I decided to take a moment to look at the new phenomenon of Twitter in the classroom.
"Twitter Tagxedo" by Denise Krebs on Flickr
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en
Twitter is limited to 140 characters which can really keep everything short and sweet! A big plus when it comes to time benefits! Twitter has a ton of options for teachers to look at when thinking of how to incorporate it into their everyday teaching. I recently started using Twitter in my classroom as a tool for parents to see what the homework is each night and other various updates. Our school has their own Twitter page to also inform parents of upcoming events around the school. One drawback that I have seen so far is that many parents do not have Twitter accounts because they don't see the use in having one.I believe as technology develops more in education then more parents will jump on to having a Twitter since they can see the communication that can come from it. I decided to start thinking of how else I could use Twitter in my classroom rather than just as an informational delivery tool for parents.
After reading the article "The Ultimate Guide To Using Twitter In The Classroom" by Jeff Dunn I could see some new and exciting ways to use Twitter with my fourth graders. One way that I think my fourth graders would really enjoy would be to "tweet a story" You can start the story off and then each student can add the next part until the story ends. This would really increase the participation in the classroom if each student had to tweet something for the story. You could select different genres which would tie into the Common Core Curriculum (even though FL isn't going to use that anymore!). Teachers can create a Twitter Poll for students to answer. Students can then answer and gather information to make informed data collections about a certain topic. Students can connect with other classrooms around the World who are studying similar topics and brainstorm or leave links for others to use. Another way I could use Twitter in my classroom is to create a word game. I can send out a word and ask them to tweet synonyms or antonyms for the word or even make up another word using the same letters. I know my fourth graders would love that! These are just a few of the ideas I came across while reading the article but really opened my eyes to how much more I could do with our class Twitter account.
I truly believe that Twitter can be extremely useful in classrooms ranging from the elementary level to the college level. With anything involving the use of the Internet safety concerns will always be there. One method I've read is to create a Twitter account for your whole class to use that you can monitor. Then just have students write their name or initials at the end of their posting so you can identify who posted. Seems like the best way to go, especially if you are in the elementary age group.
So now it is time to think...will you tweet or not tweet?
Informative Links: http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom
References:
Dunn, J. (2011). The Ultimate Guide To Using Twitter In The Classroom. Edudemic. Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/twitter-in-education/
Hello lauren!!
ReplyDeleteI love all the ideas you have developed here about tweeting. I had thought of this for mostly following celebrities, etc., but these are very useful suggestions that could easily be developed as more and more students have the technology to be involved in tweeting and related technology. The suggestion of tweeting synonyms and antonyms was really excellent. My one concern is the limit of 140 characters, but that might turn out to be a benefit over the long term.
In the Middle East, due to the political problems associated with the Arab Spring, governments have been hesitant about social media including Twitter, but really, they are unable to control it much. Nevertheless, one needs to be very aware about content and subjects. I know that’s not a concern here is the U.S. but it’s well to be aware that other countries may have constraints on the use of some of these technologies
I never thought of the issues that other countries may have with social media! Thanks for bringing it up!
DeleteLauren, I agree with you when you mention the parents' involvement in tweeting. We always focus on teachers' involvement in students' success. However, it cannot be achieved without the participation of the parents. It is supposed to be a shared commitment. Parents need to be aware of the digital age as well in order to help their children succeed in life. I enjoyed your post. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this informative post! I will tweet! ☺ I signed up for Twitter a few years ago but didn’t really understand the purpose of it or its potential usefulness. Now, I understand the value of using Twitter as a tool to connect with other educators and I am really enjoying using it in that way. Your post is helpful because it made me think about ways to use Twitter with my students, too. I would never have considered using Twitter with my students. I had concerns about privacy issues and improper use. I loved the idea you mention of setting up a separate Twitter account for the class teachers can monitor, and I learned from the video, Using twitter in the Elementary School Classroom, contained in the edudemic post you linked to, that teachers can also set privacy controls for the classroom account. Your ideas for using Twitter in your classroom inspired me to think of ways I could use it with my Reading students. I loved the idea of “tweeting a story” for example. In a similar way, I could have my students write summaries of a story or article we read. Groups of students could work together to try to create a summary in 140 characters or less. Using Twitter for polling students would also be great because I could have students use data from the polls to create graphs and charts. I agree with you that Twitter is a great resource to use with our students and I look forward to implementing new strategies like the ones you suggested, and more, with my students. Thanks again for a very helpful post. ☺ Amy
Hi Amy! I didn't even realize all the things I could use Twitter for until I researched it a bit on the Internet! There are so many valuable things that Twitter can bring to a classroom! Good luck with it!
DeleteLauren,
ReplyDeleteTwo of your suggestions that you stated, "One way that I think my fourth graders would really enjoy would be to 'tweet a story'," and "another way I could use Twitter in my classroom is to create a word game," really got me thinking. Taking these two ideas would be great to bring the word game together into building a story with your fourth graders. I spend a lot of time having my students use the old fashioned journaling with pencil and paper, but if I brought in technology in any way to help them journal they would be able to expand on their ideas. Currently, I will post a topic, like "Hurricanes have names" (part of our current online curriculum theme) and have students respond with names they have come up with. Using Twitter in the classroom, just as your reply to Amy S., "there are so many valuable things that Twitter can bring to a classroom." It is time that teachers take the 21st century technologies that are being used in our personal lives and find ways to incorporate them into the classroom, after all, if we are using them then most likely our students and/or their families are too. Bridge the gap!
Thanks for sharing!
Great post Lauren,
ReplyDeleteIt is great to hear that your school uses twitter to communicate to the parents, and that you are also taking advantage of the uses for twitter in your classroom as well. I feel that if your school is using it for parent communication it is a good way for you to personally address homework and other issues in the class to your students parents.
I love how you include an article about using twitter in the classroom; I had no idea how many educational uses twitter would have. I always thought of twitter as solely recreational. If my kindergartens have cellphones, which I’m sure some of them do, it would be fun to experiment with twitters uses in the primary classroom.
happy teaching,
Katie
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using twitter in the classroom. There is so much that is helpful about twitter... and possibilities that are important for students to know about such as professional networking/communities and online identities. How will students know about these possibilities if they're never told? I've seen many teachers shut down the idea of twitter because they see it as unconnected to school....
Love the article too! Thanks for sharing!
Jessica