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University of South AlabamaPeggy M. Delmas, Edward L. Shaw, Jr.,John H. Strange, Jacey-Blair Chandler
Educational Applications of
Twitter: Expanding the Classroom
Conversation, 140 Characters at a
Time
Conference on Teaching & LearningMay 12, 2014Mobile, AL
What is Twitter? Online social networking and
microblogging service that enables users to send and read "tweets," which are text messages limited to 140 characters.
Introduced March 21, 2006
Why Twitter? 135,000 users are registered
daily 645,750,000 active registered
users daily on Twitter 500 million tweets sent daily 2.1 billion searches daily
Our take: Extensive educational uses
Intro
Please feel free to “live tweet” during our presentation!
- questions- observations- suggestions- comments
- use #cotl
Audience Participatio
n
Used Twitter as an educational tool in 4 graduate classes
Law of Higher Education – F2F:live tweeting as a backchannel during in-class videos and guest speaker presentations
Law of Higher Education, Principles of Leadership, & The Community College – ONL: working in teams, debates, lead class discussions, live tweeted videos, tweeted during visits to community colleges
Using Twitter to Facilitate Learning
in F2F and ONL Courses
Peggy M. Delmas
Immediacy“I really feel Twitter works as well, or possibly better, than the Sakai forums. It's limited in character count but it feels more immediate somehow.” – Joe
Fostered a sense of connection“I enjoyed being able to follow our class discussion through the use of hash tags and discovering which quotes stuck out to individuals. I think Twitter better connects us as a class.” – Sarah
Easy access“…I enjoyed the Twitter app sending a pop-up notification to my phone when you ‘mentioned’ me in an assignment tweet. This along with course updates served as a nice convenient supplement to the announcements in Sakai.” - Elliott
What Worked
Served as an archive“When reviewing for quizzes, it was nice to be able to go back and remember in chronological order my reactions to the film or event, and dialogue between other classmates on the subject. For in-person speakers it allowed for me to remember their talking points, and even pull direct quotes that I tweeted at the time of their discussion” – Elliott
Ego booster/allowed students to show off“The option to unite class work with Twitter was extremely enticing but what I liked the most was being able to demonstrate to my followers from home what I was learning about in class…I noticed friends of mine from home favoriting my tweets with the EDL550 hashtag.” – Alex
Forced brevity“Although Twitter does limit how much you can write I think this is actually a good thing because it forces students to think in order to come up with a clear and concise response every time.” – Ralph
What worked
Required brevity“I think the clear drawback, especially for long-winded folks like myself was having to shorten and synthesize each idea” – Elliott
Non-linear nature of Twitter“The only drawback was that I had a hard time following everyone’s tweets. I got really confused at times by what someone was responding to.” – Rachel
Lack of familiarity with Twitter“Not everyone understands hash tags and how to use them. A number of those participating in the conversation would put a space within the hash tag, like so: #EDL 550. This cuts off the hash tag and makes it more difficult to follow the conversation. Everyone needs to be using the same tag.” – Sarah
What didn’t work
Twitter was used in an undergraduate Science Education methods class to design a roller coaster as part of a Science Technology Engineering Art Mathematics (STEAM) activity.
A Twitter account, Watchdabirds, was established for students to identify and document birds observed at home or at school.
The third way was with an online graduate Elementary Curriculum class as a means of having a real time discussion about a curriculum video.
All three uses of Twitter appeared to be successful based on anecdotal data collected during and after the lessons.
Twitter: Social Media or
Educational Tool?Edward L. Shaw,
Jr.
In this presentation, three ways to use
social media, specifically Twitter, as
an educational tool are discussed.
STEAM Activity Students used a personal device
they wanted, phones, iPads, computers
Continuous update of the roller coaster construction when in different rooms
Questions answered immediately by professors or students
Uploaded photos and video Used SMART technologies to
display tweets
Watchdabirds Students used a personal device
they wanted, phones, iPads, computers
Continuous update, uploaded photos, and identification of birds
Bird identification by a variety of classmates
Expanded knowledge of local bird habitats
Face to Face Elementary
Science Methods Class
Used for real time forum or threaded discussion
Students watched assignment before the session
I asked questions and they responded to me and fellow classmates
Very fast pace; some got lost in the multitude of tweets
Time difference for international students
Unfamiliar with Twitter
On-line Graduate Elementary Curriculum
Course
Demonstrated the use of social media in an educational setting
Real time for the forum or threaded discussion
Using technology that many use daily or some may have never used
Instagram or google docs or a lab where multiple presentations can occur at one time
Students enjoyed using the technology this way
Expanded students’ knowledge of birds, characteristics, and habitats at their home or school
Benefits
International students Tweeting while driving Hesitant to use Help, I’m lost Being kicked off of Twitter
during the session Cannot be used in local
school systems Alternatives
Challenges
The author discussed how he used Twitter to help design and implement an entirely new course for pre-service teachers that is green (no paper in or out); global (students connect with teachers and students around the world with blogs and Twitter); internet based; lab operated as a learning community; project based; multi-media emphasized for input and output; creativity stressed; community oriented; public (all course materials and student products are available on the Internet); self reflection emphasized rather than grades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPdU7ASWad8
Making Connections:
Using Twitter to Build a Personal
Learning Network and to Design a CourseJohn H. Strange
A Student Teacher’s Perspective: Reflections on Twitter
Jacey-Blair Chandler • Experiences using
Twitter in assignments as an undergraduate
• How I envision using Twitter in my own classroom
P-12 & Twitter
http://www.asbj.com/MainMenuCategory/Archive/2014/February/School-Leaders-and-Social-Media.html
@SuperPeek
Suggest that students create a separate Twitter account for the class. This way they won’t have classmates “following” their primary account where conversations unrelated to class occur. Additionally, if a student has a private Twitter account, his/her tweets may not be visible to others outside his/her accepted “followers.” In this case, a separate account is necessary.
Provide a list of Twitter handles of students and instructor.
Lessons learned/
suggestions
Require a designated hash tag with every tweet (for example, #EDL578). Otherwise tweets get “lost,” because students can’t search for them. It’s good to set a standard hash tag for a class and not vary it.
Provide information on Twitter “management systems” for students who are interested in organizing their conversations.
Lessons learned/
suggestions
Set up ground rules for Twitter usage:
• No tweeting and driving!
• No over sharing of personal information. Keep tweets related to course.
• Civility and respect expected. Foul language not.
Lessons learned/
suggestions
If live tweeting during guest speaker presentation, be sure that the guest speaker understands students are tweeting about what they are saying. They are not being disrespectful and ignoring the presentation! If the guest speaker is a Twitter user, provide information on how to access the feed. They might like to post messages prior to their “appearance” and review the posts made by class members afterwards. It’s also nice to tweet welcome messages prior to the guest speaker’s engagement.
Lessons learned/
suggestions
Setting a limited time frame for a Twitter activity poses challenges. There is the possibility that not all class members will be able to participate, particularly if the class is online.
If having a limited time Twitter discussion, consider assigning specific themes/ideas to certain participants. Otherwise you might get a free-for-all.
If a discussion leader is appointed, set expectations. The leader should be very engaged and visible to other participants. The leader should use prompts to stimulate discussion.
Lessons learned/
suggestions
Embrace a sense of humor!
Ask students for feedback. They will have good suggestions!
Experiment, experiment, experiment!
Lessons learned/
suggestions
Questions?
Tools
Tweetping: visualize Twitter activity in real time: http://tweetping.net/ Articles
Can tweeting help your teaching?http://www.nea.org/home/32641.htm
Finding a Voice Through Twitter: http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/10/finding-a-voice-through-twitter/
Twitter as a teaching practice to enhance active and informal learning in higher education: The case of sustainable tweets: http://alh.sagepub.com/content/13/1/9
Twitter for academia: http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/
Resources for Educators
10 New Ways Twitter is Changing the College Lecture: http://www.edudemic.com/twitter-college-lecture/ 100 Simple Ways to Effectively Use Twitter: http://www.edudemic.com/simple-ways-to-use-twitter/
A Visual Guide to Twitter for Beginners: http://www.edudemic.com/a-visual-guide-to-twitter-for-beginners/
The A-Z Dictionary of Educational Twitter Hashtags: http://www.edudemic.com/2012-twitter-hashtags/
Resources for educators
Twitter Directory for Higher Education: http://www.insidehighered.com/twitter_directory
Anatomy of a Tweet – Must See Guide for Teachers: www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/06/anatomy-of-tweet-must-see-guide-for.html
50 Ways to Use Twitter in the College Classroom: http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/06/08/50-ways-to-use-twitter-in-the-college-classroom/
Twitter Client Comparison and Reviews: http://twitter-client-review.toptenreviews.com/
Resources for educators
Ahmad, I. (October 24, 2013). 30+ of the Most amazing Twitter statistics. Retrieved from http://socialmediatoday.com/irfan-ahmad/1854311/twitter-statistics-IPO-infographic
Lepi, K. (October 24, 2013). This is who uses Twitter (and why). Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/numbers-behind-twitter-infographic/
Smith, C. (March 23, 2014). By the numbers: 143 amazing Twitter statistics. Retrieved from http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/march-2013-by-the-numbers-a-few-amazing-twitter-stats/#.U2uZhMsU-M9
Twitter (n .d.) In Wikipedia.
Retrieved November 1, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
References
Peggy M. Delmas@[email protected]
Edward L. Shaw, Jr. @[email protected] John H. Strange @drjohnhadley [email protected]
Jacey-Blaire Chandler@[email protected]
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