Shelly Richardson

EDTECH 523 Project Plan Proposal

K-State Libraries Twitter Team Professional Development

Project Description
K-State Libraries has a team of library staff who administer content for the library Twitter
feed which connects the library with over 2,000 @kstatelibraries Twitter followers. Last
semester, a team of K-State Libraries Twitter program stakeholders (including myself)
conducted an evaluation of the program to discern its impact and effectiveness as an
educational tool. The evaluation consisted of an online survey, the content of which was
a likert scale that measured the educational goals and objectives of the K-State
Libraries Twitter program. The results of this survey showed the strengths and
weaknesses of the program, revealing areas where we may improve our service and
develop consistency in communicating with our Twitter followers.
My project plan is to provide a professional development online forum of resources,
training, and communication options for the K-State Libraries Twitter Team. The goal in
providing this forum will be to improve how the Twitter feed is administered based on
the results of the survey and the educational goals and objectives of the Library Twitter
Program and to develop a learning community for the Library Twitter Team members.
Application Tools
Using the Canvas Learning Management System, I will develop a web-based
professional development forum for the K-State Libraries Twitter Team. This online
classroom forum will house the educational tools and resources our team will use
including:
Twitter Program goals and objectives
Objectives of K-State Libraries Twitter Team Professional Development Forum
Discussion forums
Collaborative repository of Tweeting source information (where we get what we
tweet about)
Instructions on using Hootsuite (the tweet scheduling software we use)
Updates by the Library Writer/Editor (leader of Twitter Team)
Scholarly articles about the use of Social Media (innovative idea sharing)
History of K-State Libraries Twitter Program
Twitter Evaluation Survey and results
Evaluation of Twitter Professional Development Forum
Schedule of suggested tweeting subjects
How to use hash tags
Best Practices on tweeting
How to use Zoom video conferencing software

Project Goals and Intended Outcomes

1. Improve the effectiveness and impact of Twitter feed administration based on the
results of the K-State Libraries Twitter Program Evaluation survey and the
educational goals and objectives of the Library Twitter Program.
2. To develop a learning community for the Library Twitter Team members.
Timeline
1. Awareness- Communicate with stakeholders, solicit input. (2/2/15)
2. Complete Canvas LMS training provided by employer (2/6/15)
3. Develop basic structure and evaluation components of professional development
forum (2/15/15)
4. Develop community building and collaborative elements of professional
development forum (2/30/15)
5. Develop multimedia components of professional development forum (3/15/15)
6. Develop resources and synchronous components of professional development
forum (3/30/15)
7. Solicit feedback from classmates and stakeholders (4/10/15)
8. Make final changes based on feedback (5/1/15)
Summary of Program Elements

Community Building: The members of the Twitter Team are physically housed
in various library locations and we rarely are able to meet altogether in person.
For this same reason, we dont really know one another, what we do and who we
are, personally or professionally. As a team, we would benefit from community
building activities, as it would allow us to develop social presence and rapport
with one another, ultimately adding strength to our team and value to our Twitter
Team contributions. This online professional development forum could use
discussion areas as communication tools for us to develop presence, share tools
and ideas and create a more cohesive unit.
Collaboration: Currently, the Twitter Team doesnt share any of the resources of
where our tweets come from. Personally, I have a number of websites
bookmarked for my tweets and refer to these when composing them. If we all
shared our resources as a team in a forum space, it could be a valuable tool for
all of us to refer to and as a group, we could generate new ideas for tweeting
while getting more familiar with one another through the feedback of this
collaborative space.
Multimedia Development: There are a number of ways I could use multimedia
as a learning tool in this forum. Our most popular tweets are ones that include
images or videos. Firstly, I could point out image and video resources we have
available to us (those of a proprietary nature). Secondly, I could provide a short
tutorial on editing images team members have taken themselves. Thirdly, I could

use screencasting software to create a tutorial on how to use Hootsuite, our

tweet scheduling software.
Resources: There will be a variety of resources used in this project including
pdfs, powerpoints, word documents, links to websites, and images and videos.
All will be made accessible through the Canvas Learning Management System
that will host the forum site.
Synchronous Meetings: Our university employees have access to Zoom video
conferencing software that allows numerous (up to 20) users to meet live via the
web. I will include instructions for its use for those wishing to collaborate
synchronously. We also meet as a group once a semester and there is an
opportunity for team members to attend the Social Media Roundtable in-person
meeting as well, which meets monthly.