1. Extending the Foreign Language Classroom
Teaching with :
The Good
Extends the classroom: Twitter increases interaction and facilitates, continues, or starts discussion
Fosters metacognition by inviting students to reflect on their own learning process
Creates a sense of community among students (and teacher). Not only did I get a better sense of how students are doing in the class but we all learned more about each other, our activities, our thoughts, our lives. It’s often the aggregate that matters
140-character limit forces students to be concise but also lowers the “affective filter” and encourages (sometimes playful) use of German
What might be trivial and banal in English is still useful practice in a foreign language
Convenient classroom management tool (for announcements and reminders, links and clarifications, questions and answers) .
Burkhard Henke Davidson College Department of German and Russian Twitter: burkhardinho
What is Twitter?
Launched in March 2006, Twitter is a social-networking application—a blogging service for minimalists, one might say, which asks the question, “What are you doing?” only to limit your response to 140 characters. You may post (or “tweet,” as it is affectionately called) in a myriad of ways. You can use the Twitter web site directly, post from other web sites, incl. Facebook, tweet via one of the many third-party applications (such as Twitterfox), or use Instant Messenger. When you’re away from your computer you can send a text message from your cell phone. Whoever is subscribed to your account (“follows you”) will instantly receive your post and may choose to reply (again, to all who “follow”). A concise introduction to Twitter can be found on YouTube (Twitter in Plain English).
The Bad
Too much self-absorbed expression in a fleeting environment?
How much can you really say in a couple of lines? And with what degree of complexity and nuance?
Not all students buy into Twitter perhaps because not all students have internet access around the clock; because receiving tweets on the cell phone may cost them money; because by assigning a grade, some students may come to view Twitter as a chore and post only for the sake of posting.
The Experiment
In the spring of 2009 I taught an independent study course, GER 298: Intermediate German Grammar, to six students of diverse proficiency. We all signed up for Twitter and followed each other throughout the semester in a closed, German-speaking environment. Students were asked to post regularly on Twitter and, in doing so, try to apply some of the grammatical structures we were learning.
Posting on Twitter accounted for 25% of the overall participation grade.
The Skinny
My experience was mixed but I see enough potential to continue using Twitter. The service does not replace conventional forms of communication and teaching but rather offers a convenient, productive extension of the classroom (also to other classrooms, perhaps, as well as abroad). Its greatest appeal lies in the ease with which it allows students to communicate. I will be careful, however, not to assign a fixed percentage of the grade to Twitter. Like all of Web 2.0, Twitter is a service whose success depends entirely on the users themselves.
Reference
Parry, David. “Twitter for Academia” (2008). Available from:
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