Last week I wrote a post on the challenges of teaching shy students. I gave an account of my struggles with one particularly shy student and the strategy I used to get him to talk. I have great empathy for the child that is too afraid to speak and understand the frustrations involved when teaching such a student.
However, I feel a bit uneasy about a recent study that promotes conversation via Twitter between shy student and their teacher.
The Courier-Mail reports new research from Southern Cross University has found strong benefits for the use of Twitter by students too embarrassed or uncomfortable to ask teachers questions in the time-honoured raised-hand method.
Southern Cross business lecturer Jeremy Novak, along with Central Queensland University’s Dr Michael Cowling, studied the use of Twitter among university students as a method for asking questions and gaining feedback without having to stand the stares and scrutiny of fellow students.
The positive feedback from students, particularly international students, has convinced the research team the use of Twitter technology could also be embraced by classrooms at high school and even primary school level.
In my opinion, shyness is not a genetic disease or impenetrable condition. To me, shyness is a result of a lack of self-esteem. Shy children act that way because they don’t feel valued. Instead, they feel judged, ostracised or labelled.
A teacher can do one of two things. They can either enable the shy student by using Twitter, or they can actually attempt to help that student find their feet and feel good about themselves.
“But who has the time for that? We have the curriculum to cover!”
This line sums up my frustrations with current educational thinking (as perpetuated through teacher training programs). In my opinion, it is every bit as important for a teacher to assist their students in matters of self-confidence as it is for them to teach them the curriculum. In fact, I would suggest that it is more important. Facts are learnt and forgotten. The average person on the street has long forgotten calculus and how many chemical elements make up the periodic table. What they wouldn’t have forgotten is how they were treated and how their experiences at school have changed them for the better or worse.
Why placate a shy person when you can change a shy person? Why play the game when you can show them that they have a voice and it’s special and unique and something to be proud of.
And besides, receiving Tweets in class is so unprofessional.What, am I supposed to stop my class so I can check my phone for a Tweet?
Trust me, as good a feeling as it is to teach children new skills or concepts, helping a child discover that they are important and that their thoughts and opinions matter is so much more rewarding.
Tags: Central Queensland University, Child Welfare, Children, Dr Michael Cowling, Education, facebook, Generation Y, Jeremy Novak, kids, life, News, Parenting, primary school, Shyness, social media, Southern Cross University, Teachers, Twitter
Topical Teaching 
January 17, 2012 at 12:23 am |
[…] just read a blog post about shy students using Twitter in class by Michael […]
January 17, 2012 at 12:24 am |
I find this very interesting. Here is the start of my rebuttal. http://educationallyminded.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/twitter-in-the-classroom/ There are many great things about Twitter in the classroom. I hope that you don’t just say no, but also give some thought about it. It may not be good for your classroom, but it can be beneficial for some.
January 17, 2012 at 9:08 am |
I’d heartily agree that helping a student to increase their self confidence is hugely important. I think a lot of the time our education system is designed around the idea of delivering content which will enable students to pass mandatory testing – which bears little relevance to their lives after school. What gets missed is the opportunity to guide students in meaningful ways which will impact on them in the long run.
January 17, 2012 at 11:23 pm |
True. Don’t get me started with the issue of madatory testing!
January 17, 2012 at 9:59 am |
Hi Michael.
Michael Cowling here, co-author of the linked study. I appreciate your feedback. The courier mail simplifies the approach somewhat. I agree with you that this shouldn’t be used to replace traditional feedback, but rather as an additional tool that teachers can use to ‘break the ice’. The theoretical framework we outline in the paper shows quite clearly that this is just an additional feedback method, not a replacement. If you e-mail me I’d be happy to send you the full paper, or you can read the (brief) abstract here:
Click to access viewpdf.esp
Regards,
Michael.
January 17, 2012 at 11:31 am |
Thank you for your comment Michael. I apologise if I caused any offense. The article I garnered my opinion on seems to be quite misleading.
January 17, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Hi Michael. No offense at all, just wanted to give you some more details if you’re interested. Feel free to e-mail me for the full paper if you’d like it.
January 19, 2012 at 12:09 am |
I am so surprised with the reaction to this article in a newspaper. I’m further astounded about the obvious lack of investigation into this research from those people who have stated that they are a Dr. or teacher and who have made ill in formed comments on the Internet about their research.
As a high school teacher I went to the conference where I saw these two presenters Jeremy Novak and Michael Cowling, talk about their research. Their presentation utilised a ticker bar on the PowerPoint slides, and we could enter a # tag and asked questions or make comments that were displayed on the PowerPoint slides. I and others were extremely interested and impressed by their research.
They made it very clear that the implementation of Twitter into the PowerPoint slides was to see if international and shy students would engage in class. They did emphas ise throughout the presentation that this was another way for the student to give feedback and ask questions on the PowerPoint slides and in turn help build their confidence to start asking questions verbally.
As Jeremy Novak from Southern Cross University stated in the Courier mail article “We don’t see Twitter replacing actual class participation or interaction, but it could be a very valuable tool to add to the teacher’s toolbox.”
I have further looked into the use of this technology for my year 10 students and after having conversations with one of the researchers, it’s is clear that these tweets are used in class and students tweet the PowerPoint slides and not me. As I do not need to set up a personal Twitter account to receive any of the tweets that are displayed on the PowerPoint slide, the issue of impropriety is negated.
For all teachers and parents who may read this, please do your own investigation into what these researchers have said about the implementation of Twitter into the classroom and what other researchers and educators are saying about using technology in a positive way into the classroom in 2012. I also suggest you have a look around at your students and see how many of them are using the technology and take the step forward into the 21st century.
I hope this stimulates some positive and informed debate.
January 19, 2012 at 12:19 am |
I’m sure it will stimulate debate. Thanks for your well informed comments.