Educational uses of Twitter

Twitter can be used in the classroom in many different ways. Twitter is a great way to start a discussion and get lots of feedback from students who do not feel the need to wait their turn to talk. I feel Twitter can spread ideas quickly and comfortably because of this. Also Twitter is a great tool to use because it could elicit responses from shy students who would not ordinarily raise their hand and speak up. Most students are already on Twitter for personal reasons and I think it is a great idea to incorporate their education into their everyday lives.

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OxIz_3o3O0&NR=1

Students are already using twitter for social interactions it only natural to use Twitter in an educational setting as well. Using social media will catch students’ attention and make them want to participate even more. Social media also prepares them for communication in the future with all of the technology that is currently emerging.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U8

Dr Rankin is a History professor at the University of Texas in Dallas. Dr Rankin discusses the uses of Twitter in her classroom. One very important benefit of Twitter discussed on this video was that ordinarily shy students feel more comfortable giving input online on a site like Twitter in a class discussion that raising their hand in a classroom.

 

http://web20teach.blogspot.com/2007/08/twitter-tweets-for-higher-education.html

This site discusses the potential for teachers to use Twitter in an educational setting for homework and reminders for the students. Also it is discussed that students can get updated on Twitter, as well as updated their own Twitter status by cell phone.

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7027.pdf

This site explains what Twitter is, who is using it, how it works, where is it going, the down sides of it, and educational uses of it. In the educational section there is discussion of “micro-podcasts” which are short audio tweets. Twitter has so many uses. This site discusses how twitter is a blog site as well as a social networking site and how widely it is used. Individuals and companies use Twitter as a platform to spread ideas and thoughts. This site discusses Twitter as useful for Metacognition due to the sites 140 character limit. This site also discussed Twitter’s usefulness for event or conference attendees to post a short synopsis of learned ideas.

 

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/06/08/50-ways-to-use-twitter-in-the-college-classroom/

 Professors and students can contact one another to share ideas without having to exchange phone numbers. Students can get to know one another by read each other’s tweets. Tweetworks can be set up which allows group members to work together on a project. Teachers can sent out tweets as reminders for tests, assignments deadlines, etc. Students can brainstorm on Twitter by reading other tweets on a certain subject. Apps like PollDaddy can be used to ask students opinions and get feedback for preojects or topics. Students can share websites as tweets. Twitter in the classroom is a daily learning opportunity as twitter is updated so frequently. Twitter is a tool for ambient awareness.

 

http://www.twitip.com/twitter-is-a-tool-for-ambient-awareness/

 Twitter can be used in an educational setting to increase awareness of surroundings. You may hear little bits and pieces of some ones thought on a matter that in time create something meaningful to you.

 

http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2009/05/best-practices-in-twitter-enhanced-high.html

 This site is a blog of a teacher whose school recently lifted a school-wide ban on Twitter. She discusses the uses of Twitter in her classroom not that she is allowed. This teacher saw Twitter as a great place to make mistakes and get immediate feedback. Also she was Twitter as a place to be a part of a discussion without having to wait your turn. Also this teacher said Twitter is a great place to learn to question authority. This site also goes on with a list of several activities that could be used a teacher with Twitter in the classroom.

Educational Uses of Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking can be used in an educational setting in many different ways. Students can create groups and share research findings. Students can also create personal accounts and save research. Others can follow this research too. There is also the capability on many social bookmarking sites to research who is researching what you research! These sites can be used in so many different ways to aid an established research community and to create community among learners. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xYm75gtq1k

A disadvantage for social bookmarking is that there are no defined standards for tags.  For instance in searching the tag “social bookmarking”, one individual might call something social bookmarking that another individual might not. This lack of standardization of the tag words might cause one researcher to have to weed through irrelevant material to find what they are looking for. 

Magnolia, diigo, delicious and Furl are identified on this sate as the most used sites for social bookmarking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGXElviSRXM

This video overviewed features of Delicious. One thing I learned from this site is that when something is tagged, it must be tagged with one word. For instance, 5thgrade not 5^th Grade. Also when a site is tagged you can look at the other people who have tagged the site as well and further investigate what else those people tagged. Also you can subscribe to any persons’ tags and can be updated when they update and add more sites to this tag as well.

http://frequanq.blogspot.com/2005/02/social-bookmarking-in-education.html

This site overviews the impact of social bookmarking. The real heart of these services is identified as tagging. Tagging is creating a keyword of keywords to describe a collection of archived web pages. FURL and del.icio.us are the two most popular social bookmarking services. FURL saves a private copy of the page so even if the page changes or is deleted, the user has a copy. Del.icio.us has a feature that suggests tags. There are also other types of social bookmarking sites. Flickr is a photo service with annotation features. Then there are academic sites like CiteULike and Connotea.  All of these social bookmarking sites can be used by groups of people that might be working on a research project as a team. Or even an individual can save these links for their own personal research which can be view and saved by others which can help; them with their research too.

http://www.citeulike.org/

An account can be created on this site, which can help the user manage and discover scholarly references. Not too much information was available on this site without signing up for an account.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RvAkTuL02A

This video overviews that features and usages of the website Diigo. Diigo allows users to bookmark sites to a created account. This account can be opened and viewed on any computer, not just the one the bookmark was saved to. Text can be highlighted and “sticky notes” can be added to the saved sites also. Diigo is a social bookmarking site that can also be used for chat, which would create a problem and would likely not be used in K-12 classrooms. 

Educational Uses of Blogging

Blogs can be used in an educational setting in many different ways. An educator can use a blog site to spread ideas or start discussions among students. Blogs can also be used to remind students of assignments, homework, trips or anything else that could be forgotten by students.  A blog can be used as a reference for these reminders. Blogs can also be used to educate the general public of life experiences such as a blog of a terminally ill patient. Blogs can be viewed by future generations to get go know ancestors.  Audio can be attached to blogs as well.

https://doc.novay.nl/dsweb/Get/Version-14367/LearningWebs.pdf

Different types of blogs are discussed here on this site as having different goals, uses and styles but have one commonality and that is format.

There are two discussed characteristics of web logs: writing as a collection of small entries and an informal personal voice.

One positive thing discussed about web blogs, is that an entry is usually a stand-alone entry that does not require reading the entire page to understand. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mena_trott_tours_her_blog_world.html

Mena Trott discusses the use of blogs to educate the masses and get things done.  But her personal interest in blogging is genealogical and capturing her life for future family to enjoy. Bloggers can share a struggle, like fighting terminal illness publically to educate others about the experience. 

http://web20teach.blogspot.com/2007/08/twitter-tweets-for-higher-education.html

This site discusses the potential for teachers to use Twitter in an educational setting for homework and reminders for the students. Also it is discussed that students can get updated on Twitter, as well as updated their own Twitter status by cell phone.

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7027.pdf

This site explains what Twitter is, who is using it, how it works, where is it going, the down sides of it, and educational uses of it. In the educational section there is discussion of “micro-podcasts” which are short audio tweets. Twitter has so many uses. This site discusses how twitter is a blog site as well as a social networking site and how widely it is used. Individuals and companies use Twitter as a platform to spread ideas and thoughts. This site discusses Twitter as useful for Metacognition due to the sites 140 character limit. This site also discussed Twitter’s usefulness for event or conference attendees to post a short synopsis of learned ideas.

http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=etr&catcode=ETRE_0001&rid=14363

This site discusses the differences between micro blogging and traditional blogging. Micro blogging is explained as a blog with a short amount of character that are on point. On the other hand, traditional blogging can cover a lot more information and thoughts.  There are other uses of blogging for education discussed here on this site.  This site outlines Yammer, ShoutEm and Edmondo which are blog style sties used for educational purposes. Yammer, is a site which requires a business email to sign up for an account. ShoutEm allows users to create communities. Lastly the site Edmondo is discussed which is particularly useful in an educational setting. Edmondo focuses on educational groups where a teacher can set up groups within the site.

http://www.edmodo.com/blog/2009/03/24/introducing-edmodo-20/

This site described Edmodo as a blog site used for educators. This blog site allows the users to tag posts, there is also grades tab, a class calendar, the site holds the ability to add RSS feeds, inline viewing of YouTube and other video share sites. There are also many other features of Edmodo outlined on the site.

http://web20teach.blogspot.com/2007/08/twitter-tweets-for-higher-education.html

This site discusses the potential for teachers to use Twitter in an educational setting for homework and reminders for the students. Also it is discussed that students can get updated on Twitter, as well as updated their own Twitter status by cell phone.

http://onlinecollegedegree.org/2009/03/19/100-tips-apps-and-resources-for-teachers-on-twitter/

This site will send a researcher to 100 different links with Twitter uses. There is an education section, which has 12 links available to click on that are suggested uses of Twitter in education. These 12 links include ideas, tools and guides for using Twitter in an educational setting.

 

I have set up my blog for EDE class!