Microblogging in Education

As a future ESL teacher and a graduate student, I think it is important to be part of the microblogging world.  In the article Integrating ICT into the MFL Classroom, I was able to get a whole bunch of new ideas about useful ways I can use twitter as a teacher.  First of all, it gives us the opportunity to communicate with other ESL professionals.  It is a place where information is shared and where questions can be asked and answered.  It keeps you connected and gives you the ability to join and engage in conversation with other ESL teachers and mentors.  After reading the article 28 Creative Ways Teachers Are Using Twitter, I was able to get a better understanding of twitter and plenty of new and innovative ideas for my future classroom.  By using twitter, I will be able to give my students instant feedback(real time).  Another good reason to use it in an ESL classroom is enabling discussion and conversation outside of the classroom.  This is really important because it gives students the option to continue their English learning process outside of school. It doesn't have to stop when class stops! Share a story is another way I will integrate microblogging in my ESL classroom. The first student will tweet a sentence and each student thereafter will build onto each sentence all through twitter! This gives the students the opportunity to be creative and to work together with their peers while at the same time allowing me to monitor their stories and give them feedback. I am looking forward to exploring all of the endless possibilities that twitter has to offer as a professional and a future ESL teacher.