How-to video: Creating a safe, private student Twitter account
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Brief synopsis: Although parents and even many educators don't understand Twitter and the power it holds in the K-12 classroom, Twitter is not only useful, it is also safe for students to use. Twitter, the microblogging social media network, has a powerful privacy feature that gives users the ability to approve or reject anyone who tries to follow them.
Benefits: Twitter is a powerful microblogging tool that can teach students how to condense their thoughts into brief, well-written statements. Twitter can help students, who are reluctant to participate in class, be part of classroom discussions either in the classroom or from any place that has Internet access. Contrary to popular belief, even though it is a social network, Twitter can be completely private for students. Twitter has user-friendly settings that allow students, or other users wishing to monitor who follows them, to keep their tweets private. So, users clicking the privacy box must approve followers, before anyone attempting to follow can see those users' activities on Twitter. Students can also keep their Twitter handle, or username, private -- using a first name and a combination of numbers -- which allows only teachers and peers to know who they are, while maintaining privacy from everyone else on Twitter.
Drawbacks: The only drawback to Twitter is that many school district firewalls block it.
Conclusion: The how-to video above demonstrates how to set up a private Twitter account, so teachers and students can use Twitter as a powerful communication tool.
Comments
I think the privacy settings on Twitter are wonderful. I have a personal account that is private, and feel very comfortable knowing that no one unapproved can see anything except my one picture and my name. A privacy settings explanation and tutorial would benefit middle and high school student's parents and help make them more comfortable with the idea of using it for school only. It is such a great tool, and can make learning so interactive and fun!
@schaefer12laura @markbarnes19 #pluggedinclass I like that this privacy lesson talks through the steps of the student name, who to follow and making sure the privacy button in settings is turned on. I think I would add the year/semester in a name so when names duplicate or I guess the accounts can be deleted?! Actually, what if there was a naming system that allowed it to remain generic to the outside world, but specific in class to be used year after year?? Maybe I haven't learned that yet, but that seems to be the ultimate privacy and class use. It would be great if somehow twitter's privacy was promoted more, so the "fear" of its use wasn't so widespread.
It is so simple to make Twitter safe for your students so that it can be used to enhance the learning experience. I do think that parent communication is essential and I liked Deb's comment about including the information at the Open House evening. Walking parents through the security of Twitter and how it will be a tool in the learning process is a great way to get parents on board from the beginning.
The privacy of Twitter is perfect for the classroom. Perhaps if parents are concerned, during Open House walk them through the process of privacy so that they can see how all of this works. I think if we can help the parents to see how all of this comes together, they will understand and support what we are doing with the kids. The more we can get questions answered, the better of we're all going to be.
I love the privacy provided by Twitter. I teach about 340 students and think that the communication possibilities and using twitter as a way for students to share original compositions for ensemble performance through links they share on Twitter is great. Privacy is extremely important so that all parties involved are safe and comfortable. Now I understand how several of the teachers at my school are able to use twitter for communication with parents.
This is the type of information that parents, students, and administrators need to be aware of when setting up Twitter to be used in the classroom. Privacy is extremely important, and as educators, we need to emphasize the importance of this when working with social media in our classes. Parents and administrators need to be made aware that Twitter can be very safe and utilized for educational purposes without everything being made public. It's so simple, and so easy.
I did not realize how you could make your classroom twitter so private. I love it! Students would need to be reminded to not allow people to follow them that are not part of the class but I think this could really eliminate a lot of concerns that parents and administrators have about twitter and using it with kids.
Just a couple simple steps and students can safely utilize Twitter with full control on their identity with relative anonymity. This is exactly the information that needs to sent out to get everyone informed that Twitter isn't evil.
Matthew Chamberlin - This seems like a good way to demonstrate to parents that Twitter can be used safely. I didn’t realize that you didn’t have to enter your real last name.
Great summary of how to make Twitter safe for students. I wish all teachers and parents would view this Learn It In 5 video. It is as simple as a click to keep those "monsters" out of students' twitter streams:)
This will be a great tool to inform and convince many that its ok to try this out at school. As of last year, Twitter was blocked at our school.
Knowing that any technology can be abused, we'll have to prepare for that, as well. Hopefully, we can at least get a pilot program going in the fall. Seems like we should be able o use it privately with our high school students.
I do like how it gives the shy student an equal voice. And this would have been great in one college classics class I took with 400+ students.
Prior to taking this Twitter course, I did not understand the amount of PD I could receive from it's usage. I have many ideas of ways I would like to use Twitter with foreign language. I have had concerns about students'/followers'/followings' posting or accessing inappropriate content and me not even knowing about it. I am glad there are safeguards out there to make it more private/secure, and I really believe that inviting and educating parents on it's usage is big!
Thanks for making it so clear on how to make Twitter private. I think this will be an instrumental tool for getting parents, schools, and even fellow teachers on board.
Susan Tenon comment - This video was helpful in walking me through how to create a safe student account. So do your students have a school Twitter acct and a personal one?
I understand how to have students set up their accounts so they remain private. My only concern is still that students have to put in an e-mail address. Some students, although very few, do not have an e-mail address. Would I have to link them through my school e-mail address? I am hoping that this question will be answered in another segment of this assignment.
I think you could make it even more secure by assigning students an account name for complete anonymity.
I think it's a good idea to always opt for the security setting so that you can selectively choose who will be following you, especially for students. This allows them to manage the security of their account which is a valuable lesson in itself.
I really like how you could have all the students check "protect my tweets" and thus avoid anyone in the public being able to follow them. My question is, how do you keep students from allowing peers/friends or anyone else outside of school to enter classroom discussions? Has there been any problems with students allowing people to follow them and then later regretted it? Meg Cunningham
This learn it in 5 was very informative concerning the privacy of minors. We just had a guest lecturer present at our school on cyber bullying. Being able to share this info with students and parents should set many minds at ease. If students have a falling out with an individual could they revoke their permission to follow?
Hey LSandel, I'd love to present. Thanks for your kind words and thanks for chiming in.
Great information Mark. Would you be able to present at a Parent Night we are planning on November 3rd? Our focus is going to be technology and your teen. Interested?
Thanks, Ben, I appreciate your support.
Thanks for chiming in.
Thanks for the video, Mark! I shared on my site, and will reference this if I move to use social networking in my classes.
~mrc