On the first day of Tablet Camp all the freshmen started tweeting. No, they are not birds, they were using the popular social networking device, Twitter. For the first time in JC history it is required for all freshmen to have a Twitter and a Blogger account. While this may not seem like a huge change, it definitely has people talking, tweeting, and blogging.
Director of technology Greg Russell shed some light on the school’s decision to add Twitter and Blogger to the freshmen’s academic requirements. Russell said that it was to promote digital citizenship, which involves how to use digital mediums, like Twitter and Blogger, in an effective and professional way.
“It seemed like a reasonable, hopefully engaging idea to use the tools they would be using as digital citizens,” Russell said. He also hopes that the exposure to the social networking devices will help and prepare the freshmen for the world outside of JC.
Freshmen Hope Kelly, who has never had a Twitter or Blogger account before, already has teachers who are giving written assignments to be submitted on Blogger. Western Civilizations and Latin teacher Richard Wojewodzki is no stranger to these mediums. His Latin students have used Twitter to post verb conjugations for their homework.
English teacher Christine Zurkowski and art teacher Michael Gaudreau have also used blogging in their classes before the freshmen were required to use Blogger and Twitter, promoting digital citizenship to their students without prompting.
While digital citizenship is important to instill in students, Russell could only vaguely remember a mention of another school requiring similar use of social networking websites. The freshmen are learning to use a type of communication that not many high school students learn to use in a professional environment.
Still, some are not sure about the Twitter and Blogger additions. “I don’t see the point,” senior Tyler Van Deusen said. “It can be useful for school, but it can get excessive.”
Even freshmen and senior social studies teacher Brian Powell admitted to having some original uncertainties. “I viewed Twitter as a droning constant status update, but it can be used in a professional way,” Powell said.
He plans to use Twitter for homework updates and Blogger for online writing assignments. Sophomore and junior religion teacher Katie Wood wonders what can be gained from Twitter when only 140 characters are available. However, she finds blogging to be useful for discussions and writing assignments.
But with the question of if these tools will actually help the students at JC, Russell believes “it’s what happens with the tool that helps. JC merely provides the opportunity to use Twitter and Blogger. Whether a teacher updates homework through Twitter or a student uses Blogger for a group project, it is up to the teachers and students to implement the devices in a helpful way.”
Earnshaw can be reached for comment at [email protected].