General Overview of Twitter:

Hyperlink: The tool I chose to evaluate is Twitter. The link to get to

Twitter can be found here: www.twitter.com . Once there, you can
create your own classroom account (instructions can be found later in
this post).
My Description: Twitter is a social networking tool that can be used
for a variety of purposes, depending on the users desires and needs.
It is a way to be a producer and consumer of current information and
knowledge in the 21st Century. For this specific post, I evaluated
Twitter as a tool for use in the Kindergarten classroom.
Official Description (from Twitter.com):
The mission of the company is to give everyone the power to create
and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers
(https://about.twitter.com/company). This can be done through writing
and photos of users.
What is Twitter? Twitter is an information network made up of 140character messages called Tweets. It's an easy way to discover the
latest news related to subjects you care about.
(https://support.twitter.com/articles/215585-getting-started-withtwitter)
What is a Tweet? A tweet is an expression of a moment or idea. It can
contain text, photos, and videos that are shared in real time, every
day (https://about.twitter.com/what-is-twitter/story-of-a-tweet).
Through the tweets of others, one can read about a variety of
information. Through ones own tweet, opinions and knowledge can be
shared with others.
Where do Tweets live? When you follow people, their tweets instantly
show up in your timeline. Similarly, your tweets show up in your
followers timelines. To see interesting tweets, follow interesting
people: friends, celebrities, news, sources, or anyone whose tweets
you enjoy ((https://about.twitter.com/what-is-twitter/story-of-a-tweet).
Price/Availability: Twitter is a website that is free to use. Users just
have to simply create an account and have a valid email address to
start using Twitter.
What Does Twitter Look Like?
Please see my attached screenshot photo of my personal Twitter
account for my classroom.

(See attached photo here)

On the far left, you are able to see your profile and click to find who
you are following and who is following you. You can also compose a
new tweet here and see the trends that are popular on twitter right
now through the hashtags being used. In the middle section, you can
see your feed, which are all of the tweets from the people that you
follow. You can search for topics, people to follow, or trends in the top
search box. Twitter also gives you ideas of who to follow in the right
screen, based on the other things you follow.
I also found this page very helpful in learning about the basics of
Twitter and all that you need to know when using this tool.
https://support.twitter.com/articles/215585-getting-started-with-twitter
Review of Twitter:
Rationale for Tool Evaluation: I chose to review Twitter because a
lot of teachers at my school use it as a learning tool for themselves.
Some even use Twitter in their classrooms with older students (5th and
6th Grade). I use Twitter personally for my news, entertainment, and
professional development. However, I wanted to continue to think
about the ways that Twitter could be used in the classroom by my
younger students. 21st Century learning is something that I am
passionate about teaching, even in the youngest classrooms. As
students of todays world, they must be prepared for the type of digital
reading and writing which will be required for their futures.
You can see from my rubric that I chose to evaluate the following
criteria: Ease of use for teacher and student, adaptability for
instruction to fit learner needs, appropriateness/content for students,
privacy adaptations, relevance to the curriculum, potential for student
engagement, and global citizenry support. I wanted a tool that could
be adaptable to use in the classroom in ways that could be catered to
fit teacher and student needs. The ability to have privacy and security
was also important to me when working with young children. I wanted
a tool that promotes student engagement and provides students with
opportunities to understand the global world around them.
My Review:
When looking at my evaluation, you will see that I found many pros to
using Twitter in the classroom. It met my expectations for ease of use

with a teacher. However, when thinking about using it with younger

students, teacher support is critical. Twitter is not a tool that students
can use on their own at my grade level. However, with teacher
support I know that much can be done in the classroom to promote
literacy learning within students. Overall, Twitter is a wonderful
platform for students to connect with others all over the world with
teacher support. The adaptability of this tool exceeded my
expectations. As a teacher, you can decide the ways you want to use
Twitter depending on the goals you have for your students. You can
follow virtually anyone on Twitter, such as favorite authors, kids news
sites, companies, and other classrooms around the world. Depending
on your goals, you can use Twitter in many ways to promote student
learning. When concerned about privacy and safety for your students,
I was able to explore the ways that you can change settings on your
account. You can choose exactly who follows your classroom account
and who can see your information. You can also choose exactly whom
you want your classroom account to follow. There is also a setting
which allows you be informed about any media that might be
sensitive material, limiting the risk of students seeing something
inappropriate. When thinking about the early literacy development in
students, I think that Twitter once again allows many options for
teachers to use it as they please. Students can read the ideas from
others through Twitter, as well as produce their own writing through it.
I suggest when working with the youngest students, start practicing
tweeting on paper once students are familiar with the site. Students
will feel empowered that their opinions and ideas are being shared with
others through Twitter in an authentic reading and writing task.
Students will be engaged in their learning through an authentic task
that has meaning. They will be able to use Twitter as a way to connect
with others as they begin to learn the importance of a global
community.
(Please see attached Rubric to view my full review of Twitter)
It is never too early to begin exploring technology and digital literacy in
the classroom to help our students become engaged and passionate
learners. Learning from materials for this class, I have only become
even more committed to preparing our students for the future. In
Vasquez and Feldermans Technology and Critical Literacy in Early
Childhood, they explain that children today are born and inducted into
a world in which new technologies and new forms of communication
are widespread (Vasquez and Felderman, 2013, p. 2). Twitter is one
such new space where children can produce and reproduce identities
and enter global online communities (Vasquez an Felderman, 2013, p.
2). Although bringing technology into the classroom can seem like a

daunting task, they explain that we must give our students sufficient
space within current curriculum frameworks to support their learning
(Vasquez and Felderman, 2013, p. 3). Additionally, Troy Hicks text,
Crafting Digital Media, supports the importance of teaching digital
media and exposing our students to their world. While there is
undoubtedly still a place for crayons, pencils, and paper in our
classrooms, we must also bring technology to our students. I love
when he says that the question is no longer whether we should use
technology to teach writing; instead we must focus on the many ways
that we must use technology to teach writing(Hicks, 2013, p. 2).
Whether teaching reading, writing, social networking, or
communicating, Twitter is a 21st Century tool that provides limitless
learning to students depending on the ways the teacher uses it. I
decided to evaluate this social networking tool from a Kindergarten
teachers perspective to further develop how I will want to use it in my
classroom. I hope that my ideas are helpful to others too who wish to
help their students become netizens in our ever-changing world.
Teaching our students to read the world critically through Twitter, as
well as develop their identities and share their ideas with others can be
adjusted to fit the needs of a teacher and his/her students. As
students learn to communicate and understand the world around
them, I believe Twitter can be a useful tool in many ways as they
become fluent in digital literacies.
Comparable Resources:
From my research, there are few comparable tools that accomplish the
same things that Twitter can. There are digital social networking tools
that are designed specifically with students in mind. However, I think
Twitter is better because of the amount of people and diversity
available on the site. For example, almost all companies, authors,
news sources, etc. have Twitter accounts. If you want your students to
be able to reach others through social networking, I believe that Twitter
is the best option. The use of Twitter in the classroom allows room for
teachers to adjust its use depending on the goals for learning,
curriculum, and current topics of study. Twitter allows students to
practice digital literacy skills that are relevant to their world today.
Reading, analyzing, developing ideas, and forming opinions can
happen through Twitter. In addition, practicing tweeting in a
Kindergarten classroom helps develop new writing skills. With teacher
support, students can practice using their early writing skills in the
form of a tweet and contribute their thoughts and opinions to the
larger world.
Using the website from Common Sense Media, I was able to learn
about other social networking tools for children. This website was

helpful because it allowed me to explore other tools similar to Twitter,

and it has ratings by teachers. For example, there is a tool called
Yoursphere (yoursphere.com), which is a social networking tool for
children only. I like the amount of security that comes from this tool,
however it cannot do some of the same things as Twitter. Its website
says the following: Yoursphere Media's education nonprofit, FCISER,
engages community educators and industry leaders in empowering
schools and families with healthy digital solutions. This site is
committed to children having their voices heard and participating in a
global community, and it is also free. Another tool I learned about is
called Kidzworld. (kidzworld.com). This social networking tool takes
privacy very seriously and is the founder is passionate about children
using digital tools to express themselves. While reading about various
other tools for social networking, I still think that Twitter is the best
option. Although children are sharing writing and reading the writing
of others through these similar tools, the diversity of people (both that
you follow and that follow you) is definitely not as open and broad as
on Twitter. With Twitter, you will have to be more careful with
monitoring security and privacy settings, but I think these extra efforts
are worth it for the amount of producing and consuming of information
that will occur within your classroom for your students.
Getting Started: Classroom Applications
After completing my evaluation for Twitter in the Kindergarten
classroom and thinking about the ways to incorporate it, I found all of
the English Language Arts Standards that could apply to Twitters use
in the classroom with Kindergarten students, depending on the various
possible ways that you use it in your classroom.
ELACCKRL4 Craft and Structure: Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a
text.
ELACCKRI1 Key Ideas and Details: With prompting and support, ask and answer
questions about key details in a text.
ELACCKRI4 Craft and Structure: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions
about unknown words in a text.
ELACCKRI10 Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity: Actively engage in
group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
ELACCKRF1 Print Concepts: Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic
features of print.

ELACCKRF2 Phonological Awareness: Demonstrate understanding of spoken words,

syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
ELACCKW1 Text Types and Purposes: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and
writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the
book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book
(e.g., My favorite book is . . .).
ELACCKW2 Text Types and Purposes: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and
writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are
writing about and supply some information about the topic.
ELACCKW3 Text Types and Purposes: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and
writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in
the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.
ELACCKW5 Production and Distribution of Writing: With guidance and support from
adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen
writing as needed.
ELACCKW6 Production and Distribution of Writing: With guidance and support from
adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in
collaboration with peers.
ELACCKW8 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: With guidance and support
from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided
sources to answer a question.
ELACCKSL1 Comprehension and Collaboration: Participate in collaborative
conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and
adults in small and larger groups.
ELACCKL2 Conventions of Standard English: Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
ELACCKL4 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Determine or clarify the meaning of
unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and
content.
ELACCKL6 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Use words and phrases acquired through
conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
How Can You Get Started?
To help you understand the basics of Twitter, I found this article very helpful:
https://support.twitter.com/articles/215585-getting-started-with-twitter

Additionally, I can help you get started too with my own instructions based on my use of
Twitter and how it can be used in the classroom.
Just go to Twitter.com, and set up an account using a valid email address. Because you
will be using a classroom account, you might choose to name your Twitter account
something that encompasses your whole class (for example, @MissTKindergarten or
@EastsideKindergarten). The nice thing about Twitter is that you can adapt the way you
use it in your classroom depending on your specific goals.Iwouldbeginyourclassroom
useofTwitterbyspendingafewdaystoexplorethesiteasagroupandhavediscussions
aboutTwitter,writingtoanaudience,andsharingideaswithothers.Havingafew
accountsalreadyinyourfeedpriortoexploringTwittertogetherwillbeabletoshow
yourstudentshowotherpeoplecangetinformationtoothersinsocialnetworks.Have
discussionswithyourstudentsaboutthepurposeofsocialnetworking,sharing
informationwithothers,andfindingoutnewinformation.Themaingoalatfirstisfor
yourstudentsunderstandthatTwitterisaplaceforpeopletoshareideas,connectwith
eachother,andgetinformationtoothers.
Some Ideas for Literacy Instruction using Twitter in Kindergarten Classroom:
-Using Twitter as a platform for reading and writing throughout the year
-Allowing students to tweet about parts of their day to practice early writing skills
-Having students tweet to a favorite author about a book read in class
-Using Twitter as journal that allows the class to share their thoughts on a particular
subject
-Communicating with places/organizations that the students will visit on field trips
-Learning how to respond to the thoughts of others through a tweet
-Connecting with other children around the world to learn about other cultures
-Having a Tweeter of the Day who helps the teacher write thoughts about learning
throughout the day via Twitter
-Researching a topic of interest together as a class
Who to follow: other classrooms in your school, classrooms around the world, favorite
authors, field trip organizations, news for kids, community service organizations
Additional Resources that helped me do research on using Twitter in
the elementary classroom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEI_4lfKGFo

http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/578-tips-for-teachers-touse-twitter-in-elementary-classrooms
References:
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting Web Texts. In crafting digital writing: Composing texts
across media and genres. Portsmith, NH: Heinemann.
Vasquez, V. & A. Felderman C. (2013). Technology and critical literacy in early
childhood. New York: Taylor & Francis.