https://twitter.com/mskfarr
The set up was very user friendly and I didn't run into any troubles when trying to set up an account. When looking to find profiles to follow, I simply started by typing things in I know I would be interested in following. For example, I searched UEN and the Utah State Office of Education. Once I started following these sites, Twitter began making suggestions for other organizations I might be interested in following. From there I was able to expand my list of people I'm following rather quickly. I have not yet tweeted anything, but I have found some very interesting reads and information from profiles I'm following.
I think Twitter would be a great resource in a classroom. When I was in high school and right when I started college Twitter was a pretty new thing. I had a few teachers try to use it, but they didn't get the participation as it wasn't very popular. Now Twitter is pretty much a household term, especially for students who are part of the younger generation. Having a classroom Twitter would be a great opportunity to send reminders to students about upcoming homework assignments or tests. Also a Twitter account could be useful in providing students with additional resources or interesting articles related to the things we are talking about in class.
For my students, I might suggest for them to make a Twitter account and follow profiles of college or career fields they are interested in pursuing. Having access to these type of resources might help them determine what they would like to do post-high school. In order to do this, I would print out a step-by-step instruction sheet and give suggestions to things they might follow. This is definitely not something I would force students to do or put a grade on. I know some students might not have access so smart devices, and their parents might not allow them to have a Twitter account. I could even write a short note home to parents discussing educational benefits Twitter could have as a resource in our classroom as well as for their student's interests.
For the reading, I chose to read the journal article discussing NASA's Twitter account. I thought this was such an interesting read, which is one reason I chose to do a Twitter account as my digital text. The article breaks down techniques that NASA uses to apply scientific literacy to a wide audience with diverse backgrounds and knowledge. After reading this article, I really can see how Twitter can be a beneficial resource for my classroom. Social media is second nature for students, and utilizing this fact in the classroom will be so much more beneficial than trying to completely restrict it. I like how Twitter provides students with opportunities to participate in real-life events, like NASA does. I also liked the suggestion made by the article of using Twitter to join in dialogues of current events and use it to find answers to their questions.
Hi Kelli! Glad you were able to experiment with Twitter! Even though it's typically viewed as a way for people to share their opinions on current event, it definitely has an educational component. I once had a science teacher who asked his students to write an assignment in a series of Tweets, which I thought was fun. I agree with you that you have to be sensitive to people who don't have mobile devices. But maybe if you have five extra minutes at the end of class, you could do something like share a cool image you found on NASA's Twitter feed. So it wouldn't have to be anything really in-depth necessarily.
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