60 Not-So Inspiring Examples of Twitter...

source

I've never been a big fan of Twitter, and find the instant gratification of the tweets to be used mostly for information I'd have been happier not knowing.  I've read a few blogs, some from classmates, that have begun to change my mind, but then I find things that remind me why I really don't care for it overall.

One blog we were introduced in class listed 60 Inspiring Examples of Twitter in the Classroom, but there were many I felt took the personal interaction, or responsibility out and replaced it with 140 characters.

I don't think it's asking too much for students to arrive on time, or for a teacher to have set office hours that can be flexible as needed.  Even for the things I could use Twitter for, I don't see how a forum discussion is any harder.  Students and teachers can still leave comments for each other, and other people can read them.  I've yet to see a school that doesn't have email for the faculty, so sending an email versus sending tweet means it's one more thing to check every day.

I like the idea of keeping parents updated, or making notifications easy to see since people who don't have a Twitter account can still follow a twitter feed and receive texts on their phone.  But I don't see how making a classroom even more instantaneous is helping the students learn respect for someone else's ideas, or fostering patience in waiting their turn.  I see the instant gratification making people more antsy to be heard, right now, and it frustrates me.

I definitely don't like the idea of Twitter to build reading and writing skills.  I like the idea of technology in building the skills, but Twitter and texting are not the way to go.  I think students flipping back to a Twitter account or feed while in class is taking time away from them learning directly from each other, or from the teacher.  Even if trying an exercise in learning to be concise, there is a word count feature on almost every word processor application, or even barring that - you hand write a sentence or two and manually count the words.

Don't get me wrong, the applications for Twitter in a school system are growing and very useful in staying in touch with the community when instant conversation is necessary - I just don't think asking the students to interact with it in the classroom is the best option, for me.

In fair Verona, where we Animoto

I wish I had found more images for public use, but I'm surprised with how well it turned out compared to what it looked like while creating it - not too painful, even for the first time!  I decided to use Romeo & Juliet as a topic because I knew it would be a likely subject for me in a public high school, and if not this play specifically, surely one of the Bard's other tragedies would be.  I owned the song, and forwarded the music to a more economic starting point, shaving off almost a minute of instrumental and initial verses.  There were other images I had in mind, but I really wanted to stay with what was open to use to have a better feeling of what my students would face as a challenge to being honest with their own work.

This Animoto would be for use in a high school English class as an introduction to Romeo & Juliet, before discussing vocab, setting or expectations.  It fulfills the NETS-T 1, 2, & 3 standards for Facilitating & Inspiring, Designing & Developing, and Modeling technology that would be further used in the classroom.  It could be the first time Animoto is used, as a way of also introducing one method a student could utilize it for in a later project.



Let me know what you think!

Starting small

The biggest idea I walked away with after reading the Online Collaborative Inquiry was that instead of using paper journals, or handing in physical journals, to have students blog responses.  It may not seem like a big idea to someone else, but to me (an English major, with the intent to teach high school English), being able to update the way something so integral to how I was taught, and how I thought I'd teach is huge!

With an online blog (is that redundant?), I wouldn't have to worry about papers getting lost or handing them back in.  Blogs could be made private and shared just between a student and myself, or as part of a collaboration, and an intro to a wiki project (gee, sort of how I'm being introduced to this...)

I also enjoyed the detailed information on the Ultimate Guide, though I disagree with the blanket statement about not grading a blog.  I think it can be used in some formal assessments, partly as participation, partly in use of the tools available (spell checker, for one), and partly in answering a question posed.  That may be because I look at it from an English educator viewpoint, though I do agree that while students need to have a reason to write everyday, not every piece of writing needs to be graded.

Perhaps weekly assignments, with Essential Question explored throughout the week, would be graded, but critical reflections would just be commented on?

Teachnology

I'm enjoying the Richardson book - it's easier to follow, and makes good points.  The Sample Blogging Letter was a great example of introducing the blogging assignment to parents.  Also, the reminder that the internet is only 15 years old - I can remember having a PC always (Dad's been working on them since the 70s when he was in the military), but I also remember the D/OS prompts and Windows 1.X and floppy disks...which weren't very floppy.  I think an interesting assignment for students would be to spend one day logging what they did INSTEAD of using the internet/cell phone.  And as a follow up, a day logging EVERY time they did use current technology (as in, developed within the last 30+ years or something like that) and comparing the two days.

What other ways can students be introduced to the concept of something they take for granted?

In my own words...

We throw the term around, "computer literate," but there is very little discussion on what that literacy entails, or what other new literacy are developing because of new and increasing access to *technology.  Without thinking about how we do it, we find ourselves identifying questions we want answer to, navigating until we find them, analyzing the results, and sharing those results - and we do this every day, on our own, often turning off tutorial guides as they seem intrusive instead of instructional.

NETS for Teachers & NETS for Students offer standards we should be (and are being) measured against, as teachers and as students in our pursuit to be more knowledgeable in our surroundings.  at this point, I don't know what I don't know to ask a thought provoking question.  I'm sure those 2 sites will have more meaning for me in the weeks and months to come, but as of right now, they are a little overwhelming - and I think that's the biggest hurdle anyone has in dealing with these new literacies; is there a way to jump in that isn't a toe-step or both feet?

*If you mistype, and add a carefully misplaced "a" to technology, you get "teachnology."  I think that is the best typo I have ever had.  I plan to make this a word.  Teachnology - the technology used for educational pursuits, and purposes.  A quick Google proves it isn't yet a word.  I call Dibs, and Shotgun.  Also, I licked it.  Get your own word.  I'm currently waiting for Urban Dictionary to review my submission. /cheeky

**Urban Dictionary won't accept it.  I will try another method.  Teachnology will flourish!