What is a hashtag?

Hashtags for the uninitiated are those words you see sometimes with the # symbol in front of them. Many of my UK readers will have seen the #GE2017 hashtag these past few weeks on Twitter. Most people tweeting or posting on Instagram and other social media about the general election will have been using that hashtag when tweeting about the event. In fact if you click this link for #GE2017 you will see all of the current tweets around this topic.

What use is a hashtag?

Hashtags are a great way of grouping together messages from people around a specific topic. When you click a hashtag on Twitter you are then presented with a great number of different tweets on topics around the ideas of that hashtag. I have recently been organising an event called ‘Moving On Education’ in Exeter (visit here for information about how you can attend). To support the event we have been holding weekly Twitter chats using the hashtag #MovingOnEdChat (join us Thursday’s from 7pm GMT+1 for the chat). By visiting that hashtag you’ll see all of the tweets created around the topics discussed, regardless of whether you follow the person who wrote it or not. Checking hashtags linked to your interests are a great way to find educators to extend your PLN.

How do you make a hashtag?

Anyone can make a hashtag. Simply write your message and whatever theme your tweet has, simply add the # symbol in front of your word and that is it! Try clicking the following sentence to tweet with a hashtag. I’ve learned about hashtags from #ICTEvangelist! 

So what?

This post certainly isn’t the first of its kind but held in this post below are 50 hashtags that I know of and have been a part of over the years to help me with my professional learning and sharing and so I thought I’d share them with you. It is by sharing and reflecting that we improve our practice and so hopefully you’ll find these hashtags useful in developing your professional learning network. Here they are in no particular order…

50 popular education hashtags

1. #dyslexia
2. #edchat
3. #edtechchat
4. #dojochatEU
5. #dojochat
6. #pblchat
7. #aussieED
8. #asiaED
9. #edchatMENA
10. #satchat
11. #edtech
12. #elearning
13. #ADEchat
14. #ADE2017
15. #WhatIsSchool
16. #BETTchat
17. #SLTchat
18. #TeamEnglish
19. #Pedagoo
20. #PedagooFriday
21. #PrimaryRocks
22. #ResearchED
23. #education
24. #FEchat
25. #SEND
26. #literacy
27. #ukedchat
28. #edchatie
29. #engchatUK
30. #AppShareLive
31. #behaviourchat
32. #BAMEed
33. #WomenED
34. #HourOfCode
35. #MicrosoftEDU
36. #NotAtISTE
37. #MinecraftEDU
38. #MIEExpert
39. #BYOD
40. #flipclass
41. #MLchat
42. #nqtchat
43. #iPadchat
44. #iPadED
45. #edutweets
46. #MovingOnEdChat
47. #STEM
48. #Mathchat
49. #caschat
50. #DLchat
51. #ASEchat

Summary

So I hope you’ve found this post useful. A simple Google search will bring up other posts that are similar to this one to help you find other hashtags for education such as this one by my PLN member and friend @clcsimon. Whatever you do, as a modern educator using social media to help your professional learning, getting your head around hashtags is a good way to help you start to make the most of your developing PLN and finding other great educators to follow and connect with.

Thanks for reading!