Twitter Use in the Classroom

Twitter is a rapidly growing social media platform where ideas and thoughts are exchanged between people all over the world.  In the classroom twitter has a lot of potential and usefulness for student and teacher interaction.  In the web article A Must Have Guide on Using Twitter in your Classroom it lists several excellent ways in which one can use twitter in their classroom.  The article is broken down into 5 main subjects: communication, organization, resources, writing skills and twitter exercises.  As a teacher I could see myself using twitter as a means of communicating with students.  For example if a student misses class they could check twitter for a link to the days lesson and assignment that I could post.  Also keeping track of important deadlines for students is another great way to use twitter.  Also there is potential to allow students to tweet either with each other or with the teacher if they have questions about certain topics such as vocabulary or a quick grammar explanation.

Getting connected and sharing ideas with other professionals is another great way to use twitter.  Getting started in twitter is a little tricky and it is important to connect with the right people and topics.  Using hash tags correctly is a great way to connect to the right people and relevant topics.  The online article The Teachers Guide to Twitter  is a great resource for teachers new to twitter who want to get a better understanding of how to properly use twitter.  It offers a lot of useful information with regards to creativity, networking, and resource sharing.  Resourcing is perhaps the greatest benefit to professionalism for teachers using twitter.  As a future teacher I anticipate using twitter to communicate with other professionals and share ESL teaching resources and ideas.