Twitter is the subject of the week.I avoided it before this class, because, honestly, it always seemed like a narcissistic waste of time. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't occasionally curious about what I was missing out on, but the feeling was never so compelling as to get me to actually set up an account.
But then within the span of two weeks I find myself managing not only my personal account, but also one for my job. Now that I'm in charge of 2 different Twitter accounts, I can see its usefulness. Connecting with others in short snippets, to put it broadly.
My favorite thing about Twitter is that, unlike Facebook, there is no filter discerning whose updates I see and whose I don't. The fact that it's all in headlines is great, and since I mostly follow organizations and public figures, it's easier to stay current on the topics and news I'm most interested in. I love how easy it is to skim the feed and see what's going on everywhere. Coincidentally, I have a good friend who's never been much for Facebook, but has always been a tweeter, and now we have another way to keep in touch.
All in all, I have to say I'm actually quite fond of that little blue bird now.
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I can tell you from my boyfriend's perspective that he thought the Twitter experiment was "weird." For one, live-tweeting during a speech means that the tweeter is not fully paying attention, and probably missing something important. Another thing was the incongruence between embracing historical contexts (they were encouraged to dress up and engage in other activities meant to set the historical environment) and actively use cell phones in class. It seems to have taken away from the authenticity of the experience.
I think that this was not the most effective way to use Twitter in the classroom, as I have read some of your articles about elementary children solving math problems, and other creative, more effective methods.
So it seems to me that it's not something that works in every teaching situation, but has a lot of potential.
I'd love to hear your comments
:)
PS: Follow me
I think the example of live tweeting in a classroom setting is very similar to what happens in chat on a webinar. Used appropriately, it can be valuable for getting involvement from more individuals in large groups. Will people abuse it? Maybe a few, but I believe this is no worse than in a classroom format when one student dominates the conversation. I have been in a classroom setting where a facilitator used Twitter to get interaction and participation from the group and it was very successful. The learners were very engaged the whole time, but the way engagement looked was different.
ReplyDeleteI think Twitter can be an interesting tool to use in class, but perhaps more useful for teachers to keep updated with current teaching and learning resources. I've followed you! See you there! :)
ReplyDeleteLike llizamj, I like Twitter as a professional development tool more than a teaching tool. I'm not sure I'd enjoy live-tweeting in my classroom (but I also think I don't teach large enough classes for it to really be worthwhile).
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