Twitter for Teachers and Learners – Ways of using Twitter in the Classroom
Posted by Sandra Pinto Pires | Filed under E Learning, Twitter, Web tools
Are you using Twitter? Are you using it in your classroom? Are your students Twittering?
If you haven’t Twittered yet, you don’t know what you are missing!
An impressive growing number of teachers are using Twitter.
Just in case you can’t remember what Twitter is, here’s a short and simple video from the fantastic Commoncraft.
Teachers have been using Twitter as a micro-blogging platform on which they share text messages of no more than 140 characters to connect with colleagues from around the world and generate ideas for teaching and professional development.
Why should teachers use Twitter? What’s the point?
What do teachers normally complain about? Lack of time! Right?
Twitter can help teachers with their time management as it can be like a virtual staffroom, where they can step into whenever they want: On their mobile phones travelling back home or in the queue at the post office… They can access a stream of tips, links, ideas and resources from different professionals within seconds.
Share reflections, support and challenge each other. Reading other teachers’ experiences makes you reflect on your own practice and helps improving.
Gather a range of opinions and constructive criticism within minutes.
How do teachers use Twitter?
. Use it as a resource for sharing things quickly
. Follow teachers who teach similar subjects and levels or teachers who have the same interests (I follow e-learning people!)
. Turn to it when researching, as the sources are trustworthy (I’ve heard that it’s better than Google!)
. Create a professional network of colleagues all over the world when developing new lesson or curriculum ideas
. Carry out classroom tasks, such as voting activities, question and answer, creating stories…
How do learners use Twitter?
Learners decide when, where and what. They learn when they can.
Twitter is a friendly place to take part. Learners can jump into the middle of conversations, turning it into a valuable moment.
Learning with Twitter means that learners are always being assessed. If students’ tweets are meaningful and useful, the number of followers will increase. If the quality of the tweets is not very good, the number of followers will stay the same or fall.
Learners can keep updates and developments of projects they carry out.
Check out this slideshow for guidance and practical ideas of how to use Twitter in your classroom
If you want to keep up and start your Twitter, here’s a great guidebook.
Click here to view the guidebook on the web site.
Tags: collaborative, ILT, socialnetworking, Twitter, Web Tool
