Twitter in the Classroom

STATEMENT

Over the years, Twitter has developed into a great Web 2.0 information network that allows users worldwide to congregate online and find neatly condensed sources of information in 140 characters or less. With its user-friendly interface and instantaneous information delivery, Twitter has become more than a social media platform simply for leisure. Recent literature (Stephen Jacquemin, Lisa Smelser, & Melody Bernot, 2014) suggests that Twitter as a social media application and information source can have strong implications in regards to the future of higher education and technology. For this web-based project, I plan to explain Twitter and its basic features and demonstrate how these features could be applied into our own Education 482 class.

The most obvious feature of Twitter is that registered users are enabled to post pictures and status updates with a maximum of 140 characters. The official Twitter terminology for posting on Twitter is called “Tweeting”, or alternatively “Tweets”. Twitter is primarily based on text. Aside from the synopsis style tweets that are frequently made, there are often tweets that carry links to other websites, news articles, academic articles, and other sources of information that expand beyond the 140 characters allowed on Twitter. The other basic features are simple. In establishing online conversations, users are able to respond to tweets with either their own general tweets, or with an embedded tweets (referred to as ‘@mentions’) that directly responds to another poster’s comment and notifies that poster that such activity has taken place. This @mentions feature is a great way for perhaps students and instructors to communicate with each other on certain ideas or topics. If a user, or in this case a student wanted to communicate with another student or the class instructor in private, the student has the ability do so through the direct message feature (better known as private messaging on other social media websites). Another useful feature for students is the ability to ‘favourite’ tweets. With the ‘favourite’ feature, students can ensure they keep track of posts that stand out for them or will later need to refer to. As a user continues to favourite tweets, the tweets are collectively compiled on a page that is easily accessible on the main profile. The most important feature that Twitter has to offer for communication and building a sense of community between students and instructors are the hashtags. All posts including a hashtag such as #webbasedproject are congregated and any student clicking on the hashtag can see what the conversation is all about. As long as the hashtag is incorporated, students can also become a part of the conversation by asking questions, or offering their own insights. The last feature is the retweet option, which simply reposts another user's tweet. The retweet option for the most part does not serve any major benefit for students. Furthermore, I feel that the retweet option can make students lazy in formulating their own thoughts, essentially making students unoriginal with their postings.

SAMPLE EDUC 482 TWITTER ACCOUNT

Ultimately, Twitter does have useful features that can work well in the classroom setting. Let it be clear that in no way am I implying that Twitter can take over a class entirely. It does not have the tools to do so. However, Twitter can definitely compliment a class setting as an information source. How exactly? To demonstrate, I have created a Twitter account for our own Education 482 class to exhibit some of the ways Twitter could be used. In this sample account made solely for demonstration purposes, I have provided a few illustration of how Twitter can be implemented as a central hub for all of our class related discussion.

https://twitter.com/Educ482

Included are:

• Keeping up with assignment and due dates by sending reminders.

• The use of the hashtag to create a discussion. It could be about a school assignment, or weekly lectures or readings, or it could be general conversations. Hashtags are a great way of not only creating conversation, but also a community with a welcoming atmosphere.

• Sharing links to relevant and academic articles

• Creating a positive, humorous atmosphere for students to revel in.

• Assigning homework.

• Complimenting and providing feedback to students using the @mentions feature.

TPACK ANALYSIS

As with most technologies, Twitter has its own TPACK parameters. The content knowledge or specific subject area as in this analysis revolves around Twitter in post secondary education. Twitter is a fairly simple platform for an educator to grasp and use confidently. Depending how computer literate the educator is, I would say less than half a day is needed to understand the ins and outs of Twitter. I would also like to reiterate that Twitter cannot function as the primary mode of classes the way Google Hangouts or Blackboard Collaborate has the potential to. However, as previously demonstrated there are definitely ways to effectively implement Twitter to help with the flow of the classroom. Therefore, in regards to decisions made pedagogically, an instructor would have to understand that Twitter as a technology will not dictate their actions in teaching. Instead, the onus still remains on the instructor to deliver solid lesson plans.

Also, if Twitter were to be used for a class, the instructor has to acknowledge that there is an online component required so that all students are connected online at all times. This means pedagogically planning for class locations. Having access to a computer lab where students can have their own computers or situating in areas around the education institution with a stable connection to Wi-Fi becomes important. As Twitter is accessible on computers and laptops, along with being mobile friendly, classroom planning also has to accommodate for the usages of laptops and sometimes cellphones to ensure connectivity. The instructor will already have the content knowledge of any course he or she teaches internalized and prepared for teaching. It is the manner in how this content knowledge is delivered through pedagogical and technological practices that Twitter truly has the potential to step in and make a positive difference. As a result the educational process can become much friendlier, more interactive, instantaneous, and ultimately effective

CAUTIONS/HEADS-UP

As interactive, instantaneous, and effective Twitter can be in assisting the operations of a classroom, it is important for educators to be aware of some of the disadvantages that the service may have.

• To use Twitter, there must be access to a stable Internet connection at all times. Without internet access, Twitter’s services are rendered useless.

• With having to maintain an online connection, students may be tempted to distract themselves from school related work and decide to tweet or venture onto other areas of the internet unrelated to academia.

• Privacy issues concerning personal information being shared with third parties and identity theft have been at the forefront of most social media platforms, and Twitter is not an exception. So far, I have discussed Twitter in the postsecondary setting and have made references specifically to our class. However, for children and teenagers ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 12, privacy is a huge concern and therefore Twitter may not be an appropriate technology to use. It is important to note that every situation varies.

• Condensing every tweet into concise 140 characters or less can be challenging, and having to send out multiple tweets each consisting of 140 characters or less can be excessive and often times burdensome.

• Over 500 million tweets are posted per day, therefore it is probable that incorrect usages of hashtags or @mentions tweets can end up buried under the mess, and lost into the Twitter traffic of oblivion.