Back in March 2009, I had the idea of beginning to aggregate and share the best tutorials, helps, and resources I found online, including resources from the NIU Teaching with Blackboard site that my colleagues and I develop and maintain. I went ahead and setup a free Twitter account @BlackboardTutor and using TwitterFeed, created several different automated actions whereby when I bookmarked a resource, it would automatically be tweeted.
After doing the initial setup, it was years before I would again log back into this Twitter account, as new tweets were automatically posted when Blackboard helps were bookmarked or shared online.
Since that time, what began initially as just a social media experiment has blossomed into a trusted resource, with currently nearly 1,900 followers to date. Desiring for this resource to continue to grow and benefit others in the Blackboard community, I approached Blackboard to see if it is a social media resource they would be willing to take over, and they gladly accepted. So, I’m pleased to report that moving forward, @BlackboardTutor will be moving to the next level as it will be more actively managed by Blackboard’s social media team. It is my hope that it will continue to be a great aggregator of newly available Blackboard support resources, tutorials, etc. that will benefit the entire Blackboard user community worldwide. Follow @BlackboardTutor and watch for many more support resources to come!
In my summer course that I just finished teaching, EDT 6060 – Trends and Future of Technology in Education, I tried for the very first time incorporating a required Twitter chat exercise into the weekly activities. My goal in doing so was to expand the discussion beyond the scope of the typical Blackboard discussion space and to encourage my students to begin engaging in conversations with others within the field. Since we were looking at current events within the field of educational technology, this was the perfect course to incorporate such an activity on Twitter given the plethora of resources and fantastic ongoing conversations that take place on Twitter. 
