T4+Twiducate+vs+Twitter

=**Tool 4: Twiducate and Twitter**=

Maria and Jason

Twiducate Twiducate is a website developed by teachers for teachers. There is no charge for teachers to sign up.

As a teacher you create a network for you and your students.
 * Share inspiration, ideas, readings, thoughts
 * Post discussions, deadlines, homework
 * Embed pictures, links and video
 * Keep parents informed
 * Collaborate on work by providing feedback
 * Connect with students outside the classroom in a secure manner!



We understand that many social networking sites exist, however the control of content is limited for teachers. Also, many of these social networking sites are continuously being blocked by school firewalls and administrators. Our service proudly differs in that only teachers and students may view classroom posts, thus creating a private network for you and your students and a safer online learning environment. Many students already use social networking sites. Why not give them an opportunity to develop their learning in this type of environment but with control over visibility and content. Talk about student engagement! As educators with an interest in web 2.0, we understand how education has and will continue to change. We want to provide an opportunity for our students to explore web 2.0 but are constantly facing barriers with existing social networking sites. Welcome twiducate.com. Not only will twiducate.com give your students the web 2.0 skills they need, but also expand their reading, writing, thoughts and ideas beyond the classroom setting. ||
 * **About** ||
 * twiducate.com is a free resource for educators. Developed in 2009, our goal is to create a medium for teachers and students to continue their learning outside the classroom. We attempt to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners in a social networking environment.
 * It is a fact that students will need social networking, blogging and basic internet skills to compete in today's business world.**

Twiducate currently has **85592 total users**


 * Twiducate** allows for posting of discussions, deadlines, homework, collaborating on work by providing feedback and chatting between students.
 * Collaboration Method:** asynchronous
 * Learning Theories: ** S ituated Learning; Constructivism; Conversation Theory; Coorporative Learning Theory, Problem-Based Learning,
 * Advantages:**Teachers can pose questions, quizzes, assessments, and collaborative activities for students to respond to. With the integration of technology, twiducate can be viewed on mobile devices so that the student can participate anytime and anywhere. Twiducate is a private network where only students and teachers can view the class content. This provides a higher level of control for teachers to direct learning within a controlled environment.
 * Disadvantages:**There could be a learning curve for collaboration members who are not very familiar with the technology of twiducate.
 * Effectiveness:**Very effective in particular for younger learners where a high level on teacher control may be necessary.

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Key Advantages:

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Twitter

Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July. Twitter rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with 200 million users as of 2011, generating over 200 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day.[home] It is sometimes described as the "SMS of the Internet." Twitter Inc., the company that operates the service and associated website, is based in San Francisco, with additional servers and offices in San Antonio, Boston, and New York City.
 * Twitter** is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets", and images.



Tweets are publicly visible by default; however, senders can restrict message delivery to just their followers. Users can tweet via the Twitter website, compatible external applications (such as for smartphones), or by Short Message Service (SMS) available in certain countries.While the service is free, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees. Users may subscribe to other users' tweets – this is known as //following// and subscribers are known as //followers// or //tweeps// Twitter allows users the ability to update their profile by using their mobile phone either by text messaging or by apps released for certain smartphones / tablets. In a 2009 //Time// essay, technology author Steven Johnson described the basic mechanics of Twitter as "remarkably simple" > As a social network, Twitter revolves around the principle of followers. When you choose to follow another Twitter user, that user's tweets appear in reverse chronological order on your main Twitter page. If you follow 20 people, you'll see a mix of tweets scrolling down the page: breakfast-cereal updates, interesting new links, music recommendations, even musings on the future of education.

In order to tweet, you will have to go to the homepage, wherein you will be able to type your 'tweet' - a 140 character message (this limit was set to make the service compatible to text messages). While you type your tweet, the interface itself will show you how many characters are left. You also get the option of following your friends, and inviting other people to follow you. In order to follow your friends (...or some celebrity), you will have to go to the search options. You can either search your friends by their user name, or search them by their email id. In order to invite people to follow your tweets, you will have to send them the Invites. Tweeting regularly and adding a hint of humor to your tweets are some simple methods which can help you get more twitter followers. You can also send Direct Messages (DM) which can only be read by the person to whom you sent it. Similarly, you also have the option of replying to somebody's tweet by using the //@reply// feature.
 * How does Twitter Work?** In order to use twitter, you need to sign up for the service. This is quite a simple step which will be done within a few minutes. You just have to go to the homepage of the website, and find the 'Sign Up' tab. Click on it, and a new web page will open, wherein you will have to register your log-in details, password, etc. You will also have an option of creating a short profile, and adding a profile picture to it. Once you are done with this simple sign up process, you are ready to start tweeting, follow your friends and promote your business.


 * Twitter** allows users to instantly receive and reply to topic and question posed (tweeted). Send direct private messages for a response at a time when the responder is able to respond back.
 * Collaboration Method:** asynchronous and synchronous
 * Learning Theories:**Situated Learning; Constructivism; Conversation Theory; Coorporative Learning Theory, Problem-Based Learning.
 * Advantages:**Tweets can sent to groups of people (team members) who can all collaborate and respond. With the integration of technology, these tweets can be received on mobile devices so that the recipient can respond anytime and anywhere. This is highly advantageous as some collaboration needs instant any, anywhere response. Participants can also build upon the responses of the group to agree and add to the collaboration.
 * Disadvantages:**There could be a learning curve for collaboration members who are not very familiar with the technology of twitter. Members could have relevant information but are not aware of how to respond via this method.
 * Effectiveness:**Very effective for responses and input that are needed right away.

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References

Twiducate (2011). //Twiducate//. Retrievied September 28, 2011 from []

Twiducate (2011). //About//. Retrievied September 28, 2011 from []

Youtube (2011).//Twiducate.//Retrived September 28, 2011 from []

Youtube (2011).//Twiducate.//Retrived September 28, 2011 from []

Wikipedia (2011). //Twitter//. Retrieved September 28, 2011 from []

Youtube (2011).//Interview with Jack Dorsey - Is Twitter useful for education?// Retrived September 28, 2011 from []

Youtube (2011).//Twitter: discover what's new in your world.// Retrived September 28, 2011 from []

Buzzle.com (2011). //How does Twitter work// Retreived September 28, 2011 from []