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| Photo: Bill Ferriter |
They were particularly interested in the different ways that Twitter can be used in schools. To help, I turned to the teachers in my own Twitter network for ideas—and while the examples shared were as diverse as the digital peers that I learn from, they seemed to fall into three broad categories:" writes Bill Ferriter, The Tempered Radical.
Twitter can be used as a backchannel, encouraging reflection and conversation among students.
As a guy who needs to speak out loud in order to process information, I love to tweet during workshops and professional development presentations simply because it gives me the chance to interact with ideas without interrupting the people near me who are trying to pay attention.
Twitter can help students develop their civic voices.
Social media spaces are changing how elections are won and lost—and how politicians operate. President Obama has initiated a series of Twitter Town Hall meetings where he answers questions submitted through the microblogging platform. Even Gordon Brown, longtime Prime Minister of the UK, recognized that policy can't be made without listening to people in social spaces.
Twitter can become a place to imagine.
Danah Boyd, a Senior Researcher at the Microsoft Research Center who specializes in studies on the ways that digital spaces are changing today's kids, has noted that Twitter can be a more playful place for teens than Facebook.
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Source: Education Week
