The idea of using Twitter is what I do on a daily basis and I run around writing in 140 characters. I can see the great uses and real time uses of Twitter but I don't see many professors who really grasp the use of it and use it in the classroom. I also work with many students who say that they are on Twitter but don't really "get it".
When reading "Using Twitter—But Not in the Classroom: Twitter as a Tool to Expand Classroom Conversation" by Richard Parry, you could tell that he grasped the use of Twitter and tried to use it to the best of his ability in the classroom. He states that
"As a professor, I see it as one of my jobs to maximize the signal of discussion while limiting the noise, and a cursory examination of Twitter might suggest that it involves way too much noise to be of any pedagogical value. Indeed, I find it to be one of the social media tools with the highest pedagogical return, fostering discussion and expanding both the content and means through which students engage with classroom material."
Parry also states that Twitter was not the first microblogging site and that there were several before it but Twitter came in at the right time and people joined. Individuals tend to go where everyone else goes so that is how Twitter gained its popularity.
I believe that Twitter will keep its momentum of growing and professors and students will catch on to its assets. I will say that one drawback of Twitter is that it does add to the short attention span of students and keeps them in the mind frame of 140 characters which will in turn hinder their writing skills.
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