Educators today have the opportunity to take advantage of social media and use it to engage their students.
Twitter is an ideal mode for educators of all subjects, because it’s a way to send out bursts of information, ask questions, share an idea, and even take a poll.
Here are four ways you can now incorporate Twitter into your lesson plans:
1. HAVE STUDENTS LIVE TWEET THEIR HOMEWORK
If a student is reading a novel for english class, a journal or history text for social studies, doing math exercises, or any other assignment in which they may have reactions, questions, or reflections to share, have them do it “in the moment” on Twitter. Not only can this open up a discussion with fellow students, as a teacher monitoring the conversations, you can see how instant students’ reactions can inform your follow-up review and lessons.
2. PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH A RUNNING CLASS FEED
No matter the subject, there are always outside sources of supplemental information and study materials available. Why not share those on your class’s Twitter Feed? This can be anything from new articles to tips for upcoming projects and exams. The point is to make sure students are following the class feed and taking advantage of the resources you share on it.
3. HASHTAG BONUS POINTS
Part of using Twitter with students is giving them incentives to participate. Twitter allows for the teacher to send out bonus prompts or questions based on in-class lessons to their students at any time. If students are paying attention, they’ll have a chance to respond and gain valuable bonus points just by being engaged on social media.
4. AFTER CLASS DISCUSSION
The goal of whatever lesson teachers are instructing that day is for students to continue to think and engage with the topic outside of class time. By tweeting out a point of discussion, further study, or fact to think about after the class, a teacher can continue the learning process beyond the classroom.