The concept of an #Edchat was established July 30, 2009 by Shelly Sanchez Terrell (@ShellTerrell), Tom Whitby (@TomWhitby), and Steven Anderson (@Web20classroom) <- some more inspirational teachers to follow!

The idea is simple, set a time for a group of like minded educators to gather on Twitter and engage in a live discussion.  If you want to access the conversation, hop on Twitter at the designated time and use the search box to query the hashtag (make sure to click “Latest” to show the incoming live posts). That is it, you are now in a live chat.  What shows up in the search results are tweets that other twitter members have sent out that contain the event hashtag, sorted from the newest to the oldest.  

Feel free to join the conversation by sending out a tweet.  To ensure that others see your tweet, just include the event hashtag.  Other ways to engage include retweeting, liking, following, or replying. 

This is the basic idea of an edchat; an open discussion with the community.  

How to participate

Search the event hashtag #BCEdChat on Twitter every Sunday at 7pm PST to access the conversation live.

If you want to access the archives from each week, you can access them on this link. Some interesting topics can be found in the archives including Work Life Balance, Grade or No Grade, and Computers & Teachers.

Interested in a more global perspective? The #Edchat event hashtag is the weekly global Twitter conversation that any educator can join to discuss and learn about current teaching trends, how to integrate technology, transform their teaching, and connect with inspiring educators worldwide. The group also discusses education policy, education reform and often have leaders worldwide join the conversation. Join the conversation on Tuesday’s at 4pm PST.

Further reading

#Edchat: Why & How by Tom Whitby @tomwhitby

What is #edchat? by Michelle Manno