Although we can’t access to Twitter in China, we
have a similar website, Weibo. It is like Chinese version of Twitter. Our
reflections on Twitter can also be used on Weibo. I have compared the two
websites, and they are practically the same to me. The only thing I have found
different between them is the length of the tweet. On Twitter, each feed shall
not exceed 140 characters. Although it is the same with Chinese characters on
Weibo, if we convert the Chinese characters to English characters, we may find
the English characters allowed on Weibo are more than those on Twitter. Please see
the same feeds on Weibo and Twitter. I selected one feed from an English Weibo
account, copied it and pasted it to my Twitter feed. We can see that the same
feed on Twitter would exceed the limit by 95 characters. To English learners,
it means something.
weibo
twitter
In one of my article reading, a blogger said: “‘Summing
Up’ Ask students to read an article or chapter and then post their brief
summary or précis of the key point(s). A limit of 140 characters demands a lot
of academic discipline.” Teaching with Twitter
For native English speakers, 140 character
limit is actually considered as a good way to train the skill of summarizing,
but to English learners, it is highly demanding. Not so skillful with playing
with words, English learners wouldn't be able to make the most of limited space
with the minimum words. Tweeting in English could be really stressful to
students. So Chinese Weibo, with larger feed space, might be good news to
Chinese students who are learning English.
As I have stated in my previous blog, the most significant
meaning of Twitter to me is to explore different communities online. By using
Twitter/Weibo, we can establish a community for English learners with similar
interests. Some educators extend the online activity to classroom activity, for
example, Christine Morris explains how she experimented with the technology
with her higher educated students, tapping into Tweetdeck to get the most out
Twitter. Christine Morris
It was really inspiring that we as teachers could design a specially
session for students to use the technology in class. We can lead students to
use Twitter/Weibo outside the classroom in their spare times, we can also
design a concentrate session.
Personally, I may not use such sessions in language
classrooms in China, since we have larger class sizes and it would be uncontrollable
to manage such a class and unpractical to require all students bring their
computers to class. However, I would have a workshop, open to all students who
are interested in technology in language learning. At the workshop, I can
inspire students how to use media and technologies in enhancing their language
education by sharing different tools, practicing these tools in class with
access to the Internet and having them share their own understandings of the
E-learning. It would be interesting!
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