To Tweet or not to Tweet, That is the Question
This article talks about whether teachers should utilize social media in the classroom, more specifically; Facebook and Twitter. It covers the reasons why teachers and administrators are so hesitant to utilize these forms of technology in the classroom. It states that there have been many "unsavoury" circumstances that have led us to be weary of using them in our classrooms, and some helpful hints to guide us if we do dare to employ this type of technology in our classrooms. The tips are as follows:
- 1. Be a good digital citizen, but even more so, be a good citizen.
Be nice. Don’t tease or bully people. If someone does this to you, block them. Don’t give out personal information. This is the number one rule for you to teach your students about online behaviour.
2. Don’t engage with trolls.
There are some people on the internet who only seek to make others feel bad. Don’t try to reason with them. Block them and move on. Teach your students to do this.
3. Use hashtags and mentions.
It’s important for other people to be able to find you - and reply to you. So use hashtags and mentions to speak to people.
4. Follow the teacher.
Get your students to follow you - and then follow them back. This means that you can see what they are doing - and you can model good behaviour.
5. Keep public and private separate.
I would agree that extreme caution should be used when utilizing this type of technology in the classroom and that Rule #5 is crucial!!! I loved the great example of the #DoNow Project that was covered and talked about how students talked about real world events in their community and could respond to one another.
