So this is pretty cool. Conversations in the 21st century
have changed dramatically. No longer do
children run outside and yell for their friends to come outside. Nor do they pick up the phone to call them to
see if they can play. They text each
other and tweet them. Texting and
tweeting, along with voice search programs like Siri, also allow students to
find answers to questions. In the
classroom these ways of communicating with each other can be turned in to a
powerful educational tool. Now I know there are dangers with elementary
age children having Twitter accounts. And I also know that we cannot buy
iPhones with Siri and Texting for all students.
But there are web-based programs that allow students to do just
that. First I will share the programs
then the applications for the classroom.
iFaketext.com – This program
lets students type in a texting conversation between two people. Then post it as a screen shot. (you can even
pick the cell carrier).
iFakeSiri.com – This Program
allows you to produce diaglog between a person and Siri, then post a screen
shot of it.
Faketweetbuilder.com – (This
is my personal favorite) This program will allow you to create a full twitter conversation,
with pictures and handles and everything.
So what do all these have to do with education? Students to have different platforms to
express themselves in a way many students more accustomed to. Instead of writing facts about a famous American
they can have a Twitter interview, or ask a question of Siri and then write
Siri’s answer. Students can write text
messages between two main characters of a book.
Here is my example:
