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understood the appeal of Twitter. Isn't it the same as updating your Facebook status? Sure you can add photos and have discussions, but doesn't Facebook do that too?
Twitter, in a classroom setting, can be useful. In a larger class (100+ students), it can definitely be easier to ask questions or create debates. Rather than trying to raise a hand and get lost in the crowd, your question/comment will pop up immediately. And for those students who just love their laptops and cell phones, this can be a way to reach out to them.
High school classes are much smaller, though. As teachers, do we really want to encourage students to hide behind a computer to ask their questions? I believe we should be helping them to build their confidance and to interact not only with their teachers, but with other students as well. Face-to-face interaction is so important in order to make a connection with someone, and if we rely solely on computers, those connections may be lost (or never even made in the first place).
The idea of technology in the classroom is one that I embrace. I believe that blogs or websites for classes are useful in many different ways, but is it really necessary to add Twitter on top of email and Facebook and blogs? You have to draw the line somewhere. While there are some good points to it, overall I feel that there are better tools out there to use in the classroom. Sorry Twitter, you didn't make the cut!
I agree with a lot of your points. Twitter in the classroom is a tough subject for me to grasp. I think in a large classroom, it can be a useful tool for students to share their ideas. But in high school, I think it would be too distracting.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about students hiding behind the computer to ask questions- it is SO important that students develop the confidence to be able to bring up thoughts in a face-to-face manner! Something that I certainly think technology such as twitter is diminishing...
ReplyDeleteI think twitter could be useful to a point (such as to post exam dates or an answer to a collective class question), but it seems sad to lose out on that connection we can make with our students by actually speaking to them.
Hey....I agree with a lot of your points as well! especially about the students developing the confidence to be able to bring up thoughts in a face to face manner.I think the use of social networking sites like twitter could definately affect this important skill of verbal communication in the classroom.
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