View the EDTECH Discussion Logs by month
View the Prior Message in EDTECH's April 2010 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] View the Next Message in EDTECH's April 2010 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] Visit the EDTECH home page.
> 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
|