| Reviewed: |
Apr 14, 2012 by Teacher Education |
| Overview: |
Twitter is a microblogging website that allows users to update their status ("What am I doing?") to the world using 140 characters of text. Many educators use Twitter to share information about their discipline or research interests. Educators who are members of professional organization like MERLOT use Twitter to share about upcoming conferences. They also use Twitter during a conference to let others know about key information in presentations. |
| Learning Goals: |
Educators will determine their own learning goals when using a microblogging tool like Twitter. It is possible that a teacher may have students use twitter to post short reflections about a topic being covered in class. |
| Target Student Population: |
Currently Twitter is most popular with older people so graduate level college students might be the best audience for using Twitter. A better alternative for K-12 students may be Edumodo as it has been designed to be used within a private online environment. |
| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
Twitter does require some training. It would be helpful for educators and their students to read articles about Twitter prior to using it. A list of resources can be found at: http://www.twine.com/twine/12vxy2xc1-3xx/twitter-and-education |
| Type of Material: |
Twitter could be considered a collection or repository because educators can choose to "follow" updates by other educators who are sharing new information about their discipline or research area. Users can also search twitter for real-time updates on topic of interest. |
| Recommended Uses: |
Teachers may want to have their students conduct searches on topics of interest and then "follow" the updates of people posting about a particular topic. Professors have used Twitter as a way of creating a back channel in their classroom, where students can ask questions and make comments during a lecture. At a certain point, the professor will stop and ask a moderator to share questions and comments from the back channel. |
| Technical Requirements: |
Users will need basic web navigation skills. For best use, they will also need to learn Twitter commands and etiquette which can be found on many web pages including: http://twitter.zendesk.com/forums/10711/entries/13920 |
