Twitter Is An Effective Tool For Teaching

With the advent of technology, educators are continuously devising ways to cope with a generation which is highly dependent on social media. Twitter has been deemed by many as a useful tool to discuss lessons and make students understand their subjects.

EurekAlert said that a study published by Middle School Journal reveals Twitter as an avenue that encourages students to look forward to their lessons and gives them the motivation to seek for more information. The research involved interviews, surveys and even classroom observations on a group of eighth-grade students during their science class.

The study discovered that Twitter helped students to improve their learning through broadening their learnings, exposing them to well-known science leaders, teaching them how to use science in real life and creating new ways on how they communicate to other people about the subject.

Transforming teaching with Twitter https://t.co/kCVIWtntA4… pic.twitter.com/ggppL3lY5V

— Kuldeep Bishnoi (@bishnoikuldeep) April 28, 2016

According to science educator Ryan Becker, 95 percent of his middle school students were able to follow trends in science and how it is used in the real world because of Twitter. Some of his students also found the social media site as a "cool" way to follow the scientists they idolize.

Becker, as per EurekAlert, said that one student even tweeted astrophysicist Katie Mack because of her interest in black holes. Mack surprisingly replied to the student and engaged her in a conversation about the topic.

In a similar report, TeachHub said K-12 teachers have also used Twitter to keep their students engaged and interested on the lessons. It noted that teachers would just tweet learners to remind them about their assignments or the due dates of their projects.

Some also thought of setting up a designated Twitter feed for a class where they can interact with one another and discuss different subjects. Another use of the social media site in the classroom setting is that it enables students to follow certain issues and give them a clearer understanding of these things.