It seems that many counties have opted to ban/block or discourage the use of Twitter, or any Social Media tool for that matter, as Twitter can leave students open to a range of different problems.  The interesting question is of course: Shouldn’t we use Twitter in the classroom so that students learn how to use it well and about potential issues with social media so they know what to do and what to look out for?

There are some teachers and educators that do use Twitter well to engage and challenge students to learn. I have compiled a brief list of websites and videos that I feel provide good examples of how Twitter could be used effectively, I’ve even thrown in a few ‘How to Guides” for good measure.  If you come across other useful links please comment below : ) .

Websites:

K-3 Teacher Resources: a guide to using Twitter: This is a solid ‘How to’ guide for those of you new to Twitter. Excellent.

Teaching with Twitter: Steve Wheeler provides practical ideas that can be used instantly. I particularly like the idea of ‘Twitter Pals’, brilliant for MFL lessons.

Twitter at College: on encouraging two-way communication between lecturer and students.

Net Savoir: A guide to teaching with Twitter : fantastic ideas! Revision tool, why not?

25 Ways of Using Twitter in the Classroom: great list of practical ideas for use in your classroom by @tombarrett

Professors experiment with Twitter in classroom : on how  students have increased understanding of the potential of social media in education and business

Using Twitter to facilitate discussion: interesting post on group work and Twitter

Micro-blogging in education (BECTA March 2009) : brilliant and thorough article on micro-blooging by @NeilAdam

Videos:

Teaching with Twitter from Chronicle.com

Twitter in Plain English

Twitter Search in Plain English

Extract from Exam Class Toolkit - how to create engaging lessons that ensure progression and results (Watkin & Ahrenfelt)

Sticky = understandable, memorable and effective in changing thought or behaviour.

Two big questions needs to be addressed by teachers each lesson:

• What’s the point of the lesson?
• Why should it matter – will it matter to the students?

It may seem obvious to many but it can be easy to forget when you have taught the same topic for several years. Why should they care that V. Frankl lost his manuscript on psychological well-being; that A bag of butter popcorn contains 37 grams of fat; that Einstein’s theory of relativity does not mean that everything is relative or that the skills of communication and synthesis are probably the most important skills they need in life? Those are fair questions. If we cannot provide a good enough explanation then what is the point?

Some lessons seem to ‘stick’ in students memories more than others, why? If we think about it, some information, facts, ‘knowledge’ is inherently interesting, whilst some will be inherently uninteresting. The million-dollar question is of course how we can ensure that all (or at least most – let’s be realistic!) lessons stick. For example, how do we get students to care about being healthy; relate to life in Warsaw ghetto in 1943; get them to really understand the notion of a mathematical function?

The brothers Chip and Dan Heath have explored the idea why some messages stick and why some disappear. They argue that the main reason why people, such as teachers, fail to create effective and memorable – ‘sticky’ – lessons is because what they call ‘The Curse of Knowledge’[1]. This refers to the notion that educators and presenters of information sometimes fail to see that abstractions, the wealth of knowledge which they have and which makes sense to them, may not make sense to the students. If you try playing the ‘tappers and listeners’ game you will quickly see how this problem could make it difficult to teach students:

Think of a tune, say Penny Lane, then tap the song using your hands on a table to another person – the ‘listener’. They now have to guess which tune you have in your head based on the rhythm being tapped.

If you tried this with another person you will see that they cannot guess what song you were tapping. Research at Stanford University, USA, discovered that tappers predicted that 50% of listener would be successful in guessing their tune. In fact, only 2.5% of listeners guessed correctly. Why did this happen? According to the Heath brothers ‘the problem is that tappers have been given knowledge (the song title) that makes it impossible for them to know what it is like to lack that knowledge’[2], so the isolated taps that are so clear to the tapper make little sense to the listener . As teachers we are particularly good at combating this problem and we do so everyday. However, there are still aspects of this challenge, areas of our subjects, which we may find difficult to deal with so that students can conceptualise, comprehend or be able to retain what we teach them. If we are to ensure that our lessons become memorable and therefore ‘sticky’, according to the authors, we need to consider six simple principles:

• Simplicity
• Unexpectedness
• Concreteness
• Credibility
• Emotions
• Stories

Some of these may seem fairly obvious to some (maybe you?). However, it is worth examining them in detail. Let us take a look at a few examples.

Simplicity:

What is the core that students need to understand, the golden nugget, and how can you ensure they understand it? If you think about the topic ‘Titanic’ issues such as inequalities, poverty and social despair might surface. However, if you start the first in a series of lessons investigating the socio-economic problems of late Victorian period, you might see the enthusiastic spark disappear in many of the students’ faces. The core is of course social inequalities, but how will you reach the students? Titanic sank two hours and forty minutes after setting sail and 1,517 people died most of them from the working class. Why? Simple.

Unexpectedness:

This one seems fairly obvious. Suppose you shock them with a terrifying story or image…that is unexpected, but that does not give them the key ingredient which they seek: insight. Instead, get the students’ interest by stimulating their curiosity through showing them there is a gap in their knowledge – how will it turn out? What is the answer? Using Thinking Skills mysteries in the classroom will achieve just that. There are lots of fantastic examples of how effective these can be, some of which are mentioned in this book (see p. xx-xx for an example of how they can be used in Modern Foreign Languages) and some which are published online.[3]

Concreteness:

Students’ experience of education can become abstract particularly during transition phases such as the beginning of their GCSE and A-Level, or when new units of work commence. Therefore, it is crucial that we make our messages, why it matters, clear to our students. In 1992, Art Silverman came across a situation where he had to make a seemingly abstract problem concrete which the general public would understand and remember. He worked for a charity which sought to educate the public about nutrition. He had been asked to inform people about the dangers of eating traditional cinema popcorn as a medium sized bag contained 37 grams of saturated fat. Such a statement would obviously change people’s cinema habits no doubt – ‘no more popcorn for me! The reality was of course much different. Eating this amount of fat is clearly very bad for you but the message was not concrete enough for anyone to really understand that it was dangerous. Silverman had a light-bulb moment. The charity called a press conference in which he explained:

A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighbourhood movie theatre contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon and eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings-combined![4]

Credibility:

Making sure that students believe what you tell them generally is not a problem. Some research has suggested, however, that students more readily trust online material before teachers.[5] Therefore, testing hypothesis is an important part of exam classes learning so they understand that ‘facts’ vary from source to source. If you asked students to decide which source of information is the most trust worthy which one would they choose Encyclopaedia Britannica or Wikipedia? Would they even trust information from Wikipedia? Research was carried out which compared the validity, the credibility, of Encyclopaedia Britannica (which costs to subscribe to) and Wikipedia (which is free). Interestingly, there was very little difference in the content both resources provided.[6] By giving them the challenge to test a problem, students are more ready to believe as they are in fact assessing its credibility and make an internal judgement about its trustworthiness.

Emotions:

If we had time we could customise every example we gave to ensure students relate to our messages e.g. adding their names and names of their friends to maths examples. This would of course be next to impossible. Instead we need to try to give them more general examples without losing the opportunity for them to care. As a history teacher in Britain we have to, and rightly should, teach about the Holocaust. This is one example of how one school started the unit:

Question 1. How many people were killed during the Holocaust during the 1940s?

a)      1 million

b)      4 million

c)      6 million

d)     19 million

How far do you think students were able to relate to this tragic period in history? Not far. In fact, how could they relate to the deaths of more than six million Jews at all? Here is another example:

Fill a page with dots (full stops size 20, bold) and you will have approx. 600 dots and photocopy it 10 ten times. Give students a small piece of paper (no more than 2×2 cm) and ask them to draw one small dot for every person they know. Explain that most people probably have between 15-30 people they know incl. classmates, neighbours, family and friends, and that as a class you have about 600 people you know. If you put together everyone from school you will probably have several 1000s. Now scatter the A4 sheets across the classroom, nonchalantly, and explain that these sheets contain 6000 dots (names of people) and that in order to get the full extent of the number of people murdered you need to multiply this by 1000. Penny tends to drop after that.

Stories:

“We have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord’s prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.”[7]

Do you remember what Frankl lost, which was mentioned at the start of this section? Maybe, possibly not. If we had told you the following story then you probably would have remembered:

Victor Frankl and his wife were arrested together with hundreds of other Jews in 1942, Vienna, Austria. Unbeknown to many, Frankl had developed a new theory of psychological well-being. Both he and his wife had anticipated what would happen to them so they had sewn the manuscript of the book he was writing into the lining of his coat. Victor and his wife Tilly were later transported to Auschwitz and the manuscript was eventually found and destroyed. Frankl began re-writing his work from scratch on bits of paper and he had to endure the death of his entire family – his wife, brother, mother and father all died in the concentration camp. When the allies liberated his camp in 1946 he had completed what was to become one of the most influential books of all time according to the New York Times – A Man’s Search for Meaning.[8]

We know that planning all lessons based on a series of principles may not be possible all the time. However, by considering these ideas, coupled with lashings of our own creativity, we can produce powerful, purposeful lessons which contain enriching tasks that will ensure skills and learning progression for all classes.

[2] Ibid. p. 20

[3] Please visit this website for great Thinking Skills activities: http://www.innovativeict.net/examples

[4] C. Heath & D. Heath, Sticking to it, Association Now, February 2007

[5] Haydn, T * Counsell, C History and ICT (Routledge)  p.

[6] See Chapter 2 p. xx – xx for a more detailed look at using online material and a further discussion on the comparison between Encyclopaedia Britannica and Wikipedia

[7] V. Frankl (2000) A Man’s Search for Meaning, Beacon Press

[8] M. Scully, Viktor Frankl at Ninety: An Interview, www.FirstThings.com (April 1995).

I was once told that we should never judge a students’ presentation of work only the work itself.  So in a History homework for example I would only focus on the actual writing: the argument, analysis, evaluation and how effectively the student has reached a reasoned conclusion etc. These issues are the norm and should be expected. I disregarded a student’s design of the piece of work for many years until very recently. I know do both. I grade the answer and comment on the presentation of the work, whatever this might be.

Why should we do this unless we teach subjects where design is involved? If we don’t then it confirms to the student that as long as the content of the work is good then it doesn’t matter if they’ve stood on it and that they’ve left doodles about their girlfriend across the page. Is it too profound to suggest that without all of our attention (from whatever subject area) about design they will not be able to sell their own ideas to a prospective employers? A 21st Century individual is very much concerned about design just take a look around your workplace or your own home. If you are a great singer that doesn’t mean that you will make it; you also need the right image. A perfect example of this is American Idol or, the British equivalent The X Factor, where amazing singers front the stage only to find out that they simply have not got the ‘look’ they are seeking.

Of course I’m not saying that students need to ‘sell’ their ideas to their teachers, but it doesn’t harm if they can learn to present their work in a professional fashion which later in life might lead to something great. If they are to face the ever-competitive labour market they need more than just ‘an answer’.

Making students see the bigger picture is difficult but crucial. Using overview early in the course, say, when you introduce a new topic or Unit is an ideal way of getting them thinking about the ‘story’ of what you’re doing. Re-visiting these overviews are also important so students can see where they are heading, particularly if you are teaching a thematic or synoptic approach; how will students grasp why peasants across 1855-1956 link with Russian ‘empire’ or ‘nationalities’; or how policing in the 1750s connect with the thinking of the period.

We work hard at creating activities that makes overviews matter to students – getting them thinking about how the smaller picture ‘slots in’ with the bigger.

Here’s an example of encouraging them to consider just that. What do you think? How do you do it? How important are overviews and bigger pictures in your subject?

Pecha-Kucha, or ‘chatter’ is a method of presenting using visuals which was first introduced by two Australian architects in 2003 who sought to keep presentatiosn tight and focused.

20×20 6:40

The rules are simple:

• create a PowerPoint presentation, or using Keynote, with 20 images lasting for 20 seconds, as you tell the story in sync with the pictures. Your presentation will only last for 6 minute and 40 seconds. Slides will play automatically (panic!) so when the last slide has been shown it’s all over… Nice and simple.

Give student a good topic ot theme which requires them to think about the bigger picture e.g. How did Stalin consolidate his power? They then have to use 20 images which demonstrate their understanding. The limitations imposed on them will enable them to focus on:

• evaluating the theme
• carefully select and rank which elements are the most significant to answering the question
• demonstrate clear judgment on on broad questions

Pecha-Kucha is a fantastic way of making it difficult for students to ‘go deep’ in their presentations – they will have to do that during their research. Also, their audience will have to ‘dig deep’ in order for them to see the bigger picture. The whole class will therefore improve their skills.

Encouraging independent learning with exam classes is hard. There is not time, they may not do the work and there is not time…time… It does take a while for students to learn to work on their own and it requires a lot of practice in KS3 for it to work effectively. However, the biggest problem is not really time, but that that we do not trust students to do the work properly. If we set them a task which listens to what they have to say; encourage what they wish to achieve and provide them with enough space and time then the results will follow. The following activity took around six lessons and we only focused on ‘witchcraft’ as part of Crime and Punishment. Witchcraft is only 15 marks on the exam. We spent 6 hours + 3 hours homework. It worked.

Teacher:

What do you think of their choice of question?

Jordan:

Well, it’s ‘big’, you can infer things, you can analyse… it’s a very good question. There’s not like one simple answer, just like a knowledge

question ‘who did what, when…’, you can like expand on this one and take it further.

This is a brief outline of what we did with some of our Year 10 groups. We have used this exact approach with Year 9 – 13 and it works every time. They were given these criteria to follow:

• learning has to take place which would be identified during their Q&A
• session incl. plenary
• focus on engaging the class
• create and employ resources (incl. the use of the Interactive Whiteboard) in a functional and imaginative way.

Lesson 1:

Questions (30 minutes)

During the initial lesson I got two students to interview each other about a recent holiday:

Callum: Where did you go?

Beth: Italy.

Callum: How long did you go for?

Beth: One week.

Callum: Was it fun?

Beth: Yes.

We wanted them to gain awareness of the difficulty in building an enquiry which was both challenging but also gave students to the opportunity to analyze and evaluate historical issues. The class quickly realised the problems with the questions posed.

Groups were split into max 3-4. Students were asked to list the Main Topics in their books:

1. Life in the 1600s (incl. major events)
2. Origins of Witchcraft as a crime
3. Escalation
4. The End
5. Matthew Hopkins in east Anglia
6. Persecution of witches 1400-1600s

We then discussed Bloom’s Taxonomy (see attachment below) and how thinking evolves in different stages and how they can learn to progress on their own. Examples were given about how their thinking move from e.g. ‘knowledge’ , ‘comprehension’ to application and analysis. The main issues about the topic of witchcraft were handed out and students had to decide which topic they wanted to examine, rather than the teacher giving out topics. This way groups got to study what they really wanted. If there were duplicates of topics chosen then those groups had to discuss the possibility of changing to another topic.

Groups were given 10 minutes to think of a number of questions (approx. 3-5), using Bloom’s Taxonomy as guidance, one of which could become a potential Key Question. Discussion ensued about what type of questions they had written down and what characterize a challenging question. Groups commented on the suitability and limitations of some of the examples given. One student noted that “if you ask a ‘when’ question then it’s difficult to move away from simply listing ideas and that we should all be focusing on questions which get us to analyse“. Groups then went back to their original questions, modified these if necessary, and decided on one Key Question to use for their lesson. By the end of the lesson students had come up with some of these questions:

- Why did people in the Middle Ages believe in witchcraft?

- Matthew Hopkins terrified and destroyed East-Anglia. Discuss.

- How much has the perception of women changed since the 1600?

- Why did the crime of witch craft appear and then disappear?

The Structure of Lessons (30 minutes)

Students were given an explanation and shown concrete examples of the structure of a lesson including use of objectives, ‘hooks’, starters, main task(s) and plenary. The class was given clear guidance about each of the lesson components. We then discussed what they considered to be a good lesson, what made them interested, even inspired. Students came up with ideas about what they would like to see in an ideal lesson. Suitability of outcome(s) were then discussed and it was agreed that some tasks were better than others e.g. quizzes do not tend to challenge students and taking notes from PowerPoint Presentations does not encourage learning. Groups then started writing down ideas for what they wanted their co-students to learn in the lesson and how they were going to ensure this learning took place.

Lesson 2:

Groups researched their topics. We decided to use the school library for this lesson to give them a good environment to do their research. Groups were encouraged to set their own homework by dividing the research into smaller parts and assigned to the various team members.

Lesson 3:

This was the final lesson and included groups completing their lessons, creating resources, setting up and creating relevant Flip Charts for the Interactive Whiteboard (Active Studio). The class was now informed that during every mini-lesson, each group would be assigned to another one and had to write a critical appraisal of that group. This way, they not only had the opportunity to evaluate another group’s lesson, they were also reflecting on their own learning and execution of the lesson.

Lesson 4/5:

Groups taught their lessons. At the end of each lesson the class gave their new teacher immediate feedback commenting on what they had learnt, the way they had been taught and how engaged they had been.

Lesson 6:

We spent the final lesson discussing the outcomes of the project and what the students thought about delivering their own mini-lessons. Discussion was also raised about what they had learnt from this experience. Several commented that they had gained complete ownership of their work; that they had become specialists at their given topic and felt they could help others to gain a fuller understanding. Most importantly, many students made it clear that they felt respected and trusted by their peers as well as their teacher.

This approach made it clear that if learning is to be effective then making it relevant, keeping it interesting and providing a challenge are all essential components that need to be addressed. We have used this way of collaborating with students from different year groups and in various topics, and each time the students have had similar positive experiences. Handing over the board-pen to a class can be daunting at first but if planned carefully it can be a truly rewarding endeavour.

Giving students the trust, effort and time will ensure they know that they matter. Even better, they will use skills which we have repeated time and time again that are crucial to their learning:

• communication
• evaluation
• synthesis
• analysis

The only difference is that this time they have actually used them and they can see the results in their fellow classmates.