“Tweaching” with Twitter

Examples of "Tweatching" from a recent article in Digital Pedagog:

"Back Channeling to Equalize the Discussion Platform
Monica Rankin, History Professor at the University of Texas-Dallas conducted The Twitter Experiment in her on ground history course during class time. She projected a class Twitter account on a screen and asked students to tweet about the topics being discussed during the class time. The result was that Twitter equalized the discussion platform, allowing for more students to contribute in written form.

Improving Student to Instructor Communication
David Parry, Professor of Emerging Media and Communication at the University of Texas-Dallas, utilizes Twitter outside the classroom with his graduate students. He finds that communication has improved with his class and he has a better sense of student progress as a result of following his students’ tweets. Listen to David Parry’s interview.

Collaborative Problem-Solving
Dan Cohen, Associate Professor in the Department of History and Art History at George Mason University, conducted a crowdsourcing experiment that simulated the traditional “author’s query” where “a scholar ask readers of a journal for assistance with a research project (Cohen, 2009).” His employment of Twitter illustrates how such tools can be utilized to problem solve collaboratively.

Building Community
Finally, Enza Antenos-Conforti , Associate Professor of Italian at Monclair State University, conducted a twenty-two participant Twitter study with her Intermediate Italian I class. Data from her study revealed that using Twitter was “relevant to real-life language use and that it fostered a strong sense of community in which they (the students) were willing to participate” (Antenos-Conforti, 2009). To learn more about Enza’s Twitter research, visit her blog, An Academic at Work.

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Children who use technology are 'better writers'

A recent article from the BBC reports:

"Children who blog, text or use social networking websites are more confident about their writing skills, according to the National Literacy Trust.

A survey of 3,001 children aged nine to 16 found that 24% had their own blog and 82% sent text messages at least once a month.

In addition 73% used instant messaging services to chat online with friends.

However, 77% still put real pen to paper to write notes in class or do their school homework.

Of the children who neither blogged nor used social network sites, 47% rated their writing as "good" or "very good", while 61% of the bloggers and 56% of the social networkers said the same."

Teacher Magazine: Cellphones Evolve Into Instructional Tool

Check out the recent article from Teacher Magazine on using cell phones in the classroom! Here is a excerpt:

"Ariana Leonard's high school students shuffled in their seats, eagerly awaiting a cue from their Spanish teacher that the assignment would begin.

"Take out your cell phones," she said in Spanish.

The teens pulled out an array of colorful flip phones, iPhones and SideKicks. They divided into groups and Leonard began sending them text messages in Spanish: Find something green. Go to the cafeteria. Take a picture with the school secretary.

Leonard's class at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, a middle-class Florida suburb about 30 miles north of Tampa, is one of a growing number around the country that are abandoning traditional policies of cell phone prohibition and incorporating them into class lessons.

Spanish vocabulary becomes a digital scavenger hunt. Notes are copied with a cell phone camera. Text messages serve as homework reminders."

Mobile Technology in the Classroom: Report

Using mobile technology is the classroom (or M-learning) is a quickly growing field. Students today are spending more time in front of screens than they are in the classroom. A 2009 Newsweek study showed that 85% of Americans have cell phones, and 32% of cell phone users go onto the Internet. Among African-Americans, who historically have had more limited access to the Internet, the New York Times blog reports 48% use their cell phones to access the Internet. Worldwide, the UN reports six in ten people own a cell phone. Cell phones have democratized technology, making the internet accessible to people who have never had computers.

Check out this recent report from the The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop called "Pockets of Potential." The report makes the case for leveaging mobile technology in the classroom, and calls for more creative thinking and a public investment in developing truly accessible m-learning environments.

Social Media in the Classroom

This was presented as part of a Sunset Park Alliance training on December 1st. It is intended as a primer for adult literacy instructors who are thinking about using social networking technologies in their classroom. The presentation reviews statistics on how students are currently using technology in New York City and looks at applications for Ning, Facebook, and blogs in the classroom.

Social Media In the Classroom

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Let me know what you think!

Social Media Unplugged!

This was presented as a workshop at the Literacy Assistance Center. It looked at how adult literacy programs can use social media to improve recruitment and retention, engage students in the classroom, and build student's social capital.

Social Media Unplugged

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What are your thoughts on how to use social networking technologies to expand student's social capital?

Welcome to Social Media in the Classroom!

This blog was developed in a training provided by the Sunset Park Alliance.

Question:
What is one thing you will take away from this training?