This is my second Twitter account. About two years ago, I signed up for a Twitter account but got more into using facebook instead to communicate with my local friends as well as friends from high school and college. Twitter is very easy to sign up for. I was able to locate and follow Richardson, Darlene, and Gayle without difficulty.
Before this class, I had never thought of using Twitter as a possible educational web tool with my students or colleagues. Twitter seems to have a lot of potential for classroom use. Richardson (2010) states, “It’s the blend of the professional and the personal that makes Twitter such a cool tool on so many levels” (p, 86). I particularly like the idea discussed by Richardson (2010) about using Twitter as a way to get students to micro blog. Twitter could be used to introduce blogging. Using Twitter, to communicate with parents, is something schools could us as an additional way to announce cancelations, delays, early dismissals, or other emergencies. In the library, Twitter could be utilized to make short announcements about upcoming events and new books in the library.
I think the biggest challenge, with using Twitter in a school district, would be getting parents to try it. Many parents and other educators may have some preconceived notions about what Twitter is and what it should be used for.
References:
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms, 3rd. ed.. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Dear Bethany,
ReplyDeletePreconceived notions are something we deal with constantly in education. Students come to our classes with so many preconceived notions and if we are aware of them, we can use our skills as an educator to overturn these notions. Adult's preconceived notions tend to be more deeply engrained and with no set time to ply our skills, using the change process can be more difficult. What ways do you think you could use to educate the adults in your world who would oppose the use of twitter as a communication tool?
Bethany,
ReplyDeleteI like that school districts could use Twitter to communicate with parents. Do you think your school district would be open to the idea? My school district is always looking for better ways to get in touch with parents about events that are going on or to update them in case of an emergency.
Darlene,
ReplyDeleteFor parents and educators who are opposed to using Twitter, and I’m sure there many, I would enlist the help of other teachers who are comfortable using Twitter. I would encourage teachers to use Twitter to communicate with parents and students for classroom purposes. In classrooms, in the library, and other content areas, Twitter could first be used to remind students and parents of important dates. Once adults use it a couple of times, I think their preconceived notion may begin to change.
Bethany
Gayle,
ReplyDeleteFor now, I do not think my district would be open to using Twitter to communicate with parents. Many of our families in our district cannot afford to have a computer. Twitter may, at sometime in the future, be used in addition to the news, phone, and letters. Twitter would need to be introduced slowly at first as I described in my post to Darlene.
Bethany