I have been a proponent of using Twitter in the classroom for a few years now.  I recently ran across a webinar on the subject and the presenter’s goals for using Twitter resonated with me.  Here is what Dr. Robert Williamson Jr., of Hendrix College, listed as his goals for using Twitter:

1. To encourage students to read texts more closely.
2. To help students make claims about a text or topic and to engage the claims of other students.
3. To extend classroom discussions beyond the temporal and spatial confines of the classroom.
4. To create a structure in which the ideas of quieter students can be invited into class discussion both inside and outside of the classroom.

To view the webinar, go to http://davidjhinson.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/twitter-in-the-classroom-at-hendrix-college/