Before coming into this class I thought that Twitter was for old people who did not have Instagram, or for people who had a lot to say but no one to say it to so they would put it on Twitter. So when Katia (My Prof) said that we all needed to download Twitter I was a bit skeptical. I have never heard of anything good that came from Twitter. However, in exploring Twitter over the past couple of weeks I have come to realize that Twitter is what you make it. If you want to follow people who only talk drama then you can do that, BUT if you want to use it as an educational platform that supports others in learning and developing then that is also an option.
My first big accomplishment with Twitter would be the #saskedchat that our class participated in. Going in I had no idea what to expect. It really blew my mind to think that a group of people was discussing education from anywhere in Saskatchewan. As well to think that this conversation was not limited to Saskatchewan and if someone from Germany wanted to see what we were doing they could. I thought that this was so cool!
The big question! What place does Twitter along with other social media have in the classroom? To put it plainly I am not sure. Twitter is still so new to me that at the moment I cannot see a huge benefit for students to use it in education until maybe High School. I am not a fan of social media in general. My concerns with social media are the following: teenagers are already spending so much time on social media so why should we introduce it in the schools encouraging students who do not have it to get it and for students that do have it to spend more time on it. What you post lasts forever and I do not think that students understand that at this age. Finally, many students have back experiences with social media, and to bring that into the classroom when a student may get bullied on social media that may make the student feel uncomfortable in this class.
That all being said, I am totally up for having my mind being changed. So am I just over thinking? Do you think Twitter and social media in the classroom is a wave of the future? Do I need to jump on this ship? Let me know!