{"id":710,"date":"2019-05-14T10:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T17:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/education\/blog\/2019\/05\/14\/inclusive-classrooms-and-accessibilityjoin-the-global-msfteduchat-tweetmeet-on-may-21\/"},"modified":"2024-05-30T15:28:28","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T22:28:28","slug":"inclusive-classrooms-and-accessibilityjoin-the-global-msfteduchat-tweetmeet-on-may-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/education\/blog\/2019\/05\/inclusive-classrooms-and-accessibilityjoin-the-global-msfteduchat-tweetmeet-on-may-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Inclusive classrooms and accessibility\u2014join the global #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet on May 21"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Announcing the May 21 TweetMeet on \u2018Inclusive classrooms and accessibility.\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Change starts with awareness. Every third Thursday of May is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)<\/a>. The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about people with different abilities and their accessibility and inclusion in a digital world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our mission is to empower every<\/em> student on the planet to achieve more, which stems from the belief that every student deserves the opportunity to fulfill their potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this edition of our monthly global and multilingual Twitter conversations, we\u2019ll discuss ways in which educators around the world make inclusion and accessibility an integrated part of their classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for detailed information about this TweetMeet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Language tracks and SuperSway<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We offer seven simultaneous language tracks this month: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Swedish and Vietnamese<\/em>. The new SuperSway offers a TweetMeet Invitation in each of these languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For each language track, we have one or more hosts to post the translated questions and respond to educators. As always, we\u2019re super grateful to all current and former hosts who are collaborating closely to provide this service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The #TweetMeetXX hashtags for non-English languages are to be used together with #MSFTEduChat so that everyone can find the conversations back in their own language. For example: Spanish-speaking people should use both #TweetMeetES #MSFTEduChat. English-speaking educators may use #MSFTEduChat on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TweetMeet Fan? Show it off on your Twitter profile!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Every month more and more people discover the unique flow and characteristics of the TweetMeet events and become excited to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show your passion for the TweetMeets right from your own Twitter page by uploading this month\u2019s #MSFTEduChat Twitter Header Photo<\/a><\/strong> to the top of your own Twitter profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same file folder, the Twitter Header Photo is available in many other languages and time zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking back on the April TweetMeet on \u2018Teaching Happiness\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The April #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet inspired educators around the world to share ideas, insights and resources. We captured highlights from this Twitter conversation in this @MicrosoftEDU Twitter Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why join the #MSFTEduChat TweetMeets<\/em>?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

TweetMeets are monthly recurring Twitter conversations about themes relevant to educators, facilitated by Microsoft Education. The purpose of these events is to help professionals in education to learn from each other and inspire their students while they are preparing for their future. The TweetMeets also nurture personal learning networks among educators from across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re grateful to have a support group made up exclusively of former TweetMeet hosts, who volunteer to translate communication and check the quality of our questions and promotional materials. They also help identify the best candidates for future events, provide relevant resources, promote the events among their networks and, in general, cheer everybody on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When and how can I join?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Join us Tuesday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. PDT on Twitter using the hashtags #MSFTEduChat<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, #inclusion<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, #accessibility<\/a><\/strong> and #MicrosoftEDU<\/a> <\/strong><\/em>(which you can always use to stay in touch with us). Be sure to double-check your own local event time. You can find the event time for 215 countries with this time zone announcer<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our next recommendation for you is to set up Twitter dashboard TweetDeck<\/a> and add a column for the hashtag #MSFTEduChat. If you are new to TweetDeck, then check out this brief TweetDeck video tutorial<\/a> by Marjolein Hoekstra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a tweet appears that you want to respond to, press the retweet button and type your comments. Great news is that Twitter now supports<\/a> adding images, animated GIFs and videos to your comment retweets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional tips are offered in this animated GIF that you\u2019re most welcome to share with newcomers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Too busy to join at event time? No problem!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From our monthly surveys we know that you may be in class at event time, busy doing other things or may even be asleep\u2013well, no problem! All educators are welcome to join any time after<\/em> the event. Simply look at the questions below and respond to these at a day and time that suit you best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also schedule your tweets in advance. In that case, be sure to include the entire question in your tweet and mention the hashtag #MSFTEduChat so that everyone knows to which question in which conversation you are responding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exact question timings are in this helpful graphic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Resources to help prepare for the TweetMeet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft Education offers a wide range of tools, professional-development courses and learning paths about inclusion and accessibility. These resources are tailored for educators and they are all free. Good places to start are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft Inclusive Ultimate portal<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft Accessibility overview in Sway format<\/a>, live-embedded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wakelet is a useful web service to bookmark, curate and annotate resources, images, tweets and other content. Mike Tholfsen just created this Wakelet Collection as a handy reference. It currently has 40+ pointers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inclusive Classrooms Wakelet Collection<\/a>, live-embedded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A great way to prepare for the TweetMeet is by taking a close look at the discussion questions. Watch the animated GIF with all the questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hosts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Meet the 14 hosts for this month\u2019s TweetMeet! They are all passionate about #inclusion and #accessibility and very eager to engage with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out all the hosts, see what they are tweeting about and consider following them: https:\/\/twitter.com\/TweetMeet\/lists\/msfteduchat-2019-05\/members<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

List of host names and their profiles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n