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Educators Discuss Social Media in the Classroom

Cuyahoga Falls Teacher Patty Roman said she’s fully integrated Twitter into her 2nd grade classroom routine.

"We use Twitter every single day," Roman said. "Pretty much we tweet about what we're learning, I'll take a picture of students, we'll tweet the work that's being done in the classroom."

Roman said that many of her students have never been out of Ohio. Knowing that, she didn't hesitate when a teacher from Ireland reached out via Twitter with an offer to connect the two classrooms.

Roman says the highlight was when an interactive Skype call between her students and their Irish counterparts.

"To actually speak to a student in Ireland with their accent that they have and the different terminology that they use, it's just the most amazing experience for these kids," she said.

Evergreen Education Group’s educational strategist Stacy Hawthorne knows that Twitter can help in connecting classrooms.

She’s seeing school districts from California to New Jersey realize the value of using social media as a way learn from each other.

"Social media's not just for sharing what you're doing," Hawthorne said. "It’s for opening that dialogue to get feedback on what your ideas are or how to improve those, and that's when you really find the value in it."