I’m enthused to announce that I have an article about using MySpace in the classroom in the current issue of Rethinking Schools. I’ve been reading Rethinking Schools pretty much cover to cover since I started teaching and it’s the only teacher’s magazine that doesn’t make me gag when I pick it up. I’m thrilled by the editorial staff behind the magazine and they have all been extremely helpful throughout this process (and it’s been a long one – this article’s been finished for some time now).

A sidebar I wrote for the article on the use of Twitter didn’t make it into the paper. I’m offering it below. Twitter is getting plenty of higher ed discussion (at least according to my rss reader), but I’ve yet to see this convo move toward primary and secondary education – as is too often the case. I encourage you to subscribe to Rethinking Schools not because I’m published in it, but because it’s the best magazine about teaching I know of.

A Word about the Participation Gap and Twitter
Most frustrating about the increasing reliance many students have on the Web 2.0 is the fact that not all of my students have regular access to the Internet. Additionally, most of the recreational sites my students enjoy like MySpace and YouTube are blocked by the school’s Internet service. In the same way that we are struggling with the Achievement Gap, Henry Jenkins at MIT points to the increasing presence of the Participation Gap. While my school has numerous computers for students to use, time is obviously limited to research and school-related work. A large portion of my students are being left behind while others are gaining the kinds of crucial online literacy skills (chatting, blogging, and creating video content) that the future job market will rely upon.

At the moment, my current solution to this is a fairly new contender in online social networking: Twitter. Unlike MySpace and Facebook, Twitter doesn’t offer a complicated interface for users to customize. Instead, it asks one simple question: “What are you doing?” It only allows users to post messages that are 140 characters or shorter. Other Twitter users are updated with whatever is posted and users are encouraged to reply to one another. It’s a simple model and because of a crucial factor, it is going to overtake MySpace within my classroom: Twitter updates can be sent both through the website and also through text messaging. While not all of my students are able to log on to the Internet at home, cell phones are ubiquitous at my school.

The in class possibilities are limitless, and I’m still experimenting with ways to incorporate Twitter within my class. In addition to being another way for students to get in contact with me, homework assignments can be sent through the network: “Provide a one sentence reflection on tonight’s reading” for instance. Because of its reliance on brevity (140 characters don’t go very far), teaching students about summarizing, paraphrasing, and creating concise thesis statements all seem suited for the Twitter interface. Most importantly, because students can see each other’s work, the site promotes cooperation and a collaborative learning experience. Through Twitter, my students are gaining the kinds of precious online participatory skills they desperately need while also taking ownership over the in-class curriculum.