The ELT Journal Debate at IATEFL 2011 - Tweeting is for the birds, not for language learning.

Is that so? The title of the debate is already intriguing in itself, for we're living in a technological era, when teachers are more and more involved in using technology in and outside the classroom in order to facilitate learning.

Well, Alan Waters proposed the theme and was brilliantly gentlemany, arguing he was not totally opposed to the use of technology for learning, especially because too often the pure and simple use of technology does not change the teacher approach or makes it less teacher-centred. He went on to say technology-based activities tend to be more shallow and only reach surface level in terms of teaching, and the lack of electronic gadgets may even be beneficial for language learning, for learners tend to be less focused when using them.

As for the argument that technology may take you anywhere, he quoted Seneca, who said "To be everywhere is to be nowhere."

Nicky Hockley opposed the argument in a very incisive way, not giving Alan a minute's rest. One of her first actions was to activate a live screen tweet feed, so that participants from the auditorium and the world were able to express their thoughts, which they did. There were a fast stream of tweets reflecting how engaging the theme is.

She argued it's true that technology alone does not lead to better teaching. In fact, it's the teacher himself who makes the difference! One of the problems teachers using technology in the classroom face is that they are not trained to solve minor problems in the classroom, which would be of great use and would save many lost minutes. She pointed out technology ought to be integrated with pedagogy and content. Her talk came to a climax after her 18 minutes with the sentence "Tweeting is for the birds, but even teachers can learn to sing."

Counter-argument, opinions from the audience and the final vote: clearly, Nicky won, but Keith Morrow, who chaired the debate, kindly declared it to be 'a great debate', which it obviously was!