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.

Zoho Writer

One of the main complaints I get about Google Docs is that it doesn't have the same functionality as Word 2003/2007/2010. 

I agree.

I've also been told that Google Docs is as slow as molasses if you are trying to collaborate on a document in the middle of the school day.

I agree.

So on this fine, sunny Sunday morning, I have found Zoho Writer--another online collaborative tool that is very similar to Google Docs--except is has a greater level of functionality--and students can still 'share' the document with you and their partners.

The next time you assign a collaborative writing piece, ask half of your class to use Google Docs and the other half to use Zoho Writer.

Then.....discuss!

No Man is an Island

In this day and age, it is virtually impossible to avoid collaboration and group/team work. It's everywhere. And there is a reason for this. Collaboration has been identified as one of the key learning skills required for being successful in the 21st century. Back in the day**, collaboration meant getting together with your team or your group members in the same physical space to discuss ideas and develop a plan of action. While some things have stayed the same, the need to be in the same physical space has disappeared. We can collaborate on a project through and using a variety of digital tools like Facebook; Pintrest and Google Docs. We can share ideas and work with people in our school, across the country and on the other side of the planet. Cool.

As we start the semester, many of us will be working with new subject teams and developing or changing courses of study to improve student learning. But finding time to get together can often be a huge challenge.

This is also a common challenge facing our students when group work is assigned. Time. Our students also have a tough time balancing school, work and family commitments.

The following two sites are group project management sites that are free and can be used in the classroom (or in the department) to help you manage group dynamics. It's like Facebook for group work. You can manage deadlines; create task lists and assign members to them; manage file sharing and even chat about the needs of the group.


Both sites are extremely user friendly and simply require students to create a free account. So when you hand out the next group work project, take a few minutes to introduce one or both of these sites to your students and let them choose....


Enter the Group--Making Group Work Easier
Enter the Group allows you to create a project, invite group members and then manage all aspects of your group. Create tasks; upload files; start discussions and keep an eye of upcoming deadlines. As the teacher, you can also be added to the group to help facilitate group dynamics.

 Pegby--Peg it up. Move it Around. Get it Done.

Pegby is set up as a corkboard, where you can pin tasks in one of three sections: pending, in process and done. For each task you peg on the board, you can add files, assign a group member and set a deadline. As the task continues, group members can move its location on the board to one of the other two sections.

Pegby in 2 Minutes