I'll admit that my blog has suffered due to my focus on other classes, but I'm posting today to make sure that I've got four posts up by next week! Look for a post or two this weekend as well. On to the blog post!
For me, the idea of incorporating Twitter into a lesson is intriguing. Twitter allows students to voice concerns without anxiety and lets the class collectively discuss issues that might have otherwise been skimmed over in the classroom. The idea of a group of engaged students listening to a lecture while simultaneously discussing their own ideas could allow for unprecedented levels of class participation. For instance, I'm currently writing a blog post on the merits of in-class Tweeting while listening to Prof. Stanzler explain the Point-Counterpoint assignment. Though my attention is admittedly divided between the two, I am confident that I am retaining all necessary information while writing about ideas directly related to the course. One could argue that I'm doubly engaged in 504 content!
Of course, somebody else could argue that I'm only HALF engaged in 504 content. If my blog post were considered weakly reasoned or if I end up bombarding Prof. Stanzler with questions about the Point-Counterpoint assignment, a reasonable individual could suggest that my attempt to multi-task was detrimental to my performance in both avenues. If focusing on one blog post can be so distracting, imagine the impact of focusing on a number of Twitter discussions involving dozens of participants. The fact that I could just as easily be writing a blog post about skateboarding or surfing the internet only exacerbates the problem. I may be overly cynical, but I feel that a group of high school/early college students is likely to get off track fairly quickly.
P.S. I was able to easily follow the Point-Counterpoint discussion regarding video games in learning while blogging...but I missed my chance to make a comment in class.
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Thanks for the thoughtful and provocative comment, Sam. Maybe once you've established a rapport with your students you could experiment once or twice with, say tweeting or IMing during class as a "backchannel," and then talk with your students afterwards about the extent to which it was beneficial, and the extent to which is was a distraction. Maybe you could overtly enlist your students in helping you to try out ideas, with the expectation that you would "debrief"
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