Over the last couple of weeks I have been experimenting with using Twitter in lessons. My aim has been twofold:
1) To develop the engagement of my students by using their smartphones in my lessons.
2) Using Twitter to aid the learning that was already taking place.
Some examples of how I have used twitter in my lessons are below:
1) As an activity ask the students to answer a question on Twitter.
This could be as a starter, or an activity mid way through the lesson. It could be a conclusion to an essay. The only thing you need to make sure is that the students include a hashtag in the tweet.
+ Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?
+ Why did the USA fall into depression?
+ Why did the barons fall out with King John?
Then using the website http://visibletweets.com/ search for the results and display them on your board.
This is an ideal activity if you are requiring students to think about a topic and come up with their own conclusions. I leave the Visible Tweets on the screen and they can use each others ideas to help formulate their own opinion.
A good example is http://visibletweets.com/#query=rosgcsehissp&animation=2 select 'Rotation' in the animation toolbar to give the presentation a prezi feel.
2) Using Twitter to get a feel for a topic.
At the start of a topic, or at the start of a lesson ask students to Tweet keywords to describe what they have learnt/already know about the topic. Ask the students to Tweet single words with a space in between each word. An example could be:
"Trenches fear sad nomansland death barbedwire"
It is important to put phrases together like this because we will then use Visible Tweets with the 'Tag Cloud' animation setting selected. This allows the words that are most popular to grow and provides a very visual feel to the words used. Again a hashtag must be included in the tweets. A good example is http://visibletweets.com/#query=rosgcsehis2&animation=3 which could then be left running during the lesson to help the students with their learning.
3) Students using Twitter to Show off their work
For holocaust memorial day my GCSE history class produced suitcases of memories. They had to select 6 photos from the @YadVasham website that spoke to them. We then produced a cardboard suitcase and placed the pictures inside. This activity worked well and was designed to re-humanise the victims of the holocaust. Normally I would hand out praise in the lesson but instead I asked the class to photograph their work and to share it on twitter. This allowed the work to be seen by more than just the class. The students were already proud of their work but sharing it in this way increased that pride and no doubt their motivation. The first picture was taken by me showing the whole class but the next two are taken by my students showing their work.
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Some Reflections on Using Twitter in lessons
From the reaction of my classes, the work produced, and from individual conversations with students, I am confident that using twitter in this way has increased engagement and motivation.
I believe that it has helped the quieter students have a greater voice in the class.
Visible Tweets is a brilliant display tool and it is displaying information that is directly relevant to that topic and, more importantly, that class. It is impossible to have a relevant display for every lesson but visible tweets takes care of that for you.
It is collaborative.
It is ideal during more active lessons where a pen and paper are not suited.
Quite a few students have signed up to Twitter (although they would probably never admit it) so that they can become involved in the lessons in this way.
It allows good work to be shared.
Some Problems
In my GCSE classes just over half of the students have access to their twitter account via a smartphone. They have worked together in groups sharing this resource and allowing everyone to have a voice. Obviously, if the percentage is too low then this activity is not viable. With more and more schools investing in handheld devices I believe this will become less of a problem over time but clearly it is important to check out the situation before you plan to use Twitter in the way.
I am lucky to work in a school that is looking to embrace technology and is very open to this way of thinking. There may well be some of you reading this who work in a school where mobile phones are banned. Until that changes this way of working will not be open to you. I have said in previous posts that i believe a school should prepare students for the world they will enter, surely using social media in this way is doing just that and should be encouraged.
1) To develop the engagement of my students by using their smartphones in my lessons.
2) Using Twitter to aid the learning that was already taking place.
Some examples of how I have used twitter in my lessons are below:
1) As an activity ask the students to answer a question on Twitter.
This could be as a starter, or an activity mid way through the lesson. It could be a conclusion to an essay. The only thing you need to make sure is that the students include a hashtag in the tweet.
+ Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?
+ Why did the USA fall into depression?
+ Why did the barons fall out with King John?
Then using the website http://visibletweets.com/ search for the results and display them on your board.
This is an ideal activity if you are requiring students to think about a topic and come up with their own conclusions. I leave the Visible Tweets on the screen and they can use each others ideas to help formulate their own opinion.
A good example is http://visibletweets.com/#query=rosgcsehissp&animation=2 select 'Rotation' in the animation toolbar to give the presentation a prezi feel.
2) Using Twitter to get a feel for a topic.
At the start of a topic, or at the start of a lesson ask students to Tweet keywords to describe what they have learnt/already know about the topic. Ask the students to Tweet single words with a space in between each word. An example could be:
"Trenches fear sad nomansland death barbedwire"
It is important to put phrases together like this because we will then use Visible Tweets with the 'Tag Cloud' animation setting selected. This allows the words that are most popular to grow and provides a very visual feel to the words used. Again a hashtag must be included in the tweets. A good example is http://visibletweets.com/#query=rosgcsehis2&animation=3 which could then be left running during the lesson to help the students with their learning.
3) Students using Twitter to Show off their work
For holocaust memorial day my GCSE history class produced suitcases of memories. They had to select 6 photos from the @YadVasham website that spoke to them. We then produced a cardboard suitcase and placed the pictures inside. This activity worked well and was designed to re-humanise the victims of the holocaust. Normally I would hand out praise in the lesson but instead I asked the class to photograph their work and to share it on twitter. This allowed the work to be seen by more than just the class. The students were already proud of their work but sharing it in this way increased that pride and no doubt their motivation. The first picture was taken by me showing the whole class but the next two are taken by my students showing their work.
Some Reflections on Using Twitter in lessons
From the reaction of my classes, the work produced, and from individual conversations with students, I am confident that using twitter in this way has increased engagement and motivation.
I believe that it has helped the quieter students have a greater voice in the class.
Visible Tweets is a brilliant display tool and it is displaying information that is directly relevant to that topic and, more importantly, that class. It is impossible to have a relevant display for every lesson but visible tweets takes care of that for you.
It is collaborative.
It is ideal during more active lessons where a pen and paper are not suited.
Quite a few students have signed up to Twitter (although they would probably never admit it) so that they can become involved in the lessons in this way.
It allows good work to be shared.
Some Problems
In my GCSE classes just over half of the students have access to their twitter account via a smartphone. They have worked together in groups sharing this resource and allowing everyone to have a voice. Obviously, if the percentage is too low then this activity is not viable. With more and more schools investing in handheld devices I believe this will become less of a problem over time but clearly it is important to check out the situation before you plan to use Twitter in the way.
I am lucky to work in a school that is looking to embrace technology and is very open to this way of thinking. There may well be some of you reading this who work in a school where mobile phones are banned. Until that changes this way of working will not be open to you. I have said in previous posts that i believe a school should prepare students for the world they will enter, surely using social media in this way is doing just that and should be encouraged.