A Helpful Birdie Named Twitter

Twitter is a new social platform for me that I haven’t explored in depth until this class. From using Twitter thus far I have come to enjoy it as I find it to be very useful. As most social media platforms the way you use it can determine what you get out of it and its usefulness. I think that if used in a proper manner it is an especially useful tool to use in a professional way for an individuals career. From my short experience with this social platform I find it to be singularly useful in the career of education. I believe this because it helps you create an online community with fellow educators to bounce ideas off one another. It is another space to share what you are doing in your classroom, see what other educators are doing in theirs, seeing different ways topics are being presented and taught. When you build this positive space with fellow educators when you share something on the platform, you can get feedback from a wide group of other intellectuals in the same field with different backgrounds and experiences. There are many different ideas that can be found on Twitter from other professionals in the same field where you can take what you want/need and apply it to your career/classroom in your own way. As well, with this online community, if you find yourself at a bump in the road with your education journey and are struggling to find a solution you can easily ask your online community of fellow educators for help. And one of the awesome perks on this platform is that it doesn’t stop at your built community to get some help from, if members of your community interact with your tweet then their built communities will also see it and be able to interact and share it on further or provide help if possible.

Twitters usefulness does not only just start and end with ones career but it can also be used in a classroom setting. I think that it is more of a useful tool to use in older grades such as upper middle years and high school grades. One way it can be used is by the teacher creating a class Twitter circle with all the students apart of. Then the students are able to submit assignments like exit slips or other class participation activities through the Twitter circle. Another helpful way Twitter can be used in the classroom with a Twitter circle is providing updates and reminders to students and/or students parents. Using Twitter in the classroom helps students as it makes a connection to social media which is a large part of majority of students lives today, therefore students may be more interested and inclined to participate as it connects to their individual lives outside of school. As well, if students are using Twitter for school in the classroom and some of their work is on that platform then the students parents may also be able to view and keep up with what the students are doing at school if they also have accounts. Twitter is a great tool to use in the classroom as it has many aspects that can be used and adapted to fit the classroom setting!