I set up a twitter account. We had a facebook account at one time. We did not like it and frankly found it intrusive. Facebook has a ton of applications. You can share photos, play games, communicate to a group, or individually. You can do much of the same things on twitter. I like twitter better because it is more to the point. It is more about information to me than anything else. I found setting up my twitter account easy to accomplish. I also like the things you can follow. I quickly hooked up to my undergrad alumni organization, my current education technology professor, a fellow teacher, and the scholastic teach twitter account. Following people and tweeting is easy to do. I like the quick updates I get from the people/groups I am following. This is the link to my twitter account: http://twitter.com/PCarneal
I did not gain any news insights because of this exercise. I do, however, find it extremely important for educators to understand social networking. I teach at the secondary level and it seems that virtually all of our students are a member of at least one of these sites. We need understanding to reach our students and to have that we must understand what is going on in their lives. These sites, whether or not they ever become part of the curriculum, affect our schools. Students communicate with one another on them and they also use these sites for negative purposes at times. Administrators and guidance counselors see the negative effects of these sites on an almost daily basis. Students are bullying one another through these sites and other things that I do not want to even mention in this forum. Part of the educational process is teaching students how to operate in society. These sites are part of our society and by understanding what is going on thru them we can educate our children on the proper way to act even in a virtual community.
I like Twitter more than Facebook, but they both can be used in education. I believe one day they will. It is another way that I can instruct my students. If I am going to be out one day unexpectedly, I could use these sites to update my students to any activity change. I can send out a tweet reminding students of required materials one day. I could even send out a message because I see a cool program coming on TV that has implications for my classes.
I did not gain any news insights because of this exercise. I do, however, find it extremely important for educators to understand social networking. I teach at the secondary level and it seems that virtually all of our students are a member of at least one of these sites. We need understanding to reach our students and to have that we must understand what is going on in their lives. These sites, whether or not they ever become part of the curriculum, affect our schools. Students communicate with one another on them and they also use these sites for negative purposes at times. Administrators and guidance counselors see the negative effects of these sites on an almost daily basis. Students are bullying one another through these sites and other things that I do not want to even mention in this forum. Part of the educational process is teaching students how to operate in society. These sites are part of our society and by understanding what is going on thru them we can educate our children on the proper way to act even in a virtual community.
I like Twitter more than Facebook, but they both can be used in education. I believe one day they will. It is another way that I can instruct my students. If I am going to be out one day unexpectedly, I could use these sites to update my students to any activity change. I can send out a tweet reminding students of required materials one day. I could even send out a message because I see a cool program coming on TV that has implications for my classes.
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