I started using twitter as a teacher in 2008 after a forward thinking ICT lecturer introduced my B.Ed year group to it. Over the years I have watched the number of twittering teachers grow and I have been involved with valuable CPD experiences, found many a useful resource or sought the wisdom of a more experienced colleague and all of these through twitter connections. I realised early in my teacher career the value of the social network and, I believe, used it in a sensible, professional manner.
In times of rapid growth in the social networking market, the question of internet safety is at the forefront of many an educators mind and, likewise, a parent's mind. I know that the opinion of providing students with adequate tools to manage their own social networking experience is not a new debate but the more I develop as a teacher, and the older my own children become, the more I realise the importance of providing children with experiences to enable them to use social networking sites safely. There is no point in blocking access as this merely challenges young people to find different ways to access what they want and I'm not entirely sure that relates to the challenge and enjoyment aspect of CfE or any of the problem solving EO's... Similarly, there is no point in teaching young people about the dangers of social networking without hands on experience and herein lies the quandary for those who control filtering for schools.
Alongside the growth of teacher twitterers, I have also noticed a smaller number of school accounts opening on twitter. Some of these provide parental contact, in my opinion this is a great example of sharing school life with parents who may not have the opportunity to have direct involvement with their child's school. Other accounts show tweets coming directly from children and these are some of my favourite tweets to read.
Quite recently, a colleague in the local authority in which I work has started to use twitter with her p1-3 class. The children have the opportunity to share what they have been learning in their own words, connect with other schools, teachers and their parents and reflect on how they have progressed all within 140 characters. Most importantly, they have been able to do so under the guidance of their teacher.
Recently a teenager came under-fire for her use of twitter in the past in a most humiliating way. Perhaps if she had had the experience at school to use social networking in a positive way, to reflect on the fact that the Internet is an open forum and posting any content is irreversible the story may have played out differently.
As teachers, I believe, it is imperative to enable each and every young person we work with to achieve their full potential but without adequate experience is this truly possible?
I would love to hear your thoughts about this and I would love to see a list of the many schools who successfully use any social networking tool to enhance learner experience.
