Twitter

Twitter. What is it and how is it used? Well, let me explain. Twitter is a social media tool that has become one of the biggest social networks used today. It falls behind Facebook, but it is still pretty popular. It is so popular that Apple has actually integrated the technology into its new operating system for their iOS devices. Twitter allows users to express what they are doing, thinking, or going on around them in 140 characters or less. It essence, twitter is a form of blogging but at the micro level. User tweet what they are doing and twitter keeps a feed of them as users post these to the world wide web. Users can tag their tweets using a feature called a hashtag (#). This is simply used in a tweet if users want to classify their tweet to a category.

The Digital Diet includes a chapter on this form of blogging and covers all the foundational behind the scenes work that a user would need to know. The book goes into detail on how to create an account, tweet your first tweet, and review and follow other users of Twitter. The book also discusses classroom implications. The example listed in the book is geared more for a secondary or a college level setting, but nonetheless it still has an educational purpose. The example goes on to explain that teachers can have students discuss what they are learning by using twitter and using hashtags. The teacher then looks at their tweets to see what students are saying.

I use twitter almost everyday. I use it to follow the most update to news and keep a watch over what my friends are doing or thinking. I use twitter more so to express things that I do not want my friends on Facebook to see (mainly family). I have never really thought about using it in the classroom as I plan to teach the primary grades. But all I know is that at the rate young children are learning how to use technology, my future second grade class might be using twitter by the time they reach my classroom. I like the idea of it being used in the classroom. I would just be concerned that some students would become more distracted with the idea of "tweeting" their thoughts than actually being engaged in the lesson.