Twitter in the Classroom

I know. I know. You are thinking to yourself "There is no way I would use Twitter in the classroom! What a distraction!"


And I used to think that. I couldn't imagine what I would use Twitter for on a personal level, let alone in the classroom or in a professional context.


But, alas, I have been converted.


I started using Twitter about a year ago. I 'tweeted' about cakes. I followed other people who liked cakes. That was me dipping my toe into the cold lake of the Twitter-sphere.


No, I'm not the kind of person to jump blindly into a freezing cold lake in May hoping that it won't stop my breath. I ease in.....


...and that's just what I did with Twitter.


Tweeting about cakes was great. Then I openend a second 'profesional' account (@caseydaleman) and started following other educators who were interested in digital technology in education. I learned more from these educators than any 'lunch n' learn' I've ever been to. And most tweets had links to great articles, videos and sites to support my integration of technology into my classroom.


....and then I jumped. I jumped head first into the inky-blackness of the cold Lake Twitter. And it was so amazing!!


I first used Twitter with my grade 10 science class last semester. The reception was luke-warm. Some students loved it. Some didn't. I emailed all the parents and let them know that we were using Twitter to investigate leading medical research in Canada and explained that they were more than welcome to 'follow' along.


Semester 2. Take 2.

Right now, I am using it with my Grade 12 Biology class. Each student created a Twitter account with a "dr" name and created their own profile role-playing as a junior geneticist at Trudeau Hospital. For the entire unit, I have asked them to post a 'tweet' a day, on a variety of thought provoking, discussion-inspiring topics in molecular genetics.


And they follow me (@drcaseydaleman), and I follow them, and they follow each other. They tweet in the evening. They tweet in the morning.


They tweet during class.


I know. I know. How can they be paying attention when they are tweeting during class.


They aren't always. And that's okay.


Because this is what one of my students tweeted to us during class.

This is the link that he sent: Subway Science

A whistle-stop journey through modern science.

I would never have found this in a million hours lost in the Internet. And it is completely related to what we were doing in class. His tweet was on topic, interactive and a great resource that was just shared with all 54 of my students. Instantly.


Amazing.


So check out what my students are tweeting about today. Look on the left side of the screen. There is our Twitter feed. In real time.