Twitter in the classroom...?

My initial thought about Twittering in the classroom was, "This has GOT to be a joke, right?" I couldn't even fathom mixing such a recreational activity with education. However, after reading some of the articles that suggest ways to use Twitter effectively (and educationally!) in the classroom, I've changed my mind. One suggestion, in particular, stood out to me: Tweet in the voice of Abraham Lincoln 5 minutes before giving the Gettysburg Address. How creative! It was this sort of activities that I loved as a student, so it always interests and excites me to get new ideas on how to integrate them into my own classroom someday. With Twitter, students can not only do this sort of role-playing activity to learn, but they can also provide each other with feedback, in which they learn from one another.

Some people may be concerned with security issues while using Twitter in a classroom, but Twittering can be safe! There are so many security options available to protect students, including making Tweets available only to other members in the class. Although it is important to encourage responsible usage and to monitor students' activities while using Twitter, we face the same challenges when using any sort of website or internet activity in the classroom. However, I believe it is equally important to incorporate modern technology into education.

Google Docs

When we first started using Google Docs, I was a little frustrated and discouraged. I thought it was going to be like the Wiki situation, in which collaboration was more difficult than helpful. However, I actually liked Google Docs! I appreciate that you have a live view of what users are working on the same file as you at the same time. I also like how you're able to create various types of files and are not restricted to the same ol' boring word document. The form creator is a different and innovative way to gather information -- it's my favorite! The only setback I found to Google Docs during our experimentation was with sharing files. There are ways to share for collaboration, and there are ways to share for viewing only, and I think this got a little confusing to some people. Regardless, I do like Google Docs, and hope to use it in the future for group projects, or even in my own classroom!

Wiki-whack!

We've been exploring Wikis in our class lately. I feel like Wikis could potentially be a great source for teachers -- they allow for quick and easy collaboration. I like the idea of not having to be in the same place at the same time to get my colleagues' input, and to create a group project. However, I do feel like this collaborate work isn't very efficient on the "public" setting. I don't want just some stranger editing my hard work! Additionally, the way we've been going about it in class is a little exasperating. Pages get edited as you're working on them, information gets lost, users get booted... it's all very confusing. If our groups were to be working on our Wikispaces at different times (convenient for ourselves -- not at the same time!), I feel it would be a much smoother experience.