Talking and Tweeting

I read an interesting article on TEDBlog entitled "How to talk while people are Twittering". The article is a commentary on another article from Pistachio consulting that suggests that rather than being a distraction, there are actually huge benefits to presenters in allowing their audience to tweet while they are talking. Apparently, it helps people focus so that they can tweet thoughtfully and it allows them to share their ideas so that the lecture is more engaging. Sounds good to me - I find it hard to sit still and just listen. 

Yesterday, at the Expanding Boundaries conference many of us were tweeting during the presentation and the room was actually very quiet. People were engaged in the presentation and were sharing their thoughts and ideas as the talking continued. I wonder if this would have the same effect with students in my classroom? Would they in fact listen better and learn more if they were engaged in a similar manner? What do you think?