Professional Development Via Twitter

"According to a study conducted by IDC and sponsored by Facebook, 79% of people age 18-44 have their phone on or near them for all but two hours" (Felton, 2016).

How can educators argue against using a social media platform for educational purposes when we all know how engrossed with technology today's youths are? Social media sources can be one of the most powerful engagement strategies that teachers can use. The days of lecturing at students are over and being replaced with engaging, technology driven lessons.


With that being said, is Twitter the best source for learning? This is where I find myself stuck. While it does incorporate technology that students can be motivated by, I find it difficult to make the utilization worthwhile. In a study done by Felton, she found that "7 out of 18 [students] thought that it (twitter) did not really make an impact on the course".


With this fact known, the implementation of Twitter must be thoroughly planned for. My first thought to introduce the use of Twitter would be to have students create short Tweets summarizing their lessons. This could be anything from answering a discussion question, summarizing the main point, or reflecting. A study conducted by Hethorn (2017), stated that a classroom had used Twitter in a similar method and stated that it "ensured children reflected ͚upon their learning and used language precisely".


Felton, Toria. "Integrating Twitter Into the Classroom." (2016).

Henthorn, Joe, and Paul Cammack. "Blogging and tweeting in the classroom: exploring how effective use of new media can help teaching and learning in primary schools." Teacher Education Advancement Network Journal (TEAN) 9.2 (2017): 3-13.