Matt Wendling – mdwendl@ilstu.edu (Primary Contact)
Kate Melia – kamelia@ilstu.edu
Adam Gertz – apgertz@ilstu.edu
Submitting for Topoi
YTwitter: Tweeting in the Classroom
Our submission focuses on the potential utilization of the social-networking website Twitter in the classroom, and how Twitter’s use in the world outside of the classroom solidifies its value as a legitimate tool in education. Twitter is a website that allows a user to set up a page where they can enter 140 character microblog posts known as Tweets. Once you have created a Twitter page you can then “follow” other people’s Twitters and receive updates as they Tweet. We aim to prove Twitter can be used as a tool in the classroom by showing how its responsive and personal nature creates real dialogue and conversation amongst individuals in a way that facilitates the communication of ideas, which is truly the essence of education.
We have created four html documents in the same style and form as Twitter pages. Each page represents a difference facet of our argument. Kate’s page (CootieKate) focuses on the education aspect of our argument. All of her posts pertain to pedagogical theories and how Twitter can be used in the classroom. Adam (Mad_Adam) and Matt’s (Multimodal Matt) pages supplement Kate’s research and inquiries with facts, news stories and articles that pertain directly to what she is thinking about at that moment. Much of Adam and Matt’s pages deal with the usage of Twitter in business and other applications outside of education. The fourth page is a compilation of all of our Tweets, and combines them in a reverse essay form that shows all of the interactions.
We are in the drafting stages of our project. The pages have been created, and much of the information has been inputted, but there is still revision to be done. Due to the small size of the individual posts, it is very easily edited, and can be rearranged with relative ease.
If we had more time to complete this project our Tweets would have been better organized and would have included more links and information. Due to a lack of time and unfamiliarity with the software at hand, much of what we have done can be improved upon, and we realize that. Had more time been allotted the argument would flow better, and much of the repeated information would deleted and personalized.
