Twitter's use in education

Twitter’s use in education seems to be a highly debatable topic, however, this application is the fastest growing trend right now. Some people think Twitter is a waste of time, is limited in its 140 characters, has major privacy concern issues, and has no use in the classroom. Other, however, seem to think Twitter is the second coming in terms of educational use. Many educators like the instant feedback and enjoy the responses given by students who otherwise may never speak up in class, or can’t because of lack of classroom discussion time. Another thing educators like about Twitter is that students seem to be more involved in the lesson when they are able to use this Web 2.0 tool. Educators like the educational community being built outside of the classroom atmosphere that can be carried on even when the student is home. 

http://www.sjl.us/main/2009/06/twitter-and-education---the-twitter-experiment.html

This site shows a video titled, “The Twitter Experiment.” Here, Dr. Monica Rankin, Professor of History at The University of Texas at Dallas, was interested in the use of Twitter being able to use website and text messages to post comments. Rankin incorporated Twitter into the classroom to get more students involved in commenting on assignments, in her large classes. She also used Twitter as a way to communicate with the students outside of the classroom, to respond to comments, as well. Students feel empowered to express their views in class, where in a 50 minute class, they may not be able to because of time constraints.

http://cooper-taylor.com/blog/2008/08/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-education/

This site is a blog titled, “50 Ideas on Using Twitter in Education” by Carol Cooper-Taylor, based on Chris Brogan’s list, “50 Ideas for Using Twitter in Business.” The bog discusses the First Steps to Using Twitter, Ideas About What to Tweet, Some Sanity for You, The Negatives People Will Throw at You, and Some Positives to Throw Back. The positives include: Twitter helps one organize great, instant meetups (tweetups). Twitter works swell as an opinion poll. Twitter can help direct student’s attention to good things. Twitter in the classroom helps people build an instant “backchannel.” Twitter breaks news faster than other sources. Twitter gives institutions a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization. Twitter brings great minds together, and gives everyone daily opportunities to learn. Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them. Twitter helps with staff development, find other teachers. Twitter can augment parent feedback.

http://searchenginewatch.com/3630980

Ron Jones’ article, “Using Twitter as an Education Tool,” focuses on the ways academia is using Twitter. David Parry, assistant professor of Emerging Media and Communications at the University of Texas at Dallas uses Twitter after much apprehension. Parry states sever tips for effective use of Twitter in education. Some tips are: Instant feedback, increase class chatter, create a sense of classroom community, track a conference or seminar, follow a professional or famous person, public notepad, writing assignments, grammar, maximizing the teachable moment. The article also has a PDF article titled, “& Things You Should Know About Twitter.” This article gives the who, what, when, where, whys, and hows to use Twitter for education.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR2009062504027.html

The article, “Some Professors' Jitters Over Twitter Are Easing: Discussions Expand In and Out of Class,” by Susan Kinzie, discusses educator’s reservations about using Twitter in the Classroom, and overcoming them. Many professors’ apprehensions come from the fact that some courses require deliberate thought, while Twitter’s use is for instant notification. Another concern is privacy, as all who are registered with Twitter can see posts. However, other professors see the use of Twitter as a positive in the way of using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.

http://www.tienetwork.org/content/view/302/

This site discusses Twitter and its use in education