Twitter

Ronika Amerson

ED 505

Twitter

            Though I don’t think I got the most use out of twitter this semester, I can see its usefulness in the classroom. My students and I could use it for quick interactions outside of the classroom. It is a great way to stay connected and find useful resources. I could send quick homework reminders, notes, and other classroom correspondences. We could also follow authors, scientists, mathematicians, and other relevant people to our content. My students could also post simple questions and message me privately for areas of concern. Moreover, we could find articles and other related content. My only concern with social networking with my students is keeping it professional and school related. I have never accepted a friend request from any student before. However, I see that making a group such as our class has benefits worth risking. I don’t know that I could have made it through this class not being able to share and discuss burning issues.

            Twitter is also a great resource for staying professionally developed. I can follow many other educators and authors. Likewise, I can abreast of the current trends in education especially as it relates to technology. Some of the people I followed include: Dr. Debra Harper, Ed.D., Sean Junkins (assistive technology), Web 2.0 News, and  PR News Education. There were other educators but none followed me back with exception of a few of our classmates. 

Lastly, because there are tons of messages, hashtags make things easier to find and sort through on twitter. I could easily find all of your posts when I entered our hashtag information. Other hashtags I used were: #assistive technology, #web 2.0 resources,# smartphones in the classroom,  and #technology in the classroom. Hashtags really narrow the search and help you find great sources. I will definitely be looking at ways to incorporate twitter into the classroom. Perhaps the first step is trying to figure out how to keep students on task. Things are a bit tricky when you work with such a young age group. Ten and eleven year olds should not be on social networks so I will gear it more toward the parents. I am still learning the various uses of twitter and look forward to learning more uses.