find and connect to you. It's up to you whether or not you check the boxes at the bottom. Once you've completed these steps, click "Create My Account." You'll then need to check the email you used for a verification link.

Your First Follows/Connections

Twitter will then begin walking you through a tutorial. They will initially suggest that you follow five people and give you some suggestions. Now, if you are interested in what Jennifer Lopez or Conan O'Brien are tweeting, by all means, follow them, however, if you are looking for some educators to start you off, you can type their Twitter IDs into the Search field and follow them. Here are a few suggestions:

• web20classroom - Steven Anderson - an educator who's championed the role of social media in the classroom.

• larryferlazzo - Larry Ferlazzo - an educator who shares a variety of educational resources, daily.

• jenniferlagarde - Jennifer Lagarde - librarian with great ideas and resources for educators.

• courosa - Alec Couros - an education technology advocate who shares resources and ideas about technology integration

• lucasgillispie - Lucas Gillispie - educator who shares resources and ideas and champions the use of games and play in the classroom (yeah, that's the author of this quest)

Twitter will then suggest you follow another five based on topics like News, Technology, Sports, etc. Choose five to follow here.

Lastly, Twitter will suggest that you connect your contacts to see if anyone in your mail contacts is already on Twitter. This is a good way to find people you are already connected to, however, if you don't want to, you can click "Skip" at the bottom.