As I mentioned in my last post, I found Twitter immensely confusing at first. It seemed chaotic and the type of thing you do for fun. However, I knew there must be SOMETHING else in there, and sure enough, there was. The thing is that Twitter is pretty free form, just in a way different from a blog, where you write essays and papers. Twitter is about briefly communicated ideas or just small ideas, one at a time. This may make it harder for those used to longer form platforms, however, the quickness of Twitter can appeal to the younger generation brought up on quick stuff - video games, music videos, commercials and all that garish alacrity.
This article, Teaching with Twitter, provided exactly what I was looking for: a structured approach to the platform from someone who has it figured out already. Point 2 on the list of 25 grabbed my attention as something very creative in the academic context:
"2. ‘Summing Up’ Ask students to read an article or chapter and then post their brief summary or précis of the key point(s). A limit of 140 characters demands a lot of academic discipline."
Summaries are a good way to teach students concision in language and while this may sound strict ("academic discipline") we find that colloquial everyday language is often quite concise, vast meaning may be contained in one short contextualized expression. Publicly displayed information is often concise. Hardly anyone says, "iced coffee with milk, cinnamon, chocolate and some foam on top," however a lot of people do say "iced mochaccino" which technically means the same thing. Learning the words from the first set may be useful, but learning their fusion into one (common) term is at least just as useful for a speaker of English living in a city where coffee shops are popular.
Another interesting Twitter use (point 5) suggested in the article is the idea of role playing by "Tweeting" as a famous person (e.g. Shakespeare) - this can help students reflect on what they read in a unique way and is not particular to just learning English. I remember taking a few "major figure" courses as part of my undergraduate studies and this would have been an interesting spin on the routine, with perhaps one cumbersome mandatory paper being stricken from the curriculum to make room!
Another article, 25 Ways to Teach with Twitter, offers some classroom organizing ideas, instead of lesson activity ideas. This is just as relevant to teaching, so it's well worth considering. For one, Twitter's ready accessibility and quick post format effectively make it an online board for announcements. Posting assigned homework on a class Twitter feed instead of the classroom room whiteboard (or chalk board if you're really old!) is a logical step in the face of new technology. Students can check their homework right before leaving school so they know what books to take home and that's that. Without having to explain homework in class, it can give an extra 5 minutes of class work and/or breathing time during the lesson. An announcement board doesn't just need homework assignments, but can also have in-class birthday notices or holiday announcements or extracurricular reading or even extra credit work posted that the students can check whenever they check class Twitter feed in their daily routine.
All in all, it takes some time to get used to, but in the end, this platform can really add some pizzazz to a classroom. Smartphones are here to stay, so teachers must adapt and students too, as smart phones are not just for games, these will be tools with which they will work and play with their entire lives it seems. So, learning them early is better than late. Twitter can be a start to that.
This article, Teaching with Twitter, provided exactly what I was looking for: a structured approach to the platform from someone who has it figured out already. Point 2 on the list of 25 grabbed my attention as something very creative in the academic context:
"2. ‘Summing Up’ Ask students to read an article or chapter and then post their brief summary or précis of the key point(s). A limit of 140 characters demands a lot of academic discipline."
Summaries are a good way to teach students concision in language and while this may sound strict ("academic discipline") we find that colloquial everyday language is often quite concise, vast meaning may be contained in one short contextualized expression. Publicly displayed information is often concise. Hardly anyone says, "iced coffee with milk, cinnamon, chocolate and some foam on top," however a lot of people do say "iced mochaccino" which technically means the same thing. Learning the words from the first set may be useful, but learning their fusion into one (common) term is at least just as useful for a speaker of English living in a city where coffee shops are popular.
Another interesting Twitter use (point 5) suggested in the article is the idea of role playing by "Tweeting" as a famous person (e.g. Shakespeare) - this can help students reflect on what they read in a unique way and is not particular to just learning English. I remember taking a few "major figure" courses as part of my undergraduate studies and this would have been an interesting spin on the routine, with perhaps one cumbersome mandatory paper being stricken from the curriculum to make room!
Another article, 25 Ways to Teach with Twitter, offers some classroom organizing ideas, instead of lesson activity ideas. This is just as relevant to teaching, so it's well worth considering. For one, Twitter's ready accessibility and quick post format effectively make it an online board for announcements. Posting assigned homework on a class Twitter feed instead of the classroom room whiteboard (or chalk board if you're really old!) is a logical step in the face of new technology. Students can check their homework right before leaving school so they know what books to take home and that's that. Without having to explain homework in class, it can give an extra 5 minutes of class work and/or breathing time during the lesson. An announcement board doesn't just need homework assignments, but can also have in-class birthday notices or holiday announcements or extracurricular reading or even extra credit work posted that the students can check whenever they check class Twitter feed in their daily routine.
Teachers who use smartphones in the classroom often develop a list of acceptable and unacceptable use of the phones. Students who don't follow the guidelines lose the privilege.
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