There is a Sprint commercial running now that says “233,000 people just Twittered on Twitter. 26% of you viewing this have no idea what that means.” Many people have not heard of Twitter and many who have are still trying to figure out whether it deserves all the hype. Twitter is a social-networking and micro-blogging service. Many would-be tweeters have signed up for Twitter only to give up on it a month later, according to AC Nielsen. Is it a tool for celebrity watchers to follow the every word and goings on of their favorite celebrity like Oprah or Ashton Kutcher or can it be a serious tool for educators? Recently, it has been brought to my attention that Twitter is now being used as a classroom tool for both students and educators. Teachers are using Twitter tools to keep their students connected while at home, developing an e-classroom community. What appeals to students is that they can "chat" with their friends, receive instant feedback from their teacher, and subscribe to "tweet posts" of others.
Applications are tweeting up all over the place. Here are some interesting examples:
Real-Time Biographical Research: In schools, a common lesson that is taught is how to research and write a biography about a famous person. Twitter gives students the opportunity to "subscribe and follow" that person and includes a present day point of view in addition to background information and history. Some big names who Tweet that might be acceptable for a biography---Barbara Walters and Al Gore.
Literacy and Grammar Skills: How about brushing up on your vocabulary for the SAT test? Follow Ultimate Vocabulary. Try this tweet: "Tenuous” means flimsy, fragile, or not substantial. If vocabulary is not for you, how about grammar? Students like to take shortcuts in their writing. BRB (be right back), K (ok), and LOL (laugh out loud). Most of these shortcuts are used for communication, and not regularly used in professional writing. Unfortunately, grammar seems to suffer when students use sound bites of information. Twitter can actually provide opportunities for micro grammar lessons and promote ways to communicate effectively. For instance, Al Gore's tweets are well written and grammatically correct: Corporations join together to call for an “economy-wide cap and trade program." Notice the closed quotation properly outside the period. Students can see where people abuse the rules they were taught in elementary school. Examples: (from a famous rapper) This Video!! I almost broke down after I seen it and I'm done. No offence.
Real-Time Analytical Thinking and Discussion: Twitter is a good resource for sharing and discussion-based learning. Teachers can post a prompt for their students to respond to, or can share a link that they found that was interesting and pertained to what was being taught in the classroom. Students will be able to go back and forth and share sites that they have found with their classmates and develop a deeper understanding of the course material.
School Bulletin Board: District administrators and school principals are beginning to use Twitter as a way of letting parents know of any upcoming important dates, especially parent-teacher conferences, half-days, and school closings due to inclement weather. Yesterday, Pottsgrove Middle School launched its Twitter account with the following messages: Welcome to the new Pottsgrove Middle School Twitter account and Follow along to stay connected and for updates on Pottsgrove Middle School.
Are You Getting It Yet? Colleges have already started to use Twitter as a way for students to make connections with their classmates and professors. In "Twitter Goes to College," US News discusses the use of tweeting in colleges around the country. A history professor at the University of Texas-Dallas was concerned that her lecture-based class was too large to engage her students. She decided to use Twitter to encourage her students to post messages and questions related to the presentation material to ensure students were grasping the material.
This approach of using Twitter for educational purposes is still in the developmental stages, but like other educational technologies, it will end up benefiting students, especially since students now have higher educational expectations and wish to be entertained. Arne Duncan, the newly appointed Secretary of Education, is squarely behind this push for technology in the classroom. E-School News recently quoted Duncan as suggesting that technology officials should embrace the cell phone since students are on them constantly and find ways to "to send homework, video lectures, and other classroom material so students can study wherever they are. " By the way Arne Duncan has a Twitter account, but hasn't had one Tweet to say.
*photo from Distance-Education.org*
Applications are tweeting up all over the place. Here are some interesting examples:
Real-Time Biographical Research: In schools, a common lesson that is taught is how to research and write a biography about a famous person. Twitter gives students the opportunity to "subscribe and follow" that person and includes a present day point of view in addition to background information and history. Some big names who Tweet that might be acceptable for a biography---Barbara Walters and Al Gore.
Literacy and Grammar Skills: How about brushing up on your vocabulary for the SAT test? Follow Ultimate Vocabulary. Try this tweet: "Tenuous” means flimsy, fragile, or not substantial. If vocabulary is not for you, how about grammar? Students like to take shortcuts in their writing. BRB (be right back), K (ok), and LOL (laugh out loud). Most of these shortcuts are used for communication, and not regularly used in professional writing. Unfortunately, grammar seems to suffer when students use sound bites of information. Twitter can actually provide opportunities for micro grammar lessons and promote ways to communicate effectively. For instance, Al Gore's tweets are well written and grammatically correct: Corporations join together to call for an “economy-wide cap and trade program." Notice the closed quotation properly outside the period. Students can see where people abuse the rules they were taught in elementary school. Examples: (from a famous rapper) This Video!! I almost broke down after I seen it and I'm done. No offence.
Real-Time Analytical Thinking and Discussion: Twitter is a good resource for sharing and discussion-based learning. Teachers can post a prompt for their students to respond to, or can share a link that they found that was interesting and pertained to what was being taught in the classroom. Students will be able to go back and forth and share sites that they have found with their classmates and develop a deeper understanding of the course material.
School Bulletin Board: District administrators and school principals are beginning to use Twitter as a way of letting parents know of any upcoming important dates, especially parent-teacher conferences, half-days, and school closings due to inclement weather. Yesterday, Pottsgrove Middle School launched its Twitter account with the following messages: Welcome to the new Pottsgrove Middle School Twitter account and Follow along to stay connected and for updates on Pottsgrove Middle School.
Are You Getting It Yet? Colleges have already started to use Twitter as a way for students to make connections with their classmates and professors. In "Twitter Goes to College," US News discusses the use of tweeting in colleges around the country. A history professor at the University of Texas-Dallas was concerned that her lecture-based class was too large to engage her students. She decided to use Twitter to encourage her students to post messages and questions related to the presentation material to ensure students were grasping the material.
This approach of using Twitter for educational purposes is still in the developmental stages, but like other educational technologies, it will end up benefiting students, especially since students now have higher educational expectations and wish to be entertained. Arne Duncan, the newly appointed Secretary of Education, is squarely behind this push for technology in the classroom. E-School News recently quoted Duncan as suggesting that technology officials should embrace the cell phone since students are on them constantly and find ways to "to send homework, video lectures, and other classroom material so students can study wherever they are. " By the way Arne Duncan has a Twitter account, but hasn't had one Tweet to say.
*photo from Distance-Education.org*
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