Four days till my big workshop at FENI. Today I write about my findings on using Twitter in the classroom.
Twitter has become such a universally accepted medium of self expression and has been embraced by the entertainment industry as a very good way to reach people who are interested. The key term is interested. Most students are disconnected in the classroom, daydreaming or thinking of things outside of what they are charged to study, maybe even that Twitter feel of Lady Gaga they are following, so how do we motivate them to even embrace this socially accepted tool in education. In the post secondary world, there are countless possibilities to use Twitter and many great ideas have already made its way to the classroom. Used to announce, report, submit, identify and assign, twitter can be used in a variety of ways in college. I had some great ideas but found most of my ideas reinforced and expanded on other blog posts. I will highlight some of the best ones later.
In the high school, things are different. There is a limitation of technology. There are policies in place that prevent that from happening. There is a lack of support from faculty and administration. There are filters that restrict what can be done. Many factors play against using this very useful tool at the high school level, which is a shame. The last thing school should be is to further the digital disconnect in the classroom by removing methods of expression that are commonly found in the real world.
There are a few intrepid teachers in accepting schools who have successfully designed this till into their classroom. Some ideas that come to mind besides the use for communicating to students assignments after school or making announcements are:
Resources I’ve encountered during my research. Most date around 2009.
Twitter has become such a universally accepted medium of self expression and has been embraced by the entertainment industry as a very good way to reach people who are interested. The key term is interested. Most students are disconnected in the classroom, daydreaming or thinking of things outside of what they are charged to study, maybe even that Twitter feel of Lady Gaga they are following, so how do we motivate them to even embrace this socially accepted tool in education. In the post secondary world, there are countless possibilities to use Twitter and many great ideas have already made its way to the classroom. Used to announce, report, submit, identify and assign, twitter can be used in a variety of ways in college. I had some great ideas but found most of my ideas reinforced and expanded on other blog posts. I will highlight some of the best ones later.
In the high school, things are different. There is a limitation of technology. There are policies in place that prevent that from happening. There is a lack of support from faculty and administration. There are filters that restrict what can be done. Many factors play against using this very useful tool at the high school level, which is a shame. The last thing school should be is to further the digital disconnect in the classroom by removing methods of expression that are commonly found in the real world.
There are a few intrepid teachers in accepting schools who have successfully designed this till into their classroom. Some ideas that come to mind besides the use for communicating to students assignments after school or making announcements are:
- Summarize a passage in 144 characters.
- Research on current events.
- Tracking worldwide trends.
- Asking questions (for the shy ones).
- Much more from links below.
Resources I’ve encountered during my research. Most date around 2009.
I hope this is useful.
Twitter in education resources
100 tips, apps and resources for teachers on Twitter
Twtpoll - poling on twitter made easy!
Thoughts on twitter in academia - a blog post with some poignant thoughts on use.
Twitter writing exercises - a blog post of a teacher who tried twitter for an assignment and the results.
Can twitter be used in education - a paper presented in 2008 on microblogging
UT Dallas Twitter experiment - you tube video of an ABC news feature
Twitter for Teachers - Why use twitter in teaching and learning document.
100 tips, apps and resources for teachers on Twitter
Twtpoll - poling on twitter made easy!
Thoughts on twitter in academia - a blog post with some poignant thoughts on use.
Twitter writing exercises - a blog post of a teacher who tried twitter for an assignment and the results.
Can twitter be used in education - a paper presented in 2008 on microblogging
UT Dallas Twitter experiment - you tube video of an ABC news feature
Twitter for Teachers - Why use twitter in teaching and learning document.
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