I found the article "How Twitter and Facebook are Fueling Classroom Learning" by Virginia Seatherton to be particularly interesting. Very often, many individuals deem Facebook and Twitter as hindrances to student learning and as mere distractions to be used by students as tools of procrastination. Seatherton however, makes the assertion that both forms of social media can and should be used within the classroom to aid and bolster students' learning.
In the article, Seatherton asserts that Facebook and Twitter serve to: develop community, increase participation, facilitate information delivery, and foster creativity. According to the article, some educators have formulated a requirement that students must friend one another on Facebook and begin following one another on twitter as well to establish a sense of community. While I found this to be interesting, and certainly innovative, I was led to question whether or not this is overstepping boundaries. Students' social media sites are formulated for the purpose of their socializing with their peers and thus it seems as though requiring them to use these same technologies to interact with their peers and quite possibly teachers is an intrusion on their social life. This led me to consider: where should the line be drawn in terms of social media integration?
Despite the concerns which I had about these social sites developing a community within the classroom, I enjoyed Seatherton's commentary on the use of Twitter and Facebook as a means of facilitating information delivery. I am not particularly familiar with Twitter, for I do not actively use it, so I found it interesting to find that students, or even educators, could use the site for polling purposes, to find where certain topics are being discussed, or track a name or subject. I feel that these uses could benefit students greatly if this site was more heavily integrated in the classroom.
My favorite portion of this article was Seatherton's discussion of how Facebook and Twitter can be used to foster creativity. She made a point that Twitter can be used as a tool to construct a "tweet dialogue" between two characters in a written work or as a means to compile a "tweetstory" through the tweets of each student. Furthermore, she revealed that Facebook could be used in an equally effective manner by having students construct fake Facebook profiles for fictional or historical characters that depict their described interests and the like. Seatherton introduces a clear, well-constructed argument as to why Facebook and Twitter benefits students within the classroom and provides innovative approaches for educators in regards to these social sites.
Link to Article
In the article, Seatherton asserts that Facebook and Twitter serve to: develop community, increase participation, facilitate information delivery, and foster creativity. According to the article, some educators have formulated a requirement that students must friend one another on Facebook and begin following one another on twitter as well to establish a sense of community. While I found this to be interesting, and certainly innovative, I was led to question whether or not this is overstepping boundaries. Students' social media sites are formulated for the purpose of their socializing with their peers and thus it seems as though requiring them to use these same technologies to interact with their peers and quite possibly teachers is an intrusion on their social life. This led me to consider: where should the line be drawn in terms of social media integration?
Despite the concerns which I had about these social sites developing a community within the classroom, I enjoyed Seatherton's commentary on the use of Twitter and Facebook as a means of facilitating information delivery. I am not particularly familiar with Twitter, for I do not actively use it, so I found it interesting to find that students, or even educators, could use the site for polling purposes, to find where certain topics are being discussed, or track a name or subject. I feel that these uses could benefit students greatly if this site was more heavily integrated in the classroom.
My favorite portion of this article was Seatherton's discussion of how Facebook and Twitter can be used to foster creativity. She made a point that Twitter can be used as a tool to construct a "tweet dialogue" between two characters in a written work or as a means to compile a "tweetstory" through the tweets of each student. Furthermore, she revealed that Facebook could be used in an equally effective manner by having students construct fake Facebook profiles for fictional or historical characters that depict their described interests and the like. Seatherton introduces a clear, well-constructed argument as to why Facebook and Twitter benefits students within the classroom and provides innovative approaches for educators in regards to these social sites.
Link to Article
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