Social Media in the Classroom: Twitter better than Textbooks!

After watching this video I have got some new ideas for my classroom.

What are the benefits of social networks? Boston College Professor Jerry Kane has received a National Science Foundation career award to study the use of social media technology in the classroom and in business.

In the classroom, he has experimented with using Facebook as a classroom meeting space (not best suited, he found) and now uses a class wiki. This semester he requires students to develop quality Twitter messages to better understand the benefits. On the business side, he is examining the risks and rewards of opening business communications over a social network, weighing the more open communications with privacy comcerns.

Using wiki for group projects is a good idea. It is not new but it is still used very rarely in the classroom. I have tried that once and would like to continue this experience. Using Twitter is a brand new idea for me. I think it would be engaging experience for both me and my students.