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Social Media in the ClassroomTumblr & Twitter

+Tumblr in the Classroom Tumblr is a popular blogging platform where users can

follow other blogs of their interest and “reblog” posts they would like to see on their own blog.

Less and less students are spending time on Facebook and are using other social media sites like Tumblr.

Tumblr has the ability to post multiple types of media which can be useful in the classroom.

+Ways to use Tumblr in the Classroom The Ask feature.

Students can go onto the teachers’ tumblr and ask them questions about assignments or classwork either as themselves or anonymously.

Teachers can also post a question to their blog that students need to answer as homework.

+Ways to use Tumblr in the Classroom Tags

Teachers can create hashtags, much like on Instagram and Twitter and use them on their posts.

Students can look up the class hashtag to see all related posts as well as other hashtags they may find interesting.

Reblogging Students can reblog interesting posts from other blogs

related to the class or posts from the teacher’s blog.

+Tumblr Assignments

Historical Figures Students will create a blog based on the thoughts and ideas

of different historical figures. This will require them to find accurate sources and put

themselves in the shoes of the people during the events they are learning about.

Current Events Students will find current event articles online and will

make a blog post about it on their tumblr. They can also add other types of media to the post that is relevant to the event.

+Twitter in the Classroom

Teachers can track hashtags like #edchat or #lrnchat (social media and education) to participate in the discussion of education or they can track hashtags for their content area like #sschat or #histedchat.

Students are used to using social media like Twitter, so it only makes sense to involve their “world” in their education.

+Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom A News Feed

Teachers can update their students with tweets about upcoming assignments or exams.

Track Hashtags Teachers can create their own hashtags for students to use,

this way all tweets regarding the class can be easily found.

#MsPortersSS

+Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom Retweeting or Quoting

Students can come across a tweet or and attached article and retweet it so their followers can see it or they can quote a tweet and add their own opinon so their followers can see it.

Access to Politics Students can follow politicians on twitter during elections,

and follow new sources to stay updated on current events.

+Twitter Assignments

Historical Figures Students will create a Twitter account of a historical figure

and tweet thoughts they may have had during their time. Students can also tweet quotes, pictures or video that are relevant to their figure.

Twhistory

Field Trip Scavenger Hunt Students will take a field trip to a historical museum, estate

or a national park. They will be required to tweet photos of certain parts of the field trip and face the challenge of writing what they learned about it in 140 characters.

+Tumblr & Twitter Limitations

Not all students have access to the internet at home and this can make it hard for them to participate in tumblr or twitter homework assignments.

The teacher will have to judge the class on their maturity with a lot of these assignments. They could misuse the hashtags or the website itself.

Connecting with students on any social media site can blurr the line between school life and personal life.