I am sure if you wandered into my blog based on my title, I have already succeeded in piquing your interest. We have spent a couple weeks exploring Twitter and its benefits to education and yet I remain on the fence. But I am leaning over to the "dark side" after reading a blog entitled, "28 Creative Ways Teachers are Using Twitter". http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/07/06/28-creative-ways-teachers-are-using-twitter/
First, I will give a short rational to why I am leery of Twitter. I don't like the feeling that I need to be hooked to my mobile device any more than I already am. I don't want to lose that human connection I get by talking to others, face to face. And more importantly, I don't want to encourage students to lose it either. I am also not keen on the desecration of the English language that seems to be occurring when one is limited on its number of characters. Granted, texting is more guilty of this than Twitter. However, it still bothers me.
But I really want to keep an open mind about this and stay informed so when a student asks me about Twitter I can provide knowledgeable reasons to my opinion. So I found this blog...
It is more of a helpful list of examples that provide real world examples on how teachers are using Twitter in the classroom. I read through them all, but went to several that I thought might actually make me want to try Twitter.
It suggested using Twitter to post announcements to older students and parents. I thought that would be useful for older students. Faster than e-mail, I think.
It offered a activity called "TwitLit" as a way to stimulate creativity. Students would be challenged to create short poems staying within the 140-character limit. That could be fun.
I also thought Twitter would be a good way to solicit answers during lessons. Working collaboratively or alone students could Tweet answers during lectures or add comments or questions for the teacher.
I believe there is one element that runs through all these suggestions. I think all the ideas help students learn how to use Twitter (and other social networks) properly. It gives them experience to respond appropriately and learn to express themselves in written form. These skills are well worth trying to find a way to use Twitter in my classroom.
I agree completely with you Ann. I too have been a little skeptical about using social media websites like Twitter. Not only do I like my life to remain private, I've always felt like if I stay away from these social media networks that I can remain normal in a world full of anti-social internet junkies. I used to think that these social media websites faze out. I guess not. So I'm becoming more willing to consider using websites like Twitter so that I can be more of a resource to my students and my children.
ReplyDeleteThis article is a great tool for people like us who need to find the courage to step out that comfort zone and into this new reality of the future.