I was not familiar with Twitter prior to this course. So far, I can already see how it can be used as a professional development tool. As for Twitter in the classroom, I am not quite sure how it could be utilized in the younger grades. Technology is used in classrooms starting in possibly Kindergarten. However, technology is very different from social media. There are so many great resources, games, and websites for students to use in every subject. Students themselves, specifically those in younger grades, should not be using Twitter in the classroom. Exposure to social media at such a young age is not something we want to promote in our classrooms.
Let’s think outside of the classroom now. From what I have seen so far, Twitter can be an immensely useful professional development tool. You can tailor your profile to give professional insight into who you are. The Saskedchat on Thursday night was a fast-paced, interactive experience. I love how new comments and questions kept rolling in and you could read various perspectives on that topic. This was such an engaging experience because of all the meaningful conversations going on. Even when disagreements occurred, they were respectful and backed up by another perspective. This is something I would love to participate in weekly!
Twitter as a whole is something that will continuously build my professional profile and showcase my growth. Check out my Twitter at https://twitter.com/TShyngera to join me in my journey!
Hi Taylor. I am glad you were able to join the #SaskEdChat on Thursday. I agree that Twitter is an amazing professional development tool. However, Twitter and other social media can be used within classroom effectively for learning. It may not be used in the same manner as it is used by an individual, but classroom Twitter accounts are effective avenues for learning especially about the uses of social media. Although social media and teenage/child use is negatively portrayed, as learning tools, social media can be useful for gathering ideas, making connections and exploring opinions. And what better way to teach students about digital citizenship than by using the tools and talking about cyber bullying, cyber footprint and the negative aspects of social media. I believe that, from an educational standpoint, ignoring such tools does a disservice to youth who will be using them. Why not teach them from a young age to manage social media, their online profiles and digital footprints and be proactive in practicing positive social behaviours on social media? Many students already have a presence on social media through their parents feeds mainly because parents are not fully aware of how to use social media properly. Empowering students to be positive members of society also means being positive members of the digital society that exists – often deeply connected to the physical society. Yes there are negatives to social media but there are positives and helping students develop positive digital literacy habits and skills is as important as developing other literacy habits and skills.
Again, thank you for joining #SaskEdChat. I hope to see you there again.
Hey Taylor, I completely agree with you about social media being a bit niche but potentially useful. Inside the classroom it seems hard to implement, especially for younger students. That being said I think you nailed it when talking about the platforms as a means of professional development and networking with colleagues.
It serves as a perfect place to have publice discourse about potentially hard subjects, while giving everyone an opportunity to voice their opinion.
Hi Taylor, thanks for you post. I definitely agree that the use of technology in classrooms is a great tool for students to access engaging ways to learn new topics. But but specifically in the younger grades (elementary), I do not think Twitter or any social media platform is appropriate for those aged students. Some families do not allow their children to have social media and there is a lot of information that young students could access that they should not be accessing.
To use Twitter as a professional development tool has seemed to be beneficial already. It is convenient that tweets are related to the topics we follow and we can easily share great resources to help other educators in their profession, while also gaining knowledge and ideas for our own profession!