Twitter

 

Do you think you could use Twitter in your Saskatchewan classroom?

I decided to take some time to look at the educational effects of Twitter in the classroom.  Twitter is not something that I am naturally drawn to but during my ETAD 802 class I have become increasingly aware of how many people use twitter.  My need for belonging has kicked in and I am trying to belong in the world of Twitter in order to learn.

For anyone not familiar with Twitter, it is a social media website where people can send out messages in 140 characters or less.  The messages are usually available for all the world to see although you could change your settings so that your tweets are only visible by the people who are following you.  A tweet is the 140 character or less message that you send out and people can click to follow you or you can click to follow someone else so that their tweets automatically show up in your twitter home page.  You can have twitter linked to Facebook or your cell phone so that you can easily tweet via texting.

My fist thoughts on twitter were of why would I want to know the intimate details of people's lives.  If you are going to the store to get groceries why do I now want a text or a tweet to let me know?  'Going shopping, Reading a book, playing with my kids, eating at McDonald's'  Really, do I really want to know and how is that going to help me as a learner?  

Upon further reflection I can see how Twitter can be more than just a tool for letting people know that you just clipped your toenails.  Sure, if that was all people on Twitter did was check up on the social status of others the tool would get pretty old pretty fast, unless of course you were wanting to check up on your teenage child:)  In my limited twitter experience I can see that this is a social media that allows people to stay in touch.  Not just in their personal lives but in their educational lives as well.  People are constantly sending out tweets on good blogs or readings.  Together with the personal aspect that it can provide it can get a person converted into a regular Twitterer (is that even a word?  are they called tweeters?).  There is a community that develops through twitter where authentic learning can take place.

At the bottom of the page you will find links for how to use Twitter in the classroom but my biggest issue with using Twitter in the classroom has to do with all of the online classes that I have taken throughout my ETAD program.  I think this is the best masters program around, online or otherwise.  We have the best professors and I always feel connected to the people and the content.

What I can't help but notice is that none of these teachers have used Twitter in their teaching.  I know that my profs use Twitter and that they find it a valuable tool, so why have they not incorporated it into their online teaching?  Is it that when you prescribe learning through a particular online tool that one limits the learning and authentic communities or collectives that form?  Is it that it is one more tool in an overwhelming digital world and that you can't use everything all the time?  I wonder if my profs were forced to use Twitter in class if it would squash the the dynamic ever changing excitement of the medium.  Will I ever know? 

In any case I have listed the benefits, drawbacks, and resources for using Twitter in the classroom.

Benefits of using Twitter in (or for) the classroom:

• It can engage students in a way that is familiar to them through their cell phones or on Facebook.
• Parents could keep up with what is going on in the classroom.
• It can remind students on their cell phones about upcoming exams or assignments.
• It can give shy students a place to have a voice. 

So let's look at ways to use Twitter in the classroom:

• Create a twitter specifically for a course and have your students and parents follow the class.
  
• The teacher could post homework, highlight some cool and interesting videos that weren't shown in class.
  
• Post questions to your students and see who can answer them.  "How do you think that you can help alleviate the famine problem that countries like Somalia?"
  
• Create a discussion outside of the classroom that will engage and motivate students.

Drawbacks to Twitter in the classroom:

• Depending on the age of the child, I am not sure we have done a good enough job yet educating out students into proper usage of social media.
  
• What about the students who do not have access or want access to social media? Could using Twitter actually exclude students rather than include students?
  
• How many students in my school division actually use twitter now?  My assumption is that I would use twitter to connect with student using a tool that they already know.  If twitter is popular in some circles but it is not for my students, should I introduce Twitter to them or find a different avenue to reach them? 
  
• I suppose the question becomes, is Twitter a good tool to use in the classroom because it is popular already, or should one use Twitter because it is a good tool?
  

Websites that offer great idea for how to use Twitter in the classroom:

Over 100 ways to use Twitter in the classroom.

This is a great video showing 34 interesting ways to use Twitter in the classroom including character introductions, twitter polls, and linking classes from other regions. 

Below is a great video of how a university class used Twitter in the classroom by posting the students tweets live on an overhead through the class giving students an opportunity to participate in the discussion even if they are shy.