A history teacher in Los Angeles is using Twitter to engage students in his classroom. Is this a trend that will catch on?
Enrique Legaspi is not the only teacher to use the social media site in class, but the number of educators using the technology are still very small.
According to CNN, a survey published in April of 1, 920 teachers in the U.S. indicated that only 2% were using the site in class in any way, and that was on the college level. About half the teachers thought using social media in class would be harmful.
But Twitter, like other social media, can be used in good or bad ways, just like other forms of communication.
Here is the way Mr. Legaspi uses the tool. He writes a history question on his computer, which appears on a projected screen. The students then pop up their answers using Twitter. Mr. Legaspi said that he has found that students who usually don't take part in class will answer questions this way. It is a way for shy or naturally quiet students to speak up. Students who don't own phones or other devices that can access Twitter can use the classroom computers.
Classrooms tend to stick to routine teaching methods and routine is often boring for students. Anything that encourages interaction in class has potential to help them learn. And teenagers and young adults love social media, so why not make use of that love?
Of course, many schools ban cellphones, iPads and the like from school property. For those schools, this idea would only work if there are enough computers that students can use. But it shows creative thinking about ways to use new technology to engage students in education.
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