Honestly, I neither think nor see how Twitter can really help teaching and learning activities in schools. However, while reading my Tweeter feed, I found this inspiring blog of a Grade 1 teacher named Kristen Wideen from Canada that encourages the use of social media in her classroom. She shared some examples of how to use Twitter in literacy, math, and science. It’s interesting to see how a teacher can integrate the use of Twitter with Grade 1 students! I know some people don’t agree with early exposure of social media with children. But, perhaps early introduction of social media tools can help children experience the advantages of the tools as well as become aware of the ‘danger’ of it.
One of the teacher’s example that I really like is how she uses Karen Lirenman’s #MathStory to encourage her student to create and post math problems for other students to answer. Read more here.
Here’s her recent blog post on Using Social Media as Teaching Tool.
Let’s check it out!
Thinking about Web 2.0 
That’s definitely an interesting idea. Showing kids at a young age about all of these social networks and technology can be a good way of getting them to understand what is good and what is bad about them. It is evident that technology is the big “thing” right now. New technology is being added in our lives each day. And many organizations and corporations are becoming more and more dependent on technology. It can be very beneficial for children, as well as organizations, if kids learn how to use these tools as a young age.
Personally, I think Twitter is best used as a personal learning network/professional development tool. Building a network and learning from what they share can be pretty powerful. So, teachers may not teach lessons using Twitter, but may get lesson ideas and find resources on Twitter.