More on twitter, txting & tablets in school

I missed the money quote in the post below. And that is:

"...the Kineo can only access websites that are pre-programmed by an administrator or teacher, and its messaging capabilities have been disabled to make sure students use it for learning, not texting."
Made by the writer of the article, Dennis Pierce, editor of sSchool News.

"learning, not texting"! So check out this bit, also sent by C L:

Use of Twitter is linked to higher grades, study finds
According to a new study published in The Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Twitter can bolster student engagement and grade-point average.
The study followed 125 pre-health majors at a midsize public university. Those using Twitter, says Rey Junco of Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, the lead author, had an average G.P.A. half a point higher than their counterparts in a non-tweeting control group. They also more frequently participated in class, sought out professors and discussed course material outside of class.
Twitter was used for discussions, questioning professors in and out of class, receiving feedback and reminders, and reviewing course concepts reduced to terse fundamentals, all via laptop or cellphone.
Students seemed to find the medium a less intimidating way to express themselves in large lecture halls. “Twitter was a useful, low-stress way to ask questions,” Mr. Junco said.
As one student wrote on Twitter: “One of my favorite parts of the day is when I’m sitting in Bio lecture and a tweet has been sent out through the class account and everybody looks at their phone.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/world/asia/10iht-educBriefs10.html?src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/world/asia/index.jsonp