Twitter and Educational Applications...

[Frank]

"Phones have become an interestingly enabling tool. Invented to connect us all together, it has become something much more, a device that webs
us not only to people and places, but across the hours, months, and years of our experience." --David Warlick

OK, you can see above that I have a Twitter account. Basically, Twitter allows members to send short text messages via SMS (cell phone), IM, or the Web. These messages then are sent to the senders family and friends (called followers) instantly. The sender can restrict if these updates are sent to all their followers or only those approved as private.

Is all of this trivial nonsense? Or, are they greater educational and professional applications that we have yet to explore and discover? We lament that not all students have access to the Internet, whether at school or at home ... but most DO have cell phones. And this is really IMPORTANT! With Twitter, students can collectively brainstorm ideas in any topic, comments on class proceedings or projects, dialog across geographical (between classroom, between schools, between states, between countries, etc) barriers exchanging a multitude of thoughts and other contributions. It is all about instigating participation, collaboration, etc. All with a technology that students have already embraced and carry with them 24 hours a day.

Read these informative and inspirations blog posts on the possibilities of using Twitter with your English as a foreign language class.

Twitter Me This: Brainstorming Potential Educational Uses for Twitter

why twitter matters

[Frank]

below are some pretty typical profiles that I located on Twitter ... young people are there to learn English. That is for certain:

Name mem_dij
Location TOKYO
Bio Im Japanese.I wanna learn English,so I twitter in English!!!
Recently おなかいたい 3 months ago

Name akiko.k
Location Delhi, NY
Bio i wanna used to type and talk in english!!!
Recently 久しぶりにコメしてみる。 2 months ago

Name Huijuan Gong
Location USA Web http://[e-mail]
Bio I want learn English
Recently My updates are protected.

Name mariannadg
Location Bari, Italy Web http://mariannadg.wordpress.com
Bio exploring web 2.0 in english teaching
Recently sgancia l'invito catepol ;) about 1 month ag

Name Winhelp
Location Poland Web http://winhelp.jogger.pl
Bio teenager with poor English :D
Recently A tam, nieprzydatne to :P 11 days ago

Name ta2ro
Location Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan
Bio I want to improve my English. Anyone who wants to teach me how to use English? interested in anything but politics :-)
Recently ツールドフランス16ステージ、ラスムッセン強かったなぁ～。

Name SayaFujitani
Location tokyo-japan
Bio I love music,manga,mortorcycle,modern art. I want to learn English and French. talk to me!