Blogging & Twittering

Throughout my lifetime, I have witnessed the uprising popularity of social media. Not only has it become a leisurely pastime of entertainment, but networks such as Twitter, FaceBook, and Blogger have evolved into forms of effective communication. "Such tools make it easy for students to move past the classroom walls and connect with their peers around the world as well as giving them access to experts in fields they are studying. Online communication tools may be synchronous or asynchronous; based in text, audio or video; and enable one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many communications," (2009 Horizon Report). For example, blogs are a strong educational tool, encouraging students to learn in a different context than the standard pen and paper, and forcing them to relay what they are learning in a creative manner. In addition, students with blogs are able to follow and view their classmates work, thus allowing them to compare, edit, and analyze each other's ideas. As technology becomes more prominent and available, teachers are given an easy pass to incorporating social media into the school curriculum. 

Twitter, another form of social media, is conveniently devised to expand awareness and intelligence about real world topics. I choose to follow the Department of Education, which offers valuable information about the educational world. Teachers can encourage students to follow thousands of different accounts, each offering useful tips, tools, and ideas on various issues. With a Twitter account, students are able to view similar ideas to theirs through "hashtags." "For example, if you try clicking a particular hashtag in a message, you will see the list of posts using the same hashtag. Hashtags allow an audience to interact live during events, such as conferences, TV shows, political events, etc.," (Hashtags.org). I think social media will only continue to expand in positive ways for the field of education.