Sharing Tweets in the PHS Student Cafeteria

Twitter is an important social media tool to the adults at Palatine High School. Not so much with the students. Keith Sorensen, Director of Instructional Technology for D211, came over to help me raise some awareness and interest in Twitter as a medium for connecting with students.

We set up a display and discussed a PPT presentation on the cafeteria "big screen" during our four lunch periods. While there was some curiosity as to what we were doing, most students did not have a genuine interest in Twitter. An overwhelming majority of students had their cell phones out. They seemed to be playing games, texting friends, or updating their Facebook status. Facebook was the social media tool of choice for most students.

The students were polite and receptive to our questions - yes, they like to be heard. Our new district blogger, and Principal Steiger also stopped in to visit with the students. There was a fund-raiser for Leukemia set up at the table next to us.

Even though the Twitter drive concept was a failure, the day was still a success as many, many students got the chance to discuss mobile technologies, and connected learning with us. The face to face connections that we made were just as important as the web connections that we were seeking.
We will be back with new topics and new presentations soon. Sessions will likely include possible 1:1 devices, social media - best practices & policies, Internet safety, etc. What other topics would you like us to explore?

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