From the lyrics of the late Bob Marley’s 1977 single “Three Little Birds”, educators can rest assured that using Twitter in the classroom can be “alright”! In his “feel good” tune, he sings “…
Rise up this mornin’
Smiled with the risin’ sun
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true
Saying’, (this is my message to you)”
Little did Marley know that more than forty years after the release of his song….a little blue technology-supported birdie would still be promoting the power of messaging through what we know today as a “tweet”. The internet explains Twitter as a ‘microblogging’ system that allows you to send and receive short posts called tweets. Tweets can be up to 140 characters long and can include links to relevant websites and resources. Like many other social media platforms, Twitter users follow other Twitter users (Google, 2020). The Twitter social media platform was developed to serve users in making connections to a larger audience. Twitter users can tweet about a variety of topics, ideas, and/or experiences in real time or during a reflective moment. This makes Twitter a more open ended technology tool that can be used by a variety of different individuals or groups, such as businesses, classrooms or even as simple as around friends. Twitter uses what we refer to as a “hashtag” to organize posts in a way that a topic can be categorized for easier viewing. The Social Media Today website has some helpful information about the use of hashtagging, if you are confused about this terminology or interested in learning more. Knowing that this open ended platform has the capability of organizing information and growing a community of learners with the varied topics that users tweet, educators can also find ways to use Twitter as a way to engage their twenty-first century learners.There are a vast number of resources available to educators to support them in implementing Twitter in the classroom to enhance learning. TeacherHub.com provided an article written by Janelle Cox entitled “How Can Twitter Be Used in the Classroom?” in February of this year. In this article Cox defines ten strategies. One strategy that I found to be helpful was #9 on her list. Cox shares that developing a class #hashtag could benefit students and parents with information to stay informed. She notes that it is also a great way to create a private group so that information can be specific to that particular set of users. Additional resources that I found to be helpful were the Teaching and Learning with Twitter Guide, developed by Twitter and UNESCO and a Pinterest page created by user, Ashleigh Barnett that has a wealth of resources for Twitter in the Classroom.
As an aspiring educator, I will ensure appropriate use of social media platforms like Twitter to enhance learning and engage my students in a way that helps bring education to a state of advancement for the future. Educators must move forward with technological advances in order to provide students with the skills necessary to be globally competitive. Twitter in the classroom is a way to positively advance our classroom practices. Communication, whether it be through face to face settings or through a social media platform, is a basic aspect of success for any collaborative activity. Furthermore, with regards to instruction, inadequate communication will result in confusion and even frustration by those involved.
When we think about our future, let’ s keep what we know works and be innovative in using new tools to support advancement. Bob Marley would be happy to know his “message” still lives on….and has even advanced over time in what we can call a “remix”…Here’s a little remix from Marley’s work, done by his son, Ziggy and Sean Paul for the Pixar Movie “The Birds”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z800GcaxhRo
As you watch, remember….the value of the message in the song remains…it’s just advanced and enhanced and relevant to today’s world. I encourage you to “hash” it all out in your head and if you feel inclined, “tweet” a message about Twitter in the Classroom, using the hashtag “#alittlebirdietoldme”.
“This is my message to You”
