Benefits+to+Use

BENEFITS TO USE
There are a variety of discussions in both professional literature and on the Internet concerning the possible uses of Twitter in education. This section outlines those uses which are beneficial to the classroom.

In a paper presented at the eLearning and Software for Education Conference in 2008, Grosseck and Holotescu outlined the following beneficial uses to Twitter in the classroom setting:


 * ===**Classroom Community**===
 * Having a teacher and students engage via Twitter fosters a sense of classroom community that reaches beyond the physical classroom. It also makes the students feel as if their teacher is more accessible than would be allowed in a traditional classroom.


 * ===**Collaboration**===

[[image:3389565299_39fa30e22f.jpg width="481" height="362" align="right" caption="Graphic from Flickr illustrating the collaborative power of Twitter."]]

 * Both students and teachers can collaborate via Twitter. Students can provide feedback during assignments (formative assessment) on their own time and terms. Teachers can contact with one another via Twitter and collaborate across subject areas**.**


 * ===**Project Management**===
 * Teachers can use Twitter as a tool to manage group projects. Students can tweet within their group and also tweet with a teacher for clarification as project issues arise.


 * ===**Conferencing**===
 * Teachers and students can connect via Twitter to discuss issues that relate to the classroom setting. This can be an opportunity to provide feedback (public, not private) to the student in a setting which allows for positive reinforcement.


 * ===**Metacognition**===
 * Teachers and students can discuss through classroom and assignment issues so that they can develop a sense of metacognition (recognition of how one thinks) by later reviewing tweets and understanding their thought processes**.**


 * ===**Research/Reference**===
 * Teachers can answer student questions outside of the physical classroom as students encounter issues. This can be used in other settings within the school, including by librarians and administrators, to answer questions in real-time.


 * ===**Personal Learning Networks**===
 * Teachers and students can develop a Personal Learning Network (PLN) which not only includes one another but also experts within their subject areas so that they can access the knowledge of these collective professionals.