Back in 2009, a creative teacher from Ontario, Canada decided there need to be more free online resources for educators. This teacher then built upon the ideas behind social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, and thus twiducate was formed. However, the ultimate goal for twiducate is not just to simply serve as a resource for teachers, but to provide a medium for students to continue their learning outside the classroom and prepare them for web 2.0 world.

One of the main benefits of twiducate is it allows teachers to create a virtual classroom, that is also private as only students and parents invited by the teacher can join and view classroom posts. Likewise, while other sites offer little content control for teachers, twiducate enables teachers to create the content themselves and tailor it to the needs of their students. It also circumvents the need for school administration and firewall prevention since the content is monitored by the teacher for the use of his or her students only.

Jeff Dunn, Executive Editor of edudemic.com further explains that this format is excellent for students and teachers alike, as they can share ideas across the platform. Teachers can post homework, test dates, and other assignments or reference materials, making it easy for students to keep track of their assignments. In addition, teachers can create questions for students to answer to test their knowledge of subject matter covered in class. Alternatively, they can post a discussion question, allowing students a safe place to discuss current events or other topics.

Twiducate also uses a Twitter-like format that is excellent for introducing new concepts, micro-blogging and writing assignments. In fact, the New York Times Learning blog suggests using it as a way to stimulate creative writing. For instance, teachers can have a class to write a novel collectively by providing an introductory sentence and then encouraging each student to add on a single line. However this isn’t the only way educators can utilize the site to teach students to write creatively. Teachers can also assign an essay on current events, but limit the assignment to the Twitter maximum of 140 characters to inspire concise writing. Teachers interested in incorporating these types of activities may also want to explore sites such as Online Teaching Degree as well as PBS.com, which provide a number of lesson plans as well as useful tips for teachers.

Dunn adds that the benefits of twiducate extend beyond providing educators with more tools for teaching. Since the website acts as an extension of the classroom, students can collaborate on projects and share ideas outside of school. By simply logging on the site, students have the ability to track class work or post questions about homework to the teacher or other students. However, by far the best benefit is the privacy twiducate affords to students. Unlike other social networking sites where posts can be viewed by nearly everyone, often creating an outlet for cyber-bulling or cyber-stalking, posts on twiducate are only accessible to a student’s teacher and classmates.

Clearly twiducate has great potential as a tool for teachers and a safe place for students to exchange ideas in an open forum. This format may be more conducive to learning than the traditional classroom model since the distractions and time constraints are removed. As more educators join the site and share their ideas, the potential ways of utilizing the technology are as varied as the site’s visitors.

Alicia Moore has always loved to learn and is working toward earning a teaching degree. She is particularly interested in how the advent of the Internet and technology are changing the educational landscape. When she is not exploring the future of education, Alicia enjoys writing about literature, languages and online resources for teachers.

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twiducate – Social Networking for Schools

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By @Totallwired77 of http://taitcoles.wordpress.com

Reasons to be cheerfull…….Twiducate!

Here are 35 ways to use Twiducate to deepen learning.

I have split the tips up into four sections; using the main “Post to Class” section, using the “Important Dates” section, using the “Class Bookmarks” and using the “Chat” option.

I hope you find it helpful and please, feel free to comment, and it would be great if you could add some more uses!

POST TO CLASS

Remember when posting information to your class don’t forget to click the pin icon, this means that YOUR post will remain at the top of the Twiducate feed.

1. Twiducate Words.

Post a keyword(s) for the lesson and ask you students to post their definition of the word. A nice starter, good for literacy, opportunity to cover misconceptions and a good way to engage students at the start of a lesson.

You can then ask students to vote on the “best” definition by clicking on the “like” icon (see more below).

To deepen learning, nominate students to decide on the keyword(s).

2. Ask questions using Twiducate.

Asking effective questions is the key to deep learning, Twiducate lends itself to this brilliantly.

Use Twiducate to ask;

* Closed questions – “Which gas is the raw material required for Photosynthesis?”, this will give you a specific answer, perhaps suitable for assessing prior knowledge etc.
* Open questions – “Who was responsible for the assassination of JFK?”, asks students to use Higher Order Thinking Skills such as application, evaluation and creation.
* Range finding questions – “Tell me what you know about Sustainability”, who knows what in your class? and how well do they know it?
* Hinge questions – “Global Warming? How’s fault is it?”, your lesson could hinge on this question, depending on which way the lesson goes, depends on the answers!

3. Twiducate Association Map.

Post an idea, concept, or question to the class and ask your students to post their one word ideas and thoughts. Twiducate allows you to “Print” posts, basically all the posts appear on screen, using something like Wordle you can cut and paste the posts into a word cloud (more later).

4. Twiducate consequences.

Create a chain story with your students, take it in turn to add a line to a story. I personally would use the Class Network list as this sorts out your students into alphabetical order, so your sequencing works effectively.

5. Starter sentences using Twiducate.

Similar to above, but this time you start the story with an opening line or paragraph and the students follow up with their own words. A real opportunity for creativity, remember to give your students suitable time to come up with something that they feel proud of (jotting ideas down first, then drafting before posting may be an option).

6. Translate Twiducate.

Ideal for a Modern Foreign Language lesson. Post your students a sentences in a foreign language, and ask your students to reply to you using the same foreign language. Or you can even ask the students to translate the sentences into English. (If I was clever I would write something witty here in French!)

7. Sum Up Twiducate.

Ask your students to read an article or chapter and then post their brief summary or précis of the key point(s). Although Twiducate doesn’t limit characters like normal Twitter does – you could limit the number of words yourself, perhaps an engaging way to differentiate? Could you sum up “Down the Mine” by George Orwell in 50 words?

8. Homework Twiducate.

Engage your students by posting them their homework! Remember, students can access Twiducate at any time, all they need is the class code and their six digit password. In the settings you can turn on or off the option to receive an eMail every time a new post is added – or in other words you will have instant notification when the homework has been completed. (I would suggest turning it off during class activities as your inbox will be brimming in a matter of minutes!)

9. Twiducate Self Assessment.

A beautifully simple plenary for the 21st Century learner! Ask your students to their own work using Twiducate and encourage them to write SMART targets on how they expect to progress. Ideal for each student to reflect on their own work and what they will do next lesson to help their learning.

10. Twiducate Peer Assessment.

Obviously similar to above but this time ask your students to assess the work of others. Pair students up, small group work or even class discussions on one piece of work. Asking students to reflect on work by others can help them develop their own understanding of what they are learning.

11. Twiducate Journalism

Use Twiducate to teach journalism. Ask students to use Twiducate to report news to practice communicating important information succinctly. This could be used in a History lesson to learn about past events or it could be a way to inform and engage students in current affairs. As a class project students could produce a live minute by minute account of a famous news story – either a live news story or a past event. Royal Wedding??

12. Twiducate famous conversations.

Invite students to post imagined conversations between famous literary figures such as Romeo and Juliet, Sherlock Holmes and Watson or how about Albert Einstein chatting to Professor Brian Cox? The options are endless, again supports creativity, literacy and engagement.

13. Twiducate is out of this world!

Create a fantasy planet and ask your students or “Alien explorers” to post back to the ‘Mother Ship’ what they have found out in today’s lesson – for example a lesson on Adaptation in Science could lead to the students posting about strange creatures found on planet Earth! Simply this is an alternative to the “write what you have learnt in the lesson…”

14. Twiduacte Maths puzzles.

Maths, Chemistry or Physics teachers need not feel left out from posting teasers on Twiducate. You have options in your post box to enlarge text, highlight text, colour text etc, don’t be frightened in using these as they may communicate your posts in a more eye-catching way.

15. Twiducate Speling!

Write a short paragraph or sentence with deliberate spelling and grammatical mistakes and ask your students to correct it for you! As you will well know, students love “out-smarting” their teacher, give them the opportunity!

16. Twiducate Vote.

Using the “Like” icon students can vote as to which post they like best, or which post they feel is correct. When all the posts are up from the class, ask your students to vote. You can then hover over the icons and see which post is the most popular – perfect way to lead into a class discussion.

17. Twiducate Avatar.

When each students signs in they will be able to update their Avatar – really nice option, they can make it personal by uploading images of themselves etc. They also have an opportunity to write a short biography of themselves, why not use this option to ask your students to write a target for the next lesson. When they next login to Twiducate their target will be available for them and others to see.

18. Wordle Twiducate.

The ‘print’ option enables you to upload all posts written in the class (also available for the ‘chat’ option), simply cut and paste this into Wordle and you will have a keyword cloud. This could be used for presentations, display, plenaries or starters. Put the word cloud up at the start of a lesson and ask the class “what do you think these students were writing about?”

19. Student Twiducate Questions.

Encourage your students to ask YOU questions. Perhaps you could set this up as a piece of homework, ask them to comment on a part of the lesson they perhaps they didn’t fully understand, or ask them to decide what they want to learn next lesson. By viewing posts before lessons you can plan directly for the specific needs of your class.

20. Everyone can Twiducate.

One of the main reasons why using Twiducate is so effective that it enables your students to contribute in lessons without them feeling pressured or under scrutiny by other students. Even the more ‘reluctant’ students will be able to express their thoughts. As Twiducate is live and can be accessed at any time you could set it up as a forum out of class.

21. Stuck Twiducate.

You’ve heard of a ‘Stuck Board’ right? It’s usually a display board in the room where students can pin up questions to the teacher and other students about areas of learning they are ‘stuck’ on. Remember being stuck is OK, staying stuck is not! Use Twiducate as a Stuck Board, encouraging students to write down areas of learning where they are not 100% certain. To deepen the learning of your students, get THEM to answer the questions of their colleagues.

IMPORTANT DATES.

The Important Dates section on Twiducate allows you as a teacher to post various pieces of information for you students, here are a few suggestions;

22. Post Exam dates.

Ensure that all your students are aware of their exam dates, these could be mock exams and real exams. Develops their self management skills so they can plan ahead.

23. Coursework deadlines.

Post up deadlines for students coursework, allow them to complete it in achievable chunks.

24. Homelearning.

All homelearning (or as some call it, Homework) can now be posted on Twiducate, again another way to engage your students. Work is very very different to learning.

25. Assessment sheets.

Post up a copy of you class’ assessment sheets, students can access this any time they use Twiducate. This will obviously keep your students updated with what levels/grades they are working at, what their target levels/grades are and suggestions of how they can meet or even exceed their targets.

26. Parent Page.

This neat idea could be another way to communicate to parents about the fantastic and engaging learning that their children are doing in your lessons. You could write a brief synopsis of what students are learning in lessons, or to deepen learning ask each student in turn to add to the page; “Sarah, would you like to write three sentences to everyone’s parents about what we’ve learnt today?”

CLASS BOOKMARKS.

The Class Bookmarks section on Twiducate allows you as a teacher to post pieces of information that your students can access in lessons or at home, here are a few suggestions;

27. Bookmark a website.

Inform your students of a fantastic website(s) for them to learn from in the lesson. No longer will students search for a topic and bring up the first website they see (why is it always Wikipedia?), by bookmarking websites it will ensure that your students will be looking at you want them to. Ask them to compare and evaluate the validity of two websites or ask them to post five things they have learnt from the website.

28. Bookmark an image.

A great way to encourage visual learning. Bookmark an image, one that engages, stimulates or even a controversial one and ask them to comment on it. There are obviously many questions you could ask; what do you think this is an image of? can you write ten words to describe the image? what are the people thinking in the picture? what feelings are stimulated by this picture? can you write a headline for this image? can you write a story opening for this image? etc

29. Bookmark your presentations.

Bookmark the PowerPoint, Prezi presentations that you have used in class. As well as the students having the opportunity to re read it etc, you could also ask them to produce a slide for the presentation as homework etc.

30. Bookmark Revision Websites.

Choose the most appropriate website which will assist their revision and bookmark it for your students. Encourage students to find other revision sites and post the weblinks, ask your class to vote (using the like button) which site they prefer best.

CHAT

31. The Chat option.

The Chat option in my mind is brilliant! Which ever way you use it, will help your students learn. Excellent for developing metacognitive skills and encouraging your students to learn form other students. At first you may be reluctant to use it, but please, it is a must!

32. For reluctant students.

For the more reluctant students, this allows students to discuss ideas BEFORE they post. Like any class dynamics some students will not be as comfortable as others in saying “but Sir! I don’t get it!”. Allow them to use this tool to ask other students about their learning.

33. “I’m stuck!”

Students may not post about when and why they are stuck but they may chat about it. As a teacher you can also contribute to the chat, so encourage your students to chat about their learning.

34. Planning for teacher.

Use the print option to view what you students have been chatting about, it may be very surprising. If they were all chatting about a certain concept, perhaps you will need to cover it again in another lesson in another way.

35. Wordle it!

Again using the print option in Twiducate, cut and paste the chat into Wordle and create a word cloud. This could be used for presentations, display, plenaries or starters. Put the word cloud up at the start of a lesson and ask the class “can you remeber what we were chatting about last lesson?”

…and one last thing, Twiducate is absolutely free!

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You can embed google docs into twiducate.

“Share” the doc by “publishing to web”, copy the iframe code.

In twiducate, go to html mode (<> button) in toolbar. Past code in the box. Don’t post yet.

Go back to normal mode to view it by hitting the <> button again, if you see it properly, post it, otherwise, back to html mode to adjust width and height etc.

admin General docs, Google, twiducate

Most forward-thinking educators have probably been considering the possible benefits of including social media in their coursework for some time now. The use of social media, however, especially at the primary level, is still not a common part of the typical classroom experience. In fact, as we all know (and probably even grapple with ourselves, sometimes), many educators would rather cut off their arms than allow Facebook in their classrooms.

Of course, there are many potential distractions inherent to the integration of social media in the classroom, but, according to a recent study, it’s possible that the benefits may outweigh any possible risk.

The results of an educational experiment were recently published in an article titled, The Effect of Twitter on College Student Engagement and Grades, in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning.

The participants in the study were 125 university students enrolled in a first-year seminar course as part of the school’s pre-med program. The participants were broken into two groups. One group of 70 students used Twitter throughout the course as part of class discussion. They also used it to research assignments and complete specific material. A control group of 55 participants used a common Web-based discussion board, similar to Blackboard. The researchers monitored the students GPA and level of engagement. They used many parameters to test student engagement, such as contribution to classroom discussion and amount of interaction with the professor concerning course material.

The researchers found that engagement of both students and professors was considerably higher in the class utilizing Twitter. The Twitter group also attained a GPA about half a point higher than that of the students in the non-Twitter group.

These results are compelling, but must be examined in context. Because the study does not actually reflect the difference in engagement between a classroom using Twitter compared to one using no web-based connection whatsoever, it can really only serve as a comparison between the use of a fluid, socially-based tool, like Twitter, as opposed to an older, bulkier application like Blackboard.

What the study does imply, however, is the fact that that the use of social media, specifically Twitter, in class seems to do no harm. The study is a great starting point for more thorough research on the subject of social media in education. What would be interesting to see is some research done with students at the elementary level. These students will have had less past experience with social media than college-level students, and research at the primary level could serve as an interesting clue as to the effectiveness of social media in a classroom of

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topics of online degrees. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: anna22.miller@gmail.com.

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Its been a busy school year. New report cards, a change in the numeracy progression. While trying to stay afloat (and take my Computer Specialist course) I managed to add the ability to upload avatars to twiducate.

I have long pondered this idea and I always thought it would be something more for a teacher to moderate. However, after many many requests, its been added. So far, no complaints or bug reports.

Enjoy the extra hour sleep today. Latest twiducate stat: 40,000+ users. A small milestone.

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BEIRUT: “They were so happy to have new friends,” recalls Rawya Shatila about her student’s initial reaction to embarking on an international educational collaboration with a class in Colorado.

Shatila had tried to explain to her students that they had friends in another country, but until they saw their own writing on their class’s blog, and their friend’s faces in animated videos on the internet, it hadn’t seemed real.

The collaborative project, entitled ‘Digital Stories: A Celebration of Learning and Culture’ was the brainchild of Shatila, a schoolteacher at Makassed Khalil Shehab School in Beirut and her teaching partner, Cheryl Arnett, of Sunset Elementary School in Craig, Colorado. Through the use of technologies including Wikis, blogs and online mapping tools, Shatila’s first- and second-graders and Arnett’s second-graders started to share stories and activities, forging international friendships in the process.

Shatila and Arnett first came into contact through the internet community ePals, but it wasn’t until a year later, when they scooped first prize for their project at the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum Awards in Washington this August, that they actually met face-to-face. “I felt that I had known Cheryl for a long time,” says Shatila. “Although we come from different cultures, our cooperation was very easy because of Cheryl’s openness.”

Arnett echoes her sentiments; “Meeting Rawya in person was a dream come true. It has been my greatest pleasure to know and collaborate with [her] for the past year.”

The annual Innovative Teacher awards, now in their sixth year, are given by Microsoft USA to recognize teachers who use technology creatively and effectively to improve the way their students learn. A total of 17 teams of teachers from 10 states in the US gathered in Washington this year in order to share ideas about the best practices in 21st-century learning and teaching. The winners were chosen by a judging panel made up of educators, past winners and Microsoft executives. Shatila and Arnett will now go on to represent the United States at the Worldwide Innovative Education in South Africa this autumn, joining nearly 500 teachers from 60 countries who won similar events in their regions.

Shatila has long been passionate about integrating technology into the curriculum; doing so, she says “allows us to reach all students with different abilities and learning styles. It also breaks the isolation of the classroom and helps make teaching more meaningful and fun.”

Her student’s academic performance has seen a marked improvement since the beginning of the project, and their confidence has grown also. “They’re always motivated and encouraged,” says Shatila. “For example, they want to show off their best handwriting because they know I’m going to take photos of them and post them on our blog.”

Shatila recognizes that children today are growing up in a world where technical skills are more crucial than ever before. “Our goal is to prepare them for the future by giving them the skills they need as 21st century learners. Children today are born with technology – they’re constantly entertained by things like video games – but we wanted to show them that technology can also be a device for learning, and it can be entertaining too.”

Utilizing a range of internet tools, the two teachers enabled their students to share experiences and learning across the Atlantic, increasing their global awareness of the similarities and differences between children from different countries. As Shatila says, “we were able to make our classes virtual neighbors instead of strangers on the other side of the world. Using technology, we are developing our students into global citizens – it broadens their perspective.”

The time difference is only a minor hitch; the youngsters have taken part in a range of activities to engage with their counterparts, including making animated videos using GoAnimate.com, designing posters on Glogster.com, and updating their own individual Wikis with pictures and writing.

From creating bookmarks for World Book Day, to making a recording of themselves reading the book “Flat Stanley” for their counterparts to hear, the students are constantly enthused by their classwork. Shatila is particularly excited about using the new tool twiducate, which is a free social networking resource for schools.

The Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award is not the first recognition that the Makassed Khalil Shehab School has received; the walls of Principle Ghina Hafez’ office are lined with numerous framed certificates, including one for the International School Award for International Collaboration, given by the British Council in 2009, which the school won through a similar scheme with their partner school in Scotland.

The school has a strong record of investing in technology and boasts a dedicated department for Information Technology; Shatila is eager to extend thanks to Adla Shatila, the department’s director, for her part in approving plans for acquiring new technology.

But even with the finest equipment, the collaboration sometimes falls foul of Lebanon’s precarious power situation. “We always have to have a backup plan, because sometimes the connection is too slow, or it stops, or the electricity cuts out.”

However, Shatila’s enthusiasm remains solid. She now hopes that the Innovative Teachers award – along with the two other awards she gained in Washington, Educators Choice and ePals Teacher Ambassador – will strengthen Makassed Khalil Shehab’s application to become one of the schools in the Microsoft Partners of Learning scheme. The global scheme, previously restricted to public schools, has this year been made available to private schools too, and integration in it will hopefully secure further technology funding.

Far from making them complacent, success has spurred Shatila and Arnett on to set new goals for their students in the ongoing collaboration.

They look forward to the upcoming school year and the new activities they will embark on with their students.

When in Washington together, Shatila and Arnett spent a great deal of time preparing for future projects.

“I hope that some day, my students and Cheryl’s will meet” says Shatila.

“Being connected in this way is important, so that they know that the world is one world, with one heart”

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&rticle_id=119061#ixzz0ypyVKIfU
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

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Well, its finally here. Labour Day 2010 and that means school starts tomorrow. I anxiously await the arrival of 23 new grade 8 students, who I know very well from rotary Science in grade 7. What does this mean for me?

Well, to begin, classroom rules and routines are already established.
I know about modified programs and accommodations for certain students.

These two criteria are so important and give me a huge advantage over teachers who do not teach rotary (and rotary is slowing dieing here).

So whether you start tomorrow, have started, or worse, have more holiday time left (;-) ), enjoy the time back with your students. It is the honeymoon faze where bad behaviours are almost nonexistent.

PS: twiducate broke 20,000 users last week. Its becoming difficult to keep up with all the emails I receive, but I am still enjoying it. I look forward to using it again this week.

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