Twitter

So, I have had a personal Twitter account for a while now. I held out thinking it was kind of stupid for months after my friends started to get accounts, and eventually was "peer pressured" into it, as so much of their conversation moved away from e-mail and other social networking sites that I was missing out on things. As a personal web 2.0 tool, I have really just used it to keep up to date with people, share personal updates and occasional pictures and links, and to follow some celebrities.

Thinking about it more as a professional tool this week was a bit of a change, and made me think about it in a different way. At first, I really couldn't see how Twitter would be all that useful as an educational tool. I joined up and found a few specific users to follow based upon my professional interests, but was thinking, really, I could do that kind of thing with following a blog. But, with a blog, you may have to read the whole thing when, in essence, all that person is really sharing is a link. Twitter is perfect for this! Also, in one of our recent MSE-PD classes, we were following educational new sites. Now, I still check those sites much more regularly than I ever did before, but it takes more time and I often forget. And what is it that we see on an educational news site when we first visit? The headlines! I found a few of these same sites that I was looking at before--like Education Week--on Twitter, and they deliver exactly that to you, the headlines. You get it sent straight to you, similar to the RSS feed for blogs, and you can pick and choose which ones you go read. Also, using hashtags, I looked up the topic #edchat (mentioned in the Twitter panel video in our D2L page). Hashtags are great to organize discussions, but this one has been taken a whole step farther, with a schedule time of Tuesdays at 6 PM CST. They have a different topic each week, and often try to get experts in. They had Alfie Kohn involved the week they discussed homework. And if you miss the chat, they have even created an EdChat Wiki to share the information from each week. I had thought about Twitter as sharing ideas and links, and being more of a network and resource for teachers, but the scheduled discussions and news sources that you can bring to your computer without having to go out and look are fantastic!

Many of the same things apply to students with Twitter. They can subscribe to users on Twitter that are of academic interest to them, and they can follow topics and perhaps even conversations with hashtags. Also, as far as receiving information from school, there are many ways that Twitter could be used in the classroom. Teachers can post homework for absent students, links to resources, or reminders about assignments. As a foreign language teacher I can think of ways that students could play word or vocabulary games via Twitter. Maybe I send out a verb and a form. The next student has to conjugate it, and then put out another verb and form. Or, we play scattergories, where I send out a category, and they all have to answer with a vocabulary word that fits in that category. I have also in class given them longer words on the board where they need to rearrange letters to make other words, or we have broken into groups where one group gives a word, and the other group must come up with a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word. All these little things that we may not have time for in class could be a fun way for them to use the computer and practice, without really thinking of it as "work." Or, if it were something longer, I could put out a sentence prompt for a journal or blog entry, or link to a picture or video they have to narrate. Or...I'm just thinking now. Maybe, this could provide a type of "office hours." A teacher could set aside a time frame where they will actively be online, or a time when they will stop taking questions. Students could all send questions via twitter, and then the teacher could answer them all. This would provide an excellent resource for them to get their questions answered, and then almost a FAQ for the other students as they work on their assignment or study.

I also like the idea that both teachers and students have the opportunity to reach out to experts. Whether or not a response is received is one thing, but it is a fairly low-stress environment to reach out, and see what you can get back. EdChat has had Alfie Kohn in a discussion, and in my personal use, I have had exchanges with Dee Snider and Lita Ford (I'm a big rock music fan!). You just never know who you might be able to talk with, and what information they might help you with.

Or...there's always a real basic, yet informative way to use Twitter....as a bulletin board/announcement space. I was searching for some Twitter uses and came across this feed for Buhler High School. It is the school's account for Twitter updates. Could be an easy way to convey general announcements, or even things like school closings for Snow Days.