The Great Twitter Debate
Twitter, a social networking site to communicate with friends and family, was originally a teenage phenomenon, but now seems to have spread to adults as well. Teachers are intrigued with the idea of using Twitter to communicate with their students—for educational purposes only, of course.
Ellen Dahlke, a UHS teacher, would be interested in creating a Twitter account to post daily homework assignments for her students. Dahlke already has an account, which she says she created for a writing class at the U of I. When asked if she thought it would be “appropriate” for her to follow her students on Twitter, she responded, “I think it would be perfectly appropriate, because it’s not like I would be asking them, ‘Hey, what are you doing next Friday?” I would just post up the homework, which would be beneficial for them.”
The negative aspects of a teacher using Twitter is that not every student in the class would have an account, or even a computer, so reading the assignments for those students would not be an option for them. Dahlke says that in general, she thinks technology is a great way for teenagers to receive information such as homework and news, because many American teens have access to the Internet, and can use it to learn. Based on her comments, it appears that teachers posting assignments on Twitter would be a great way for students to see their homework if they forgot to write it down in class.
Students also agree that Twitter could be a great way to improve education. Seniors Jaydon Demanes and Trevor Richmond, who both have Twitter accounts, say that they would benefit from teachers following them on Twitter to post assignments. Jaydon says, “I’m always on Twitter, so a teacher putting up assignments on there would help to remind me to do my work.”
They both agree that it wouldn’t make sense for only one teacher to put homework updates on Twitter, so all teachers would have to be willing to create a special account just for their classes and put up the work. In addition to the fact that all professors would need to comply, Trevor says that there could be some controversial issues with a parent of a younger student (like a freshman) not wanting their children to communicate with their adult teachers online. He says, “If this were to really happen, teachers could never post a smiley face or personal message on there, because any student—especially a younger one—could take that out of context and make a big deal out of it.”
Teachers and students alike do agree on one thing: Twitter, if used correctly, could be a great way to keep up with their assignments and stay more informed about their homework. Professors should look into the idea of using technology as a resource for learning.
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