Twitter Handler

Artifact 2: Twitter Handler

https://twitter.com/Seonsaengnim_84

A digital artifact that I was introduced to during this course was Twitter. While I was not unaware of Twitter’s existence, I certainly had never created one, much less used one for educational purposes. I am still undecided how I feel about Twitter. It could be because I have had minimal use with the website and do not understand the complexity and potential uses.

When using Twitter, I found it to be almost frustrating. I did not appreciate the limited amount of text you could use in a “Tweet”. I found it to be restrictive in what you could share with the public and your followers. I do not see how microblogging could provide students a chance to have deep and meaningful conversation about a topic if their response or posts are limited.  In my opinion, it certainly is not a place for students to get into complex and deep dialogue about.  I think that Twitter would be used as a place to post links to articles, photos that apply to curriculum, and quick messages, however, it is not something I would use to use as a conversational piece.

The challenges I see, would be the with students being connected to Twitter is that it would be hard to control what goes through students’ feeds. You cannot predict or know what someone will Tweet or Retweet. Also, what could prove to be frustrating is that an entire conversation with strangers could wind up on your profile, or students’ profiles. According to Livewire, “It is impossible for one to review an entire dialogue exchange as this social medium doesn’t offer you the ability to thread your conversations.” (Gil 2017).

Conversely, while I found frustrations with the newness of my experience to Twitter, I could also imagine the benefits it could offer. For example, you are able to easily connect to educators all over the world. Which assists us in continuing to evolve and learn from other extremely thoughtful and intelligent people. It is an easy way to get ideas for the classroom. Twitter provides teachers to connect with authors for free and other mentors/experts that students may not have otherwise had an opportunity to connect to. For example, you could connect to R.L. Stine when writing a scary story for Halloween, and R.L. Stine has the potential to Tweet back advice for writing. Which makes the entire experience of writing a scary story that much more authentic. Twitter could also serve as a platform for PLC/PLNs with others who are excited about teaching and student learning. And lastly, I believe that Twitter could help educators stay current with what is going on in other places nationally and globally.

Even though I felt frustrations with Twitter because of how unfamiliar I am with the social medium, I feel that there are far more benefits than there are disadvantages. I believe that if we connect to our students using Twitter we need to guarantee that our students understand the responsibility and safety of internet use. Additionally, make sure students are using it academically and do not get distracted with Tweeting and retweeting. Twitter is a tool that I would need to explore more with, and wait until I am comfortable navigating throughout the site before launching it with students.

My Twitter Handler

Gil, P. (2017, March 10). “What Exactly Is “Twitter”? What Is Tweeting?”. Retrieved from http://www.lifewire.com

551 Words