Thing 15.5: Twitter

     I have always made fun of Twitter because I felt like people use it to comment on their every thought throughout the day. I always found it to be a waste of time. After signing up for an account for our class, I actually can seen how Twitter can be beneficial. Another positive about Twitter is that it is super simple to use. I was able to set up my account and add several people I wanted to follow in a matter of 15 to 20 minutes! The past few days I have been following mostly education related tweets.
     After looking at 50 Ways to Use Twitter for Education I liked the idea discussed about using Twitter as an Opinion Poll. I think this would be a fun idea to use in the classroom. The teacher can post a poll topic and allow the students to twitter their opinion about the topic. This is helping students to formulate ideas and to support their opinion.
     Using Twitter in and Out of the Classroom also had a couple of great ideas of how to incorporate Twitter in the classroom. I liked the idea of allowing students to get current information by asking other people on Twitter questions related to educational content or the news. This is really reinforcing the idea of social media and learning from those around us through the use of technology.
I am following so many neat people on Twitter:
     MsSavvyScience: Her blog has so many great insightful comments about each of the 16 Things, therefore I knew I wanted to follow her on Twitter. I like that she updates her students' parents about important school information.
    octobersmith: I had her as a professor last fall and she loved integrating technology in the classroom. Her Twitter account offers links to great education ideas she comes across and shares with other people on Twitter.
    Education Week: I find myself constantly going back to read the new Tweets Education Week posts on their Twitter feed. They post topics about education in regards to new laws and news up-dates about education.
     I know this is redundant, but I agree with others who have blogged about using Twitter to update students and parents about classroom news. It could also be used for students to communicate ideas with one another and ask for help. The link we visited talked about having students find an article and post their thoughts or opinions about it through Twitter. There are so many neat ideas that people have thought of for using Twitter. I cannot wait to use some of them in the classroom and then have the opportunity to create some of my own ideas for how to incorporate Twitter.
Find me @: KeslieLangerud