Twitter in the Classroom

When it comes to Twitter, I did not really know much about it before this class. I never really thought of it as a tool for learning until EDTC 300. I really just thought it was a place for people to update with information. I am really starting to see the value in sharing resources via twitter. For one it always stores your tweets so you can always revisit the resource you have shared. Not only that, but you can so easily connect with other teachers and classmates and share with each other. By retweeting the resources others are sharing, you can also go back and find that resource later on.

One way to build a Twitter following and find great people to follow is by participating in events like Sask edchat. On Sept. 30, I participated, along with my fellow classmates, in a live Twitter chat called Sask edchat. It was a really interesting experience. For one, I got to share my opinion on topics and suggest ideas to fellow students and teachers. I also got some great ideas about growing my PLN (personal learning network) from my fellow “chatters” who have all had more time to develop their own PLNs. I got to connect and find many educators to follow, not only from Saskatchewan, but from around Canada and the US. it was so fun to chat with people who have the same interests and make those connections. It was hard to keep up with how many tweets were coming in, but I did my best to read as many as I could. Obviously, I was unable to read all of them, but my fellow classmates retweeted some that I did not have time to read. This allowed me to read them on my feed after the fact.

I am not too sure how Twitter can be incorporated into the school setting besides as a place to share information with parents about what students are doing (given that they have media releases). Maybe to update parents and students about information and reminders. Like “this class has a test in math tomorrow”, or something along those lines. I feel like there are better ways to give these updates instead of on a social media app. On Twitter, it is more than just the students and parents can view these reminders, so it is not necessarily the best place for them. I could maybe see it being used as a tool for question and answers, kind of like what we did for Sask edchat, Again, I feel that there are better platforms for that type of discussion with students. If there was a topic students are learning about in school, joining a live chat even just to read the tweets might be a good way to gain a deeper understanding of the topic.