Twitter?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on September 14, 2007 at 6:37am

You are much more articulate that I---when I said I didn't care what kids did after school I meant technology wise. I don't care if kids are texting (is that a word?), twittering or playing WOW. I feel like some times we cowtow (is that a word?) to kids to try to find that hook and bring it into the classroom. As far as social/emotional issues are concerned I completely agree they are relevant, but we can't continue to use those issues as a crutch to not include those kids in the learning process. When I talk of classical education, I do have a vision of what that means. I want my students to take with them into adulthood a body of knowledge that will serve them well, help them problem solve and make decisions; to speak articulately about interesting topics. So much of that is defined in the 21st Century Skills.

Do I think schools are right on educating kids today, heck no. I think there are huge issues dealing with curriculum, learning profiles, lack of academic rigor, differentiating for all learners, high stakes testing, scheduling, etc. I hope as you continue to work you can help solve some of this issues..my only point was technology is a tool. It is not going to make up for lack of good teaching or good curriculum, it's not going to help overcome issues happening outside of school. Kids need a rich, real and relevant curriculum taught at their pace, in a way they can learn. If technology helps--so be it. But in this forum and educational technology blogs I read people sound like they think technology is the end all and be all for solving problems in the schools today and it's not.

Years ago I heard Carol Tomlinson, the differentiation guru from University of Va., say "You can't differentiate FOG". I feel the same way about technology, you can print it, paint it, twitter it, and post it to online file storage but if there is no content there is no content. OK---did I ramble enough and get off point? I totally, 100% agree with what you said and I've added my 2 cents worth (more like $5.00). Did I make any sense at all? It's 7:00 in the morning!!

PS You might like to take a look at our latest tech related project http://connections.smsd.org/csi We also have a very vibrant blog http://areallydifferentplace.org, 3 online book discussions using Moddle, 5 wikis, I use technology everyday with my students---I'm not a luddite; just frustrated with lack of technology integration across my district and the "famous" educational technologists saying if you just "twitter it" or blog about it, it'll all fall into place. ...now I am rambling. Later, N

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Permalink Reply by Donna Murdoch on January 3, 2010 at 8:22am

You are all far more experienced than I, but if you look at the most recent MacArthur Studies about digital youth, you will see their concern is the same as mine. The more we ignore how they communicate out of school, the more school becomes a foreign environment to them. The vast discrepancy between how they learn on their own and how they are taught in school is growing every year. I think trying to communicate in a way they would communicate outside of school can only be a help. They are used to always on communication, instant feedback, etc - is it possible to provide that in school? I think so - but it takes work and time and I understand the other points of view on this board. There is no doubt in my mind though that students will tune out more and more as the years go on. I hear more and more about kids being kept at home and doing work at online charter schools because it's "how they learn best." There are alternatives and the more the divide grows, the more the parents will grow concerned that and look at those alternatives. Just one opinion. Everyone learns differently.

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Permalink Reply by Jacinta Gascoigne on September 13, 2007 at 11:03am

Hi - I made a post on my blog recently regarding twitter - a micro tool with macro power - after a little experiment I conducted and my personal use/experience. The Link and title/byline etc below. Hope you enjoy, would appreciate feedback, comments etc and also links to your own sites, where there are other experiences that others would benefit from hearing about.
Jacinta Believes Social Networking Tools Rock: Let's Rock Together!
A Journey and Exploration of Social Networking Tools and Gadgets in a Learning Context! Current, Predicted, Future.
Take a journey into the unknown, Web 1.0, 2.0,3.0,??? Excite, Enjoy, Innovate
"To allow fear to be in control of one's life, is to limit oneself and all around you.
Connect with your children, with your learners. Understand them, understand their worlds and grow with them, not against them".

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Permalink Reply by Dwight Goodwin on June 10, 2009 at 8:40am

Easy Explaination of Twitter by Common Craft...
http://classroomnext.blogspot.com/2009/06/twitter-easy-explanation....

dg

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Permalink Reply by Ben Palmer on October 22, 2009 at 7:31am

Hi All,

I feel a bit behind-the-times replying to this thread, as it seems as though the discussion stopped a while ago... It would be interesting to see what the updated thoughts and opinions are now, given that Twitter itself, as well as its uses, have vastly expanded and matured since the original post.

I only started using Twitter a relatively short while ago and to be honest, although I am not an educator myself, I couldn't immediately see the educational potential that it has. I use Twittter to follow interesting educators, technologists, projects and edubloggers, and to pick up on themes and trends as they are emerging. Whilst it may not be directly appropriate for classroom use or for adoption by younger pupils, I can definitely see how it could help to develop a mentality and a culture of research and collaboration in an individual, if used in the right way.


I find myself following Twitter not jsut to see what other people are doing at any given moment, but to follow the themes that they are posting about, to read an interesting or thought-provoking article that they publish or link to, or to collaborate on or contribute to a project or topic of mutual interest. And the more I do these things, the more things I find to observe or be involved with as the leads never lead to a dead-end. So it has started a self-replicating cycle of research and collaboration that I am loathed to abandon.

I would welcome any thoughts, objections or comments on this if anyone has any!

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Permalink Reply by Paul James on January 2, 2010 at 3:36pm

Hey Ben,

I came across your comment re: twitter as I was looking around C2.0 for the first time.

In my recently posted introduction I intimated to the same idea - I was wary of twitter to start with, 'lurking' rather than posting. As I found and followed more and more educators (mostly UK-based), I began to pick up on the themes of their explorations and follow links to interesting blogs and resources.

Now I feel that the PLN that I have started to listen to (and make a few contributions to, I hope!) is a very valuable part of my professional practice and development.

Best wishes

Paul

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Pass on October 22, 2009 at 2:59pm

I have begun developing Twitter resources for English/language arts. These resources provide questions that students would answer in 140 characters or less on Twitter. The questions are also posted on Twitter. Certainly many teachers could write these kinds of questions but to see examples of my work visit: http://www.pass-ed.com/wheretheredferngrows.html

Andrew Pass

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Permalink Reply by Fred Ravan on October 22, 2009 at 4:09pm

I did a great lesson this week with Twitter. The chapter we are in has a rather long vocabulary list. I assigned each student three words from the list. They had to get the definition and then tweet them to me. I collected them all using twitterfall . In order to get the student's responses to show up on my twitter fall, I had them add a hash tag. (# plus an identifying phrases. for example, --#fravan.) They loved it, when all were posted, I copied and pasted the responses into a word document, made copies and distributed. Everyone. had all the words. I wish I could claim the credit for this super idea but, I got the idea from Teacher paperless He has a lot of good ideas on his blog.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Trevorrow on November 24, 2009 at 7:10am

Looks like you have had plenty of feedback here, Jeff. I too wondered about this tool and what to make of it. My initial use has been to embed my twitter account posts in my class Moodle site for last minute ideas during the day beyond the classroom. It's quick and easy from my desk, laptop or phone.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Bowling on September 25, 2012 at 2:35pm

1. It is called Tweeting and anyone who has a Twitter account can see your Tweets, unless you lock your account, in which case only your followers (who you approve to follow you) can read them.

2. On Twitter you have followers. If you follow someone you can see all of their tweets either on your phone or computer. If someone follows you, they can see all of your tweets. You can follow someone without then following you back.

3. To follow a person on Twitter, just search for them, click on their name and then click the follow button.

4. You could use this for education by having faster up to date information, like if class gets cancelled or if assignments change. Most phones can have Tweets sent right to them so as long as all of your students have phones and a Twitter account you are golden.

5. Twitter is like a company, so you capitalize it like you would for fast food chains or any other company.

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