How Microblogging --- Twitter Could be Used for Teaching?

First, we should know what is microblogging? From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, it says that microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size. Microblogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links". It seems like everyone is using Twitter these days. You know, sharing little messages with each other on phones and computers. When I am in China, I use a microblogging named “Weibo” to write my feelings and record my journals. The function of it is the same of Twitter. However, I have no idea of using microblogging for teaching before.

                               

After I read some articles and videos from the books and the Internet which the teachers and students shared, there is a clear outline occurs in my brain about how to use microblogging for teaching. Let’s take Twitter for example.

First of all, what about this Twitter thing?This is an on-line PPT for you to know about the functions of Twitter.  And 28Creative Ways Teachers Are Using Twitter will tell you there are 28 functions of Twitter you can use when you are teaching.

                                                      

After we know about how the Twitter can serve us, we’ll see how we use it in our language teaching. For teachers, Twitter can be a powerful tool for professional development via quick sharing with peers and colleagues whom you may or may not know face to face. Twitter can also be an effective way to communicate from your class to other classrooms around the globe. Moreover, it helped make all this connection and collaboration happen. It broke down the walls of our classroom and allowed students in classrooms across the country to interact and learn from each other.

                                                 

 As for me, I think to let teachers join in or create some educational Twitter chats is a good way of teaching language. Twitter chats are scheduled events or conversations that use a specific hashtag in an attempt to organize a conversation around a particular topic. To schedule your own educational Twitter chats calendar is a convenient and direct way to let your students understand your study schedule clearly.