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We see Twitter being used for many different purposes, some of them less frivolous and actively positive. Enter another positive development, this time from federal judge and current First Lady of Pennsylvania, Marjorie O. Rendell.

She’s launched the @CivicsFirst account on Twitter expressly for the purpose of creating community around civics education. She explained the initiative to Reuters:

“Social networking sites like Twitter bring people together from all over the world to discuss problems, formulate solutions, and generate powerful action. We are reaching out to teachers to create an online community around the topic of civics education, inspire students to connect with their elected officials, and persuade superintendents to incorporate model programs into their curriculum.”

Judge Rendell plans to share free online resources for teachers and start a dialogue about how educators can achieve the goal of better including civics curricula into the classroom. It marks a unique commitment on behalf of the state to proactively use Twitter to explicitly promote education and create a community of teachers.

What do you think: does Twitter have an inevitable place in pedagogy? Is civic discourse possible in 140 characters or less?

Tags: civics, education, legal, pennsylvania, twitter