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Randy/all: Here comes our next "Wikipedia"-style debate! But I'm afraid I'm with Randy on this one. Twitter has some potential uses, but in education, the only use I can really see it for is for assignment reminders and other communications needs from teacher to parents, and possibly older students. And for that purpose, it joins an already crowded collection of possible tools, from simple web pages to email to podcasting to phone to cell texting to ____________ (name your pet tool here). The nice thing about many of the tools available to us is that they mostly play pretty well together (you can configure almost any of them to feed the others), but that begs the question: can't we all just decide on a tool for a decade, and let everybody get used to it? Randy is also right -- Twitter will be, historically, a flash in the pan. Knowing that, I just can't get invested. If I'm wrong, and it's still around in 10 years, I can just configure a Twitter account to pull from a tool I'm already using. Which is, of course, a distraction from the title of this post -- "Twitter in the Classroom." Twitter is by definition "micro-blogging," which means it's top-down communication. All of the literature on knowledge construction and learning tells us that learning has to be negotiated between learner and content, but even more importantly, between learner and others (teacher, other students, community members, etc.). Twitter is a particularly bad choice for that. And you're also embracing the idea that 140 characters (no sound, pictures) can meaningfully contribute anything to the learning process, reflecting variations in learning style and content. Yes, you can distribute links, but then what does Twitter add that a link in an email doesn't have? As far as Twitter's business model...20 years ago Channel One tried to give away TVs as a way of establishing an advertising toe-hold in schools. In the face of everyone's enthusiasm for commercially-driven tools on the open Internet, I'd say Channel One wasn't wrong, they were just too early. Education has all but abandoned that concern. Yesterday's Channel One is today's iTunes U. That is not to say that interactive online tools aren't useful. Not only are they useful, they're pivotal in moving education out of its still-prevalent 19th Century design model. They have so much promise, and that promise is showing results in some circles. But we need to avoid setting aside everything we already know just to embrace something new. One can easily construct many of the interactive experiences -- activities which truly support learning -- using locally-hosted capabilities or well-selected Internet tools, without chasing the entire corporate vision of how the open Internet can attract and feed potential consumers. But, of course, to do so requires memory, thought, effort, and time -- perhaps requiring a few more characters than can be tweeted. Jeff p.s. See my auto-sig for a particularly useful spin on this, courtesy of Douglas Adams. Jeffrey L. Jones, District Technology Resource Teacher Coordinator, Virtual Classrooms and Communications, Fayette County Schools Fayette's iSchool - http://ischool.fcps.net/ The Point, a Fayette County Blogspot - https://edtech.fcps.net/blog/ Fayette Co. Intranet on SharePoint: http://sharepoint.fcps.net 701 East Main Street Lexington, KY 40502 (859)381-4124 jeffrey.jones@fayette.kyschools.us "...Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so..." - Douglas Adams On Thu, 22 Apr 2010, Randy Edwards wrote: > > Here is an article I wrote a while back on using Twitter in the > > classroom. > > I have a different attitude about Twitter -- and also many of the > corporate Internet fads that are pushed as "new technology" and mindlessly > chased. I have to envy the teacher that has the time to waste teaching and > using Twitter. > > In a nutshell, I think Twitter has *no* use in schools. But let me > explain. > > The first thing I wonder when approaching any web site is: "What is their > business model?" In other words, I want to know who is paying for the site, > what their motives are, and how are they paying for the thing. > > The business model of many so-called Web2.0 sites is to con you into > giving up personal, private information, and then to collect that > information and sell the information you gave up. Since Twitter is making > at least some of your information public, are they then turning around and > having a subsidiary aggregate that info and sell it? We don't know, but > there's nothing stopping them. > > Are Twitter's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service suitable for school use > and suitable for use by minors that schools are entrusted to protect? > > Twitter's Privacy Policy states, "Our Services are not directed to people > under 13.... We do not *knowingly* [emphasis added] collect personal > information from children under 13." Given the nature of Twitter, doesn't > that make Twitter inappropriate for any student under 13? Or are we to > pretend that 10 or 12 year olds will never say anything personal while > using these types of sites? > > Twitter's Terms of Service bluntly state, "You may use the Services only > if you can form a binding contract with Twitter and are not a person barred > from receiving services under the laws of the United States or other > applicable jurisdiction." Are students under 18 capable of entering into a > binding contract with Twitter? If not, according to Twitter itself those > students should not be using the service. > > Alan's article itself makes, IMHO, huge leaps and stretches of logic to > paint Twitter as useful in schools. Suggestions such as: > > "# First, provide a quick review of what was and will be covered in class > that day or the next." > > Since Twitter is limited to 140 characters, it'd have to be a *very* > quick review or you'll have to do multiple tweets. > > "# Thirdly, privately seek questions from students who don’t have the moxy > to ask in class." > > Twitter and privacy don't mix. Why on earth would school teachers suggest > that studends have "private" conversations via a public web site? Shouldn't > we be teaching students to be skeptical about Internet privacy and to be > cautious online? > > Given the restrictions and basic nature of Twitter, along with the fact > that it is not private and not controlled by the school, I have to disagree > with Alan. I don't think Twitter is appropriate for school use. > > I view it as a toy, a frivolous waste of time for adults. Twitter is one > of the latest flash-in-the-pan Internet fads that we'll be happy has > evaporated in a year or two. Like many fads and gimmicks, it doesn't have a > place in school. > > . > Randy > > > -- > "Lottery: A tax on poor people who are bad at math." -- The cartoon B.C. --- Edtech Archives, posting guidelines and other information are at: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb Please include your name, email address, and school or professional affiliation in each posting. To unsubscribe send the following command to: LISTSERV@H-NET.MSU.EDU SIGNOFF EDTECH
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