A new project in France has captured international attention. A kindergarten class in Talence, a town near Bordeaux in southwest France is using Twitter to build literacy and language skills. The Vancouver Sun reports:
“The children’s teacher came up with the idea as a way to teach them to recognize the alphabet in different formats – cursive, keyboard, screen – and to learn to transition from the oral to written word.
Each day the process is the same: the children propose topics, discuss them under the teacher’s guidance and vote on a winner.”
The children’s teacher, , Philippe Guillem, says
… that the goal was not just to teach the children but to educate the parents as well.
“They have to consider how this will play out when their children are 12 years old and using the tools of the future.”
The children use a group address: https://twitter.com/#!/camusmat04
The Tweets are protected, which means that you need to send a request to follow them. If you are approved, you will be able to see the Tweets.
This is a stellar example of how to engage children with 21st century technology for learning purposes. I hope we see more innovative uses of technology and social media to get today’s children engaged in learning.
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Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D. 
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