Twitter Re-Try

Okay, so after a little push from a professor, I have re-activated my (previously mentioned) Twitter profile.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I used to have a Twitter account, but deactivated it because I couldn't seem to find a practical use for it.  I just didn't "get" it.  However, I am currently involved in a group project about using social media in education, so I am back.

In doing some research for this project, Twitter kept coming up over and over again.  Obviously I am missing something if that many people find it useful and meaningful... One website/presentation I looked at (http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=856919732755217570#editor/target=post;postID=3924918296399476507) suggested a Twitter-Test-Drive:
Step 1: Follow Dr. Joseph Pisano's list of music educators.....DONE
Step 2: Search the hashtags: #musedchat #musiced #mused #artsed.....DONE

I Have to admit, I've already stumbled on some pretty interesting things...

Here's one of the first neat things I found:
http://www.lessonlogs.com

On this website, you can create an account to keep track of all your students' lessons/lesson notes/practice.  You can make a list of all the students in your studio/class and make lesson schedules.  During/after lessons, you can make notes for the students.  Students have their own account which allows them to see the notes you've made for them.  Also (and I think this is the cool part amidst all the talk of practice records in my classes) students are able to track their practice with start/end times, notes about what they practiced, and a self-given rating for the practice session.  The website tracks practice stats with graphs.   I see this working better for private teachers, but you might be able to make it work in a larger setting too...I'd have to play with it more before I can say for sure.  I might have to try this out with a few of my own students...

Perhaps I was too quick to discredit Twitter...
Now I guess I just wait and see what else shows up in my feed over the next few days!

If you're not already on Twitter, I encourage readers to try the Twitter-Test-Drive for themselves and see what they discover.  Stay tuned for my findings!