Twitter in the Classroom

On the website Educational Technology and Mobile Learning I found a great list of educational uses for Twitter. The list was broken up into five categories: Communication, Organization, Resources, Writing Skills, and Twitter Exercises. The more common educational uses for Twitter were listed such as sending out mass announcements, providing feedback and communicating with parents. There were also many ideas that had not occurred to me. For example, under communication there was a suggestion to use Twitter as ambient office hours so that teachers can be more accessible to students. Under organization a suggestion I thought could be really useful to me in the future was using Twitter to recap the day's lesson. A recommendation under resources was to follow Twitter news streams in the target language. For writing skills an idea I liked was assigning a daily or weekly word game on Twitter. Then under Twitter exercises I thought another good idea was to give bonus points for students who use Twitter to participate in discussions that they might feel uncomfortable to join in class.

A second article I read addressed how to establish a Twitter routine in the classroom. The author was writing specifically about grades K-8 who cannot establish their own Twitter accounts but I think the information can be adapted to other age groups. The visual roadmap graphic was really informative. It starts out by pointing out why teachers should Tweet with their class for example to communicate, to practice writing skills and to develop a sense of digital citizenship. The roadmap then moves on to how to familiarize students with the Twitter scene, what it means to be a follower, how to follow someone, and how to evaluate the feeds of others. Finally the visual shows how using Twitter can encourage students to use both lower and higher order thinking skills. I found this graphic very helpful in visualizing the process of introducing and utilizing Twitter in the classroom.

Social Networking Sites and Professional Development

Recently I joined a social networking site for EFL teachers called EFL Classroom 2.0. I was amazed by the variety of resources available on the website. There are forums for hosting discussions with other members and blogs to follow with updates on teaching resources. In addition in your personal profile you can include a link to your own professional blog. Also, there are thousands of links to videos, there are links to educational games, to e-readers and even to some of the resources we have been exploring in our class such as Voicethread.

I am really excited to explore more of these resources and materials. For instance there is a whole page of resources just for phonics as well as a page with materials such as flashcards and worksheets. What I also like about the site is that it is international. This is important to me as a future EFL teacher who intends to teach outside the US. I would like to have access to different resources and have the opportunity to network with teachers who are working abroad.

Educating for the Future

While watching the Future Learning Documentary video I was impressed by the numerous innovative ideas presented by the interviewees. They advocated for the use of technology in the classroom including video games and iPads which is not a revolutionary idea itself but they called for a revolution of a different sort. A revolution in motivating students to learn, to present information within context, to blend learning and play, and to make the learning experience less rigid. I think these are all very valid suggestions and that technology can be a tool to help accomplish them. One observation that I really connected with was made by Sugata Mitra who suggests that a skill that students should be learning now to better prepare them for their future is the ability to conduct information research on-line. I think this is a very important skill not only in the forum of higher education but in one's private life in order to be better informed about the world.

Another video I watched was "Did you Know" which presented many interesting statistics about technology, its uses around the world and its role in both education and employment. These statistics and observations help to put the modern situation in historical perspective. The video raised many questions such as how technology has changed the job market and how this relates to educating today's youth. It made me think about how the United States can remain competitive with countries such as India and China who have such large populations. Something else I observed was that the video mentioned the vast quantity of information available through the internet and technology but nothing was said about the quality of this information. This brought to mind the Future Learning Documentary video and reinforced the need for students to learn how to perform on-line research. With so much information available students need to have the skills to determine what is the more reliable source.