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Twitter has become a powerful and effective communication tool within the past year and continues to grow in popularity. It has attracted the attention of a range of students and teachers from the elementary level to the collegiate level. Some experts believe that twitter has commercial applications as well. Twitter accounts are free and anyone can easily join with the use of an already existing email account and a few minutes of their time. Students and teachers who have internet access can easily log on to their twitter accounts at wttp://www.twitter.com
Twitter provides an opportunity to post a picture, a line or two about yourself, and your occupation. Twitter has been compared to email, blogs, instant messaging, and discussion boards. It is quickly taking the place of other mediums for social networking and is changing our expectations for such sites. With Twittering, we have come to expect that we can communicate with and keep our friends, teachers, and colleagues updated, all in one place.
Twitter allows its account holders, or Tweeters, to post messages containing 140 characters per each post, or tweet, as the twitter community has come to refer to such posts. Once an account is created, the account holder can invite friends to follow their Twitter page. They can also search for friends with existing Twitter pages that they themselves would like to follow. Once you are “following” someone’s page, you will be able to see their latest tweets on your Twitter account. This allows users to stay updated on thoughts, feelings and happenings of their Twitter counterparts. Twitter can also send messages to your cell phone each time someone you are following has updated their posts. People can follow your page even without having an account themselves which makes it ideal for educational use. A teacher or professor can provide feedback to general questions and updates for pending assignments. Also, if there is a need for privacy or closed-classroom setting, all posts can be set to private and only those with approved Twitter accounts will be allowed to view posts. Followers can also respond to posted tweets which allows for quick interaction and dialogue to take place regarding the topic of choice.
Twitter users and others interested in communication advances are following the trends and dynamic range of this relatively new phenomenon and asking what is Twitter and how can it be utilized in the field of education. As people continue to use Twitter it is becoming apparent that it can offer more than anticipated. What was first viewed as a fun pastime, is quickly becoming the hub for social and more importantly, educational platform which is taking on a life of its own and being used in unexpected ways.
Twitter in Education
Twitter is already being used for education today and subscribers continue to build on its uses. Instructors are finding it useful to post assignments on twitter and allowing students to post questions and comments regarding assignments. Some students might feel more comfortable asking a question through messaging as opposed to raising their hand in class. Students also find it a simple way to keep in touch with their teachers and also find out what their peers are doing and the progress they are making. On the other hand, it can be a helpful tool for a instructor who wants to have a better understanding of their student. Such an understanding facilitates a productive learning environment because a teacher can convey the material in a manner that will be conducive to learning. Each group of students creates a classroom dynamic that may be difficult to gauge until instructors become more familiar with their students. Twitter can give teachers the opportunity to have a fuller understanding of who their pupil is, outside of being a student. It can save time for a instructor who can respond to one student’s answer and at the same time provide the information to other students who may have had similar questions or concerns.
Students can learn to share ideas and collaborate on school projects. Such collaboration not only reinforces ideas being learned in the classroom, but helps develop skills that will be useful for future school or work projects that would require team-work and cooperation. " Once students started twittering I think they developed a sense of each other as people beyond the classroom space, rather than just students they saw twice a week for an hour and a half," (Young, 2008). Students can meet outside of school in a safe forum and carry on a dialogue as they work on their assignments. There have been instances of student’s tweeting about current events relating to material being learned in the classroom. The immediacy of Twitter allows students to relate current events to historical trends, past scientific discovery and relevant legislation that is now affecting policy and so forth. Finding a context for new information pushes students to make the connections between actions and reactions, past and present. When the classroom dynamic is taken from the classroom and incorporated into a networking site, it puts the classroom in the hands of the students, empowering the student to learn from their peers and teacher on their own terms.
England is already pioneering changes in curriculum that is to include an emphasis on media and web-based skills. To this effect, England is proposing a cur
riculum that will include Twitter, Wikipedia, podcasts and blogging while still maintaining other forms of traditional learning. As we continue to move further towards a global market and an otherwise interrelated world, it is important to learn alternative forms of effective communication and teach these methods to future generations that will pursue careers in media, business, healthcare and other professions that will inevitably come to rely on telecommunication.
Hello, I added an additional sentence & link to a YouTube video that I thought would be helpful. The link is right beneath your screenshot in the What is Twitter? section. I wanted to embed the video directly but don't know how. So, please go ahead and make the change if you know how.
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Comments (3)
Tony Spittell said
at 1:59 pm on May 17, 2009
I emailed you the grammar and spelling edits.
styang@... said
at 11:33 pm on May 17, 2009
Hello, I added an additional sentence & link to a YouTube video that I thought would be helpful. The link is right beneath your screenshot in the What is Twitter? section. I wanted to embed the video directly but don't know how. So, please go ahead and make the change if you know how.
styang@... said
at 5:53 pm on May 18, 2009
Hey, nevermind about embedding the video. I figured it out & went ahead and added it. :)
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