How social media may advance the classroom

All my close friends and family know that I am not the biggest supporter of social media. In fact I can honestly say that I have never really used it. In many ways  I believe that the bad out weighs the good when it comes to social media sites however, I must say that after reading some of the articles in this weeks block I am a little more intrigued by the idea of it. I never would have thought that social media could be utilized as a tool with the educational setting. Especially after coming to feel like social media as a whole is weakening our abilities to communicate with one another. But that is just what is happening, schools are integrating social media in their class rooms and according to the readings it seems to be working. The article "60 ways to use twitter in the class room" discusses some of the most common methods utilized by students and teachers in the educational setting and I must admit, some of the listed methods seem pretty useful. By utilizing twitter as a tool some professors have been able to connect with students outside of the classroom for guidance, in a similar fashion as their office hours with out either having to leave their homes. Others professors have utilized twitter as a bulletin board, informing students of last minute changes such as class cancellations. The most interesting use from the professors standpoint at least, is utilizing twitter as a reference for topics and readings discussed on class so even parents can check in on the lessons learned for the day by their children. The students have even begun to utilize twitter as a open discussion forum in lieu of meeting fro group work. We all know how difficult it can be to get everyone on the same page for meeting times with such hectic schedules.