can twitter be used to engage students?

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CAN TWITTER BE AN EFFECTIVE TOOL IN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT? NADIA AMIN & PHIL SAINTER WESTMINSTER BUSINESS SCHOOL (BUSINESS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS) HEA ICS WORKSHOP ON INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO STUDENTS ENGAGEMENT UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE, 23 JUNE 2010.

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Slides of a short talk that I gave at the Higher Education Academy workshop on innovative approaches to student engagement

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Page 1: Can Twitter be used to engage students?

CAN TWITTER BE AN EFFECTIVE TOOL IN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT?

NADIA AMIN & PHIL SAINTERWESTMINSTER BUSINESS SCHOOL(BUSINESS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS)

HEA ICS WORKSHOP ON INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO STUDENTS ENGAGEMENTUNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE, 23 JUNE 2010.

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CONTENTS

• What is Twitter?• Twitter use in HE• Our experience• Recommendations • Conclusions

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WHAT IS TWITTER?

• a micro-blogging social network to share content via short messages

• Used by businesses, celebrities and media • A post (tweet) is a 140-character message• You can ‘follow’ people, and they can ‘follow’

you too • You can protect tweets (privacy option)• You can create lists and follow others’ lists

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Source: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/5

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TWITTER ACCOUNT

Tweet

Yourfollowers

Numberof tweets

Account name & photo

YourBio

Num. of following

Num. of followers

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TWITTER BASICS

• Tweets: 140-character message• @replies: @anelkaofficiel• RT (retweets): RT@anelkaofficiel• Hashtags (#): #worldcup, #eng• Direct messages: DM @anelkaofficiel• Link shorteners for long URL: tinyurl.com,

bit.ly• Photo publishing: twitpic.com

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TWITTER TOOLS

• Twitter Software– Twitteriffic, TweetDeck, Hootsuite, Seeismic

• Twitter Mobile Applications– for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Nokia,

SonyEricsson.

• Backup and utility tools– Usage Statistics : Twittercounter, TwitterGrader– Backup: TwapperKeeper, Twazzup, RSS feeds

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TWEETDECK

www.tweetdeck.com9

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USING TWITTER IN CLASS

• Announcement board• Collaboration • Backchannelling• Crowdsourcing• Twitter polls

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THE TWITTER EXPERIMENT: DR RANKIN UT DALLAS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U8&feature=related

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OUR PILOT EXPERIMENT:

• 20 students on “Digital Revolution” module • Students asked to follow the tutor, each other

and others for one semester• Twitter training was provided to all students

(only three were ‘experts’) • Students invited to tweet on the subject• Students asked to write a reflective statement

at the end

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Page 13: Can Twitter be used to engage students?

STUDENTS FEEDBACK ON TWITTER USE• Quick, delivers messages

faster (viral effect)• Excellent message dashboard

for class communication and feedback

• Easy to use and learn• Improves the community feel

within the group• Gives access to new sources

and contacts • Can be integrated with

Facebook• Gives all students equal voice

• Takes time from studies to maintain the account

• Does not replace email or VLE• Integration with SMS costly• Does not replace face-to-face

contacts• Dealing with twitter spam• Information overload • Privacy aspect • Requires motivation to use by

some, but can become addictive for others

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RECOMMENDATIONS • Teaching Activities

– What is the reason of using twitter ? – What teaching or learning activity it will support?– Device assignments that make use of twitter– Encourage twitter use by awarding marks, rewards for best

tweets, etc.• Tutor’s use and motivations

– Familiarise yourself with twitter tools and etiquette– Be proactive in ‘twitterspace’ – Combine with other tools if possible: Email, Moodle, Facebook– Personal twitter account vs dedicated module name account

• Provide students with training, guides and support .

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USEFUL ON-LINE SOURCES

• The Twitter Guide by Mashablehttp://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

• The Ultimate Twitter Guidebook For Teachers http://edudemic.com/2010/06/the-ultimate-twitter-guidebook/

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http://hootcourse.com/

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USEFUL TECH-EDUCATORS TO FOLLOW

• @courosa: Alec Couros, Regina• @drbexl: Bex Lewis, Winchester• @timbuckteeth: Steve Wheeler, Portsmouth• @jamesclay: James Clay, Gloucestershire• @russell1955: Russell Stannard, Westminster• @hopkinsdavid: David Hopkins, Bournemouth

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CONCLUSIONS

• If used in the right context, twitter can engage students

• It is a free and easy to use platform with plethora of tools

• We aim to conduct a larger pilot in 2010-11 – more staff and students on several modules – examine pedagogical implications

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