(Image source: www.twitter.com)
What Twitter Is
Twitter is a social media website that allows short, 140 character maximum, posts which can be shared across a large audience, allowing students to interact with each other in the 21st century.
Reasons for Using Twitter
Engages students in discussions that will allow them to talk about relevant class topics and respond in a constructive and engaging manner.
Furthermore, by going to the site, visibletweets.com, the students can view examples of other posts in a dynamic and fluid way.
They can also use Twitter to post pictures and further drive student-centered learning projects.
Lessons Incorporating Twitter
The students could be assigned to go onto Twitter after class or after school to answer a discussion question asked by the teacher; this can work in a formative assessment for students in the 21st century which will allow the teacher to test if the students were able to grasp the concepts put forth in the lesson which meets the requirements of Colorado Senate Bill 191.
How to Use Twitter
To utilize Twitter, you must sign up for a free account at www.twitter.com, and input the required information. Have the Students "follow" the teacher on Twitter so that they receive the relevant updates and discussion questions. You can, utilizing hashtags (#), have students respond to a specific question and all of the answers can be grouped based off of the hashtag used.
Benefits of Twitter
Some of the advantages of twitter is that it is collaborative and encourages quieter students to have a greater say in their classroom. It is a great way to engage students in the 21st century and further allows for the sharing of quality work. The website visibletweets.com allows the teacher to present student discussions in interesting and engaging ways.
Limitations of Twitter
The limitations of Twitter are that the "tweets" provided to and by your classroom are not private and can be seen by anyone. Additionally, using hashtags can lead to someone finding out the hashtag and posting something to the string of hashtags that could be potentially inappropriate. Freedom of speech could also be a problem, as you have little control over what the students post in response to questions posed to them.
Resources
These are some links with helpful ideas on incorporating Twitter into everyday classes.
50 Way to Use Twitter in the Classroom
Using Twitter to Enhance Learning in History Lessons