It is official, Britain has gone Twitter mad. No really, totally insane in fact. First there was the story, which I am assured is not some badly timed April Fool gag, that reveals the government is contemplating adding Twitter skills to the primary school curriculum while at the same time suggesting less time should be spent on history. Quite what benefit your average 6 to 11 year old will gain, in educational terms, by becoming a proficient Twitterer instead of learning about the Second World War is, quite frankly, beyond me. I am all for ensuring kids understand the nature of modern communications systems and are able to make the best of online information sources, but not at the expense of a proper education.
Talking of which, that bastion of the 'proper education' known as University life has also embraced the Twitter revolution. No, I am not talking about the student use of social networking but rather the study of social networking as a degree topic. Yes, Birmingham City University has become the first in the country to start offering a one year degree course, a MA in Social Media, which will include publishing podcasts, establishing blogs and, of course, Twittering as part of the course work. Starting next year, the degree course has seemingly already come under attack from some potential students for being far too simplistic.
Aye, and there lies the rub. My real problem with teaching both primary school kids and university students about using Twitter is that it stinks of teaching granny to suck eggs. Surely your average kid knows more about social networking than your average teacher!