Students want to be heard. Not all of them want to shout in the middle of class or spray paint their message on the walls, but they'd like to know that others are listening and considering what they have to say. The squeaky wheel may get the grease, but it also causes us great irritation.
One way for students to share their ideas in the classroom is Twitter. Students share short bursts of information in less than 140 characters. Students are challenged to simplify their thinking before sharing. Links, hashtags, images and other media can be included.
Other ways for students to use Twitter:
- continue conversations when class or school day is over
- tweet questions to friends regarding homework
- perform search queries for real time information
- include friends, parents, experts outside of the classroom into the discussion
- teach writing skills
- follow content experts, read and respond to their tweets, and see who they follow
- join conversations and attend tweet chats around an interesting topic
- follow news outlets, journals, or magazines and respond with what you think
- tweet about a project
- share images of your project step-by-step, and receive feedback before turning in
Students have the power and opportunity to be heard. They have control over who the share information with and who they want to listen to. We have to remember that with great power comes great responsibility. Teaching students to use tools like Twitter will give them a stage to shine or receive negative attention.
An example of positive uses of Twitter in the Classroom: