Twitter: (https://twitter.com/)
Twitter is a social media website and Web 2.0 tool that allows users to be able to create an account which gives them a public or private platform to post 140 character messages or images of their choice. The user can also choose to subscribe and follow other users of their choice, and when doing so the followed user's posts appear on the subscribed user's Twitter feed. Furthermore, Twitter can be used to create multiple user group forums, in which group discussion can be further held online from any location.
Twitter in the Classroom
Twitter has multiple classroom applications. Twitter could be used to create an ongoing classroom dicussion concerning a certain current events topic in a social studies class that students would have to research, or Twitter could be used as an additional tool by the teacher to inform students on upcoming school events, deadlines, assignments, and general classroom happenings that concern them.
How could this tool reduce or remove barriers for certain students?
Twitter is a tool that could remove the barriers that students with anxiety disorders could face in classroom dicussion, by giving them a platform to share their opinions without the social pressure of the face-to-face classroom environment. Furthermore, Twitter provides a platform, in a multi-day group dicussion context, for students with cognitive developmental delays to have more time to possibly formulate an answer or reply to a discussion post.
Required age of users:
According to Twitter's Terms of Use there is no limitation on the age of a user.
