Oh I have been quiet haven't it! I was sure I was going to have a summer off, not thinking about school, and that pretty much happened, which, as they say, was nice. There were also a thousand other things I wanted to do over the summer, but the best laid plans, as they also say... well, you know the rest. A wash-out of a summer, apart from those three days where I did manage to live the dream and read in the garden, but a break from the classroom whichever way you look at it.
But then there's the Twitter thing. I was going to be my usual aloof self but Twitter is a whole new way to connect with people on the internet. It's far more immediate than blogging like this, but as such, you probably end up revealing more about yourself. Which is a phenomenon which had me thinking about its uses in the classroom: how much more appealing to think you only have to type 140 characters instead of an essay! How great to have immediate feedback from others all round the world, and be able to join others in commenting on the news and random selection of "trending topics". What a relief to see your "tweets" slip off the bottom of the page after a few minutes, so you go more with ideas than first time perfection.
Yep, I can see Twitter as a great educational accessory. I just wish the schools I know and indeed work in were far more geared up technologically to accommodate classes of students working with blogging tools like Twitter. I know it goes on in a number of classrooms across the world, because every now and again a teacher will ask fellow tweeters to say hi to their class or answer a question like how old you have to be to drive where you live. I'd love to work in a place where current technologies are used to inspire students but for the moment I shall have to wait until the infrastructure becomes available... or I find it somewhere!
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2 comments:
Yes, I think we get further and further behind where the students are at technologically. On the other hand, what you say about Twitter making you say more than you may have intended is what's put me off Tweeting so far. I have enough trouble keeping myself in check on my blog. One day, though, one day, I might try it ...
I haven't heard of any students on Twitter. It's all about Facebook, or for the slightly old-fashioned, bebo. They like the videos and stuff you can embed in Facebook I think, whereas Twitter is just text with links to pictures, music and videos if you click away.
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