Hi Anna, Twitter opens very different avenues because of the brevity in messages. It has amazing possibilities for new interactions with students.
Hope you are having a great summer and thanks so much for your comment.
Robyn I did not know that twitter was so powerful, such a simple networking site. On the other hand I heard that because of facebook students get lower grades, and I can believe that. Hope all is well with you, sorry have not been around a lot. Anna 
Thanks, Chris. I've got another blog brewing as we speak. I enjoy the many facets of your work in branding and marketing, since you provide excellent tips.
Robyn:
Missed your posts. Great to see you back posting again.
Have a great weekend!
Chris
Hi Derek, welcome to Brain Based Biz. Interestingly, I have also read research that teens have not entered Twitter as much as older generations, but as I saw the excitement of students in the videos which are included in my links, I saw another side. And, many of these were 18 - 22 year old university students.
Much of my work focuses on possibilities so I like to find ways past problems. Once students see this can make learning in school exciting, I notice that they jump right in. It is just not used as traditionally as what you might experience as an adult using it to market, for instance.
My plan is to explore the possibilities of several other social media platforms as teaching and learning tools as well. I did not mention other social media in this particular blog because I wanted to keep the focus on Twitter. Stay tuned.
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a thoughtful comment.
Lee, thanks so much for taking time to share your interest in using Twitter as a teaching and learning tool. Glad to see the research you've done and some of the initial results you've had. Glad to see you dig into the aspect of what schools are using Twitter as a teaching tool and what teachers are doing with it. Keep up your good work and keep us posted.
Be sure to check out Lee's article at: http://macmomma.blogspot.com/200...-it-
really.html
I think that Twitter is a great tool for teachers and professional development.
However, most research in the youth sociology and media community has found that teens aren't really into Twitter.
So if teens don't like Twitter, perhaps it might be a better idea to use other forms of social technology in the classroom that they will actually be excited to use.
Here's a blog post I wrote with sort of 'literature review' on the topic of teens and twitter.
http://bit.ly/2mbU1
Ramana, I really missed writing. I appreciate your kind greeting today!
Ramana, Twitter is about saying much in few words [140 characters]. If you want to share a bit about your current projects, your thoughts for the day, a quote that means something to you, you can do that. You can also ask questions to see what a vast number of folks think about a topic. If you see something that you learn from of that is meaningful to you, you can Re-Tweet it so that it gets to the people who are following you [your network].
You really have to experience Twitter for awhile to see whether or not it works well for you.
Your post is full of very valuable resources. Coincidentally, I JUST blogged about this very thing last night (http://macmomma.blogspot.com/2009/07/twitter-in-
schools-what-does-it-really.html). I am looking for concrete examples of how teachers are using Twitter. I also include a few spreadsheets where teachers can add their information if they indeed are using Twitter in their classes. Hopefully, will be a great resource for all. Thanks very much for sharing this.
~Lee
Janice, my thought is that if a teacher asked students a probing question to ask what they might do differently than a character in the book regarding an event, that would help them to probe, question, and problem solve as they answer. Added to this, if they have to be succinct to put their answer in Twitter and narrow Tweet down to 140 words, you can see that this would not be frivolous, but might do much to enhance their comprehension and thinking skills based on what they read. Perhaps that would give you just one way it might be helpful.
In fact, when learning is more fun, more students want to participate in it. 
Thanks so much for your kind words.
I use TweetDeck and find invaluable. As you start that blog by Michael Hyatt has great tips to make everything easy.
Thanks for your thoughts on the topic.
The best teachers out there are using these tactics as cutting edge strategies. They are focused in what they want to achieve with students. They're clear in how students can add voice to content. They're fair in how they engage all student voices. They're motivational in how they facilitate higher achievement through approaches in Twitter that learners value. Wow -- we may finally be breaking through the impasse in learning circles!
Great post and interesting discussion. Thanks Robyn and all! Count me in
Incidentally, nice to have you back and blogging!
Since everyone and his uncle uses twitter, I too joined up, but for the world of it, I can't find what it is all about!
Brad, as I looked at Twitter with creative eyes and know that many teens are turned off at school, I saw it as a tool that can expand the mind. To say something significant about a topic in 140 words or less takes thought and cognitive reasoning. It could fire this for teens currently bored in many classes. It takes good teaching skills, on the other hand, to use a tool like this so that quality shines. My thought is that it will bring attention from many who lost it along the way. For top students who already read much and achieve well, it will be an added dimension for them to share ideas. The one thing I do like is that normally in the span of an hour, there's only time for a few voices to be heard, but with this tool, teachers have opportunity to hear from the whole class. Amazing when you think of it.
You asked a great question. I enjoy your curiosity.
Hi Robyn,
Good to have you back!I have the same concern as Brad. My kids are readers and can 'disappear' for hours into books so I'm not worried about them, but I've noticed a worrying amount of folk rejecting blogs that are 'too long', claiming as their reason that they prefer skimmable reading.
This was a stomping post,really useful, impressive and worth bookmarking! (I'll tweet it if I find an easy button! I JOINED!!)I think, given my need for filing and organising information, that tweetdeck's the place for me to start.
Thank you!
Robyn, Teachers are getting into Twitter? Did not know that. I can see all the benefits, but do you think it will further erode attention spans?
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