Social Media in the Classroom: Keona Butler

 Using Twitter (now X) in the classroom can be surprisingly effective, but it depends a lot on how it is structured.

What I mean by this is that one of its potential benefits is engagement. Students are already familiar with the platform, so it lowers the barrier to participation. When used in class discussions, such as live-tweeting during a lecture or responding to a prompt, it can help quieter students feel they have a voice and may be more willing to share their ideas. The character limit also forces people to be more concise and thoughtful about their response, which is a useful academic skill.

Another strength, especially mentioned in the video above, is the real-world connection. Twitter exposes students to current events, experts, and public conversations in real time. It allows them to recognize that they are not stuck in this "classroom" but that there is a real world happening outside it, and they can be a part of that, too. Being able to follow careers in a field or engage with trending topics can make the course material feel more relevant and dynamic than traditional textbooks.

That said, however, there are challenges. Distraction is the biggest one. Students can easily drift off topic. There's also the big issue of misinformation, which means that educators need to emphasize digital literacy and critical thinking when using the platform. When I think of this, I think of learning about students using Instagram to gain support for their research and protest against their district owning Apple Island. How they are showcasing that misinformation is real, but here's their research to back it up, that there is more harm than good happening to a historical and integral island to the Native American tribe raised there. I think it is very possible to integrate social media in the classroom; it is just as important to make sure it is used in the best and safest way for the students!