As a project for TED 155: Intro to Technology Integration, I did research on various technology tools that could be used in an elementary classroom and made a brochure of my findings. I chose to explore Twitter because I was curious how it could be used in the classroom and if it could be effective or not. My opinion is that Twitter would be an effective tech tool to use in an upper-elementary aged classroom. Having a classroom Twitter site is great because many parents don't want their children on Facebook, and I have noticed that parents are more likely to check their social media accounts throughout the day than their email or a classroom website pages like Schoology. Twitter is something that many parents already have, and it's a great way to introduce proper use of social media to students in a safe environment. Many students in the upper-elementary grades already have some sort of social media site (Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter are the most popular for the older age group that I have noticed) and they would benefit greatly from exposure to a clean social media site that uses it's ability to post in a positive manner. The best way I have seen Twitter used in the classroom is to have a classroom Twitter page and have an official "Tweeter" every day that would update the Twitter feed of what they learned in school that day, what their homework that night/weekend is, etc. I would love to use a social media account in my future classroom in a similar way!
The brochure is attached below.