Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using the Tools of Social Media

Trip Gabriel:

Wasn't it just the other day that teachers confiscated cellphones and principals warned about oversharing on MySpace?

Now, Erin Olson, an English teacher in Sioux Rapids, Iowa, is among a small but growing cadre of educators trying to exploit Twitter-like technology to enhance classroom discussion. Last Friday, as some of her 11th graders read aloud from a poem called "To the Lady," which ponders why bystanders do not intervene to stop injustice, others kept up a running commentary on their laptops.

The poet "says that people cried out and tried but nothing was done," one student typed, her words posted in cyberspace.

"She is giving raw proof," another student offered, "that we are slaves to our society."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 15, 2011 2:28 AM
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