Twitter: Moving the Back of the Class Forward Through Backchannels

May 13, 2011 by Paul Richlovsky

A New York Times article today looked at teachers who use Twitter and other “backchannel” technologies in the classroom to enhance participation. While most people (and educators) might be skeptical of the merits, Trip Gabriel points out the benefits that some teachers see in the form of increased student participation. He cites one high school class in Detroit where participation in a class of 30 was thought to be up around 66% when backchannels were used.

The other answer to the skeptics’ fears that having Twitter in class would negatively affect learning—as cited in a recent Pearson survey (PDF) by the Times—you are more likely to keep students on task if they are engaged with the technology for an educational purpose. The big argument of pro-backchannel users is that you harness students’ interest through technology instead of prohibiting it. While the hope that giving students freedom to do classwork through Twitter would make them less likely to use the technology for non-class purposes is a bit defeatist, it does strike me as a realistic way to properly incorporate social media in school. Instead of being afraid of technology or going retrograde in a society and economy where digital communication is increasingly important, everybody wins.