We read about Twitter and its uses in the classroom. Some of these ideas I'm not so sure about: a running discussion board projected to the front of the classroom? Maybe I'm overestimating the mischief level of teenagers, but can't you imagine someone writing "PENIS!" just to see it up at the front of the class? Also, I tend to get sucked into the text-discussion in that kind of setting (at least in webinars, when there is a discussion chat on the side, I don't focus well on the actual presentation), and I'd imagine the same happens to teens.
I do like the idea of incorporating Twitter outside of the classroom. I think it would be great to have students follow Germans, to get a sense of how computer-speak works in German, and also to get to know the culture from a different angle. I also love the idea of tweeting updates for parents, but parents might be more comfortable reading a blog than figuring out Twitter.
As far as using Twitter for personal research, I'm intrigued. The format seems rather chaotic to me right now, but I can at least see using others' retweets to find new blogs to follow. I enjoy long-format stuff...
Get ready for snack time tomorrow!
-B
Ah, yes, technology can cause all kinds of mischief. Reminds me of when Wikipedia was in its infancy and someone said that the nickname of Florida was that it was the p---- of the U.S.
ReplyDeleteDavid Warlick gives good advice about how to handle these issues. He says, "The school handbook applies." If a kid couldn't say it in class, he can't say it on Twitter, on Moodle, etc.
And you also learn the art of rolling your teacher eyes and ignoring stuff. :)