In my August 1st post, I argued that teachers should not friend their students on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. In this post, I will focus my attention to Twitter–a social networking and microblogging service–in the classroom. There are a lot of ‘pro-twitter in the classroom’ articles out there. ”Twitter in the Classroom” list some common purposes. How it can be used:
- “Keep students connected through another line of communication. Group members will have an idea of what each other are working on.
- Communication for collaboration.
- Forces users to be brief and to the point. 140 character limit gives students direction rather than clog the discussion forums.
- Twitter can hold students accountable to what they are working on.
- Twitter can be used in a call to everyone for assistance like the bat signal was used for Batman.”
Despite all these pros, I am going to stick to my original argument about student and teacher relationships on social networking sites. In “How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Engagement,” Greg Fereinstein writes: “Professors who wish to engage students during large lectures face an uphill battle. Not only is it a logistical impossibility for 200+ students to actively participate in a 90 minute lecture, but the downward sloping cone-shape of a lecture hall induces a one-to-many conversation.” Note key words: professors, large lectures, and 200+ students. Twitter is absolutely viable in a college classroom; however, I believe that teachers should not use it in a high school setting.
Why is it okay for us to friend students on Twitter, but not other social sites? Cheri Lucus, author of “Should Student and Teachers Be Online Friends,” answers: “A teacher can use some networking sites, such as Twitter, to extend a classroom discussion or offer quick homework assistance in 140 characters or less, networks like Facebook and MySpace easily blur the student-teacher relationship because of the personal information made available on profiles.”
Even if personal information was removed from Facebook and MySpace profiles, teachers would still be held liable for pictures and updates. I don’t see the difference. On Twitter, teachers are still able comment and post personal pics via TwitPic. Comments and pictures get teachers in trouble. Online relationships through social networking sites between teachers and students simply is not acceptable behavior–period. Though I don’t agree with this statement, I have to stand by it. Despite this phenomenal post on “Why Teachers Should ‘Friend’ Student’s Online,” it’s simply a risk that I’m not willing to take.
