Get
Connected!
"Twitter usage among U.S. teens has doubled in less than two
years...there are now more than 200 million active users...posting more than
175 million tweets a day."
-Jeff Dunn in Edudemic Magazine
Recently,
I saw a tweet by a student who was complaining about his school having a
twitter account. Although he couldn't elaborate upon his frustration in
under 140 characters, the gist of his lament was that twitter is a social
platform and not a place for schools, that the school website fulfills that
purpose, so schools should vacate twitter and leave the kids alone. This
made me reflect upon several things (including the student perception of my own
tvhs_library twitter account), but mostly had me ruminating upon the student's
(perhaps students'?) lack of perspective on how social networking, like
twitter, and digital tools, like apps, can be useful and essential to their
academic and intellectual lives. So, I started searching, and below are the results
of that search: a list of relevant twitter accounts, facebook pages, and apps that a student
could use to get started on his/her way to becoming a digital citizen who uses
social and digital tools to engage in the larger, global conversation. Here's
to getting connected!
By
the way, these tools aren't just for the students:
"Professors who use Twitter for personal information were
perceived by students to be more credible and approachable than those who did
not, according to a study released in 2011."
-American Library Association*
Give
it a shot!
Twitter
Twin
Valley Specific
@tvhs_library
--Follow
the library--we tweet about general library on-goings, school events,
interesting things we find and think you might be interested in, etc. etc.
@tvraiders
--Follow the athletic department and keep on top of sports scores
and news.
Other
Accounts You May Want to Follow: (blurbs are not mine)
@WSJ, @BizJournals, @BreakingNews or @NYTimes-Unfortunately, becoming a young adult means you’ll
need to at least pretend to be an active member of society, which typically
consists of knowing what’s going on in the world. Even if you simply read the
tweet headlines, such as “JPMorgan Fear Traders Hid Loss, Now at $5.8 Billion,”
you can instantly seem approximately 67% smarter than your peer by randomly
throwing this small anecdote into casual conversation. Ideally, you’ll actually
have a clue what’s going on, but having a clue is half the challenge.
@KhanAcademy Khan Academy has 3,300 videos and multiple practice
exercises for a number of content areas.
@VolunteerTEENnation VolunTEENnation connects teen volunteers to teen volunteer
opportunities.
@USNewsEducation US News & Education provide numerous tips for transitioning
into college.
@ScholarshipGuru
Got
scholarships? Follow the official account of ScholarshipExperts.com to
receive tips on winning scholarships and follow links that direct you to
information about awards…up to four new awards every day!
@PLTWorg Project Lead the Way
@NationalTSA National Technology Student
Association
Facebook
TVHS Library- Look for library
announcements, new books, library and school events, and other interesting
finds.
Twin Valley High School Athletics- Keep up to date on
sports news and announcements.
Technology Student Association
Pennsylvania TSA
Project Lead the Way
Apps
For
Twin Valley Students
Destiny App: From
Follett-- This app is for our online catalog. Just enter library.tvsd.org for instant access to all of our
books and e-books. Happy reading!
Google Apps: Specifically,
I would install google drive so that you can manage your saved files from both
school and home. See Mrs. Nass for help with your username and password.
General Apps (Blurbs are not
my own)
Barefoot World Atlas: zoom in from outer space and land anywhere on Earth
with narrated bits, delightful animations, background music, and
real-time data that inform about the amazing range of traditions, cultures,
geographical features, and animals found on our globe
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare: With extensive notes and
commentary, this app displays videos of famed actors performing each of the
Bard's 154 sonnets, a facsimile of the 1609 Quarto, and other noteworthy
highlights.
Wonders of Geology: includes breathtaking visuals, a concise text, and a narrated
tour of
http://edudemic.com/2012/12/why-students-should-use-twitter/ some
of our nation's most spectacular natural sites. With features that
transform basic science concepts into fascinating brain food, and flawless
navigation, this app is a student's go-to text.
Fragile Earth: 170 pairs of before/after photos that reveal the devastating
effects of natural phenomena (like hurricanes) on our planet. Also
explored are the harmful consequences of urbanization, mining, and global
warming.
The Chemical Touch: Select different elements to
learn more about their properties and get definitions of nucleobases, as well.
You can even sort the table with different colors to identify periodic trends —
and hopefully, make your chemistry homework less complex than amino acids. If
you need in-depth explanations of different concepts, the app will open
Wikipedia entries.
Essentials by AccelaStudy: Learning a foreign language is a core part of high
school curriculum. Whether you've enrolled in fourth period French, Italian,
Spanish or Chinese, this app will be your study guide. It provides pre-made
flashcards for learning vocab and audio quizzes to help your speech and
pronunciation.
Evernote Peek: Making
flashcards is a tedious process that most students don't have time for.
Evernote Peek takes the work out of the process. The app turns your iPad and
Smart Cover into makeshift flashcards. And don't worry, if you don't have a
cover, the app creates a "virtual cover."
Graphing Calculator: Graphing
calculators are expensive, but it's almost impossible to get your calculus
homework done without one. Consider investing in this app instead.It quickly
plots and traces multiple equations on the same graph, using a custom keyboard
to speed up entry. It even supports graphing polar and parametric equations and
much, much more. Plus, you can take screenshots of your calculator to email
graphs to yourself.
Math Formulas: Struggling
to keep your trigonometry formulas separate from your algebraic formulas? This
app is your math savior. It stores frequently used forumlas for easy
access and lets you favorite the apps you reference the most. It even delves
into calc, geometry and probability, and displays images so you can put the
formulas into perspective.
Easel SAT Prep Light: The SAT is one of the most
important tests in a high schooler's career. This app makes preparation easy
and hassle-free, so you can keep your sights on test day.The app features three
sections with 25 questions each and a "show me" function, which
explains how to arrive at the right answer.
Sparknotes: No online or offline list of
study aids would be complete without the venerable SparkNotes. The app includes 50 pre-installed study guides plus
access to hundreds more online. Topics include Shakespeare, poetry, philosophy,
drama and more. All SparkNotes study guides can be downloaded for offline use.
StudyNotes includes sharing tools, including location-based notifications to
allow students to start instant study groups.
Khan Academy: This award-winning app for
the iPad gives students access to a library of over 3,200 videos explaining and
illustrating everything from advanced mathematical problems to straightforward
historical events. All the short lessons are conducted in the Khan Academy’s
trademark style, with simple steps and a clear narration. A log allows students
to record the videos they have seen and track their progress. Khan Academy is
a great teaching aid, as well as a study boon to students!
World Atlas HD: If you think free maps on the
Internet leave something to be desired, the National Geographic Society's World
Atlas HD app might be the app for you. It lets you search high-resolution world
maps; you choose whether to view them in classic style, with an antique look,
or in satellite form. Consult details for specific countries, including land
area, population, languages spoken, major religions, type of government, and
natural resources. World Atlas HD is available for iPad.
Support
*If you are interested in
this study, it was conducted by Kirsten A. Johnson, associate professor of
communications at Elizabethtown College (here in PA!): "The Effect of
Twitter Posts on Students' Perceptions of Instructor Credibility," Learning,
Media, and Technology, vol. 36, no.1
