Twitter Tuesday - Some Interesting Apps

First I found today via Ozge Karaoglu on Twitter.  It is a Google Labs App that allows you to search a Twitter name and find people.  The Follow Finder by Google is interesting, yet fairly new.  I typed in my own name and only got three people it recommended.  I tried it again for the heck of it while writing this post and it gave me multiple pages worth.  It provides me Tweeps I might like, as well as Tweeps with similar followers.  Just another way Google is trying to get into the Twitter Universe.  It is a Google Labs project, so with time, it might end up being more useful.

Next is a site that most of the people that I follow on Twitter visit weekly, but probably don't realize all it can do.  Every Sunday a poll is posted for the topic on #edchat.  The site TwtApps has most than just a poll.  You can see in the image below all that they have to offer anyone on Twitter.  And although they advertise as business solutions, education is a business.  We are in the business of educating!

If you use Twitter with your classroom or school, you could easily use many of these TwtApps. 
- Use TwtQpon to tweet a homework or test coupon and the first student or first couple of students to reply gets the reward. 
- Use TwtAway and have a contest for your students to enter randomly for extra credit points. 
- Use TwtVite to invite students/parents to a play, athletic event, classroom activity, test, etc. 
- Use TwtPoll and TwtSurvey in your classroom the same way you would use a paper poll or survey. 
- Use the TwtFAQ to create a place for students to ask you questions about a project and it allows you to respond in more than 140 characters.

In the end all these apps can be used to increase traffic to your Twitter account and make it much more interactive.  Anytime you give students a reason to do something for rewards, generally they will participate.