How can Twitter harm learners and educators?

Although there are many benefits that come with the use of digital technology i.e. Twitter in classrooms, there are some limitations that come with this. Teachers who have limited training on how to integrate digital literacy into classroom risk compromising the development of their students’ soft skills that could be advantageous in their educational and professional career. Personal privacy concern is also another issue that educators and students have raised as a concern. This can occur when the boundary between students and instructors gets broken causing a negative impact. One study indicated that twitter could harm instructors’ credibility or even get them fired from their job if they post negative or biased tweets. In the study, students argued that twitter can also decrease an instructor’s position of authority and their reputation may be considered more of a student than a professor. Moreover, there were also some concerns raised that use of twitter in classrooms could lead to favoritism or even a romantic relationship between teachers and instructors. In addition, the student/teacher relationships can violate typical classroom and time expectations. Some students would rather keep their relationship with instructors strictly in a classroom setting. Furthermore, students may overstep their bounds and reach out to instructors at unreasonable times or outside work hours. Students were also worried they would miss important announcements from their instructors as some of them may not have twitter accounts or follow too many accounts. Another study by Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, found that Twitter reduced performance on a standardized tests by about 25 to 40 percent of standard deviation. This problem resulted from students thinking they absorbed more content just from reading the tweets rather than reading actual books. Moreover, students can get distracted on the social media tool, surfing preferred activities, which can have a negative impact on student learning.

Authors, A., & DeGroot, J. (n.d.). Twitter Use and its Effects on Student Perception of Instructor Credibility. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03634523.2015.1014386

Stanley-Becker, I. (2019, May 30). Twitter is eroding your intelligence. Now there’s data to prove it. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/05/30/twitter-hurting-intelligence-not-smart-study/

The 3 biggest Twitter problems for teachers-and how to overcome them. (2017, March 29). Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/03/30/3-twitter-problem-teachers/2/