Jack Evans
Reporter
Twitter is used as a social media web-site for saying what is on your mind, getting the latest celebrity gossip and following famous people who we look up to. But now, our library has implemented Twitter into freshmen’s routine of schoolwork and getting up to date on school news.
They are being taught how to facilitate Twitter properly, appropriately, and reflect on their curriculum.
Librarian Michelle Luhtala emphasized why Twitter is being taught to the freshmen students. “We are trying to familiarize them with tools, how they can use it, for crowdsourcing, how to use hash tags to refine searches, and sort through the nonsense of the Twitter sphere to get the nuggets of information that they seek.”
Twitter allows students to get that exact information that they need for school information. According to Freshman Miles Turpin, there are many accounts to get the right information, “Twitter news accounts, such as CNN, help update me on current issues around the world.”
Even the library itself has a Twitter account to help update all students’ not just freshmen on school news. Ms. Luhtala feels that twitter will help school members hear any current information, “People can really follow the library program through Twitter.”
Freshman Nick Thorkilsen spoke about how the library’s twitter keeps him up to date on the school. “Twitter is a great resource for figuring out what’s going on at school. Although my teachers aren’t tweeting homework, it lets me know what’s upcoming.”
Although Twitter can be very beneficial to students, Ms. Luhtala explained how it could also have its downsides because everything that you post on Twitter is permanently there. Ms. Luhtala feels that you have to be very careful with what you post because you never know who might see it. “Twitter can be both very informative, but alternatively inappropriate,” she said. “ We teach them how to avoid spam, how to block and report, and welcome followers, so that they can protect their identity and build a constructive digital profile, because colleges report that they do factor digital profiles into the college admissions process.”
According to Sue Carroll from the college and career center it is important to use social media appropriately, “Make sure that you’re proud of everything you post on social media,” she said. “Don’t put anything your grandmother wouldn’t want to see.”
Ms. Luhtala said Twitter is a real world tool used for productivity and learning, “Preparing learners for 21st century learning is to teach them how to use the media tools that are being used in the real world.”
