Twitter in Education

From my experience using Twitter this week and doing some research on how it can be utilized in education, I found that Twitter may be a social media outlet that I could use with my learners. This semester, I am teaching college EFL students English 101 courses: one oral skills course and two writing courses. For my Oral Skills 1 course, one of the objectives is for students to be able to present in front of an audience using proper academic English. The article “The Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter in Education” contains so much information on ways to utilize Twitter in the classroom. From what I read, I thought I could use Twitter’s polling feature to have my Oral Skills 1 course students take class polls on particular topics and issues. After the votes are complete, I could pair students up and have them discuss, interpret, and present the findings on their polls in front of the entire class.

            For my writing course students, Twitter can get their creative thoughts put into writing. In the article “Can Tweeting Help Your Teaching?”, it highlights a middle school teacher’s usage of Twitter with his students. Gary Mayo is an eighth grade teacher from Maryland, and he used Twitter by connecting his class with other students around the world via storytelling. They all collaborated on an ongoing story, which each student contributed to in a form of a tweet. I really love this idea for two main reasons. Firstly, it would allow my students to be creative and add their twists to an ongoing plot. Secondly, it would give my leaners the opportunity to interact with other students globally. Kudos to Gary Mayo and his project!

#Chatting on Twitter…Go Figure!

#Chatting on Twitter…Go Figure!

This week, I experimented and experienced my first Twitterchat. I hate to admit it, but I didn’t really know exactly how to use Twitter. I made an account for school a few years ago, but only used it for a couple of months to follow our professor. After that, I never used my account again (in fact I don’t even remember the account name I made). So this week was a chance for me to revisit Twitter and really delve into what the buzz is all about.

            

I decided to join the #ELTchat on Twitter, which meets every Wednesday, as it was the group chat most relevant to my current professional setting. The Twitterchat lasted a little over an hour, followed by a “slow burn” (i.e. slow activity) of tweets for those who wanted to add on to the conversation afterhours. It was moderated by Marisa Constantinides. Each week, users can suggest topics and ELTchat has a poll in which we could vote from a list of potential topics on their blog; so I love the fact I had a say in what topic would be discussed in the chat. The topic for this week was about teachers teaching pronunciation and the initial tweet posed by our moderator was: “So what frightens people abt teaching pronunciation?”

At first, the flood of tweets coming in became a bit overwhelming. When I wanted to comment on one tweet or issue, a whole new set of tweets came in making my previously intended tweet irrelevant in that moment. Eventually, I got the hang of it and was able to contribute to the discussion and provide some beneficial comments for other educators (I had some liked tweets and one retweet =). I was amazed at the amount of information, practical tips, and resources I was able to gather from other’s tweets in just one hour! Twitter and in particular Twitterchat, seems to be a professional development – or more so— a professional network that I would continue to use in the future.

            

The 21st Century Shift

When was the last time you got up to change the channel on your TV, used a payphone, or turned on a VCR? The advancement of technology has impacted our daily lives and has shifted the course of public education. The video 21st Century Education in New Brunswick, Canada highlights how vital it is as educators to keep up with the pace of technology in order to better serve our students. The fact that the top ten jobs today didn’t exist in 2004 is quite phenomenal. Our instruction should be geared to creating a generation of learners prepared for their future in a technologically accelerated world. Student-centered and personalized learning is how our students learn best and this is the model and method that is becoming the trend in education today. Furthermore what students learn, regardless of the subject matter – whether it is ESL or biology— should be made relevant and applicable to the real world or else what they acquire will not be meaningful, thus not fully preparing them for their careers in our global economy. I love the idea of videoconferencing with other classes internationally to work on a collaborative projects using online platforms. I believe this would give students exposure to new cultures, tools, and experiences that will impact their attitudes and motivations of learning. 

“We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.” This is a profound quote by author Erik Qualman cited in the video Social Media Revolution 2011. I remember when there was a time when friends would spend hours on the phone with one another, when family members who were oceans apart rarely had contact, or when relationships began in person with the first “Hi.” Today however, the shift of technology and more specifically, the increased use of social media has changed the lifestyle of our global population. Facebook is one of the leading social media websites, connecting friends, family and creating new (and also breaking) relationships.

This “social media revolution” has also greatly affected education and how students learn. Kindergarteners are now using iPads in the classroom and there is now a shift in individuals using eReaders instead of physical books. Simple paper and pencil and writing on the chalkboard has become somewhat obsolete; instead creating a lively and technologically-integrated classroom for our learners is the new norm. From my experience, students today need to be stimulated during lessons in order to maintain their focus, especially for young learners. We can’t ignore this shift. We can’t ignore social media. Instead, let us see how we can use it to our advantage to effectively teach our learners.