Twitter in Education: Considerations & Possibilities

Twitter in EducationConsiderations & Possibilities
http://success.nmsu.edu/twitter
http://nmtiepresentation.pbworks.com
Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz @hollyraehollyrae@nmsu.edu
Laura Grant
@laurapresently
lgrant@nmsu.edu

A way of …microsharing
A form of …micromedia
….micro=smaller….
140 characters
a ‘headline’ of one’s status
shared with followers
often using @replies
Generates a stream

http://www.twitter.com

#hashtag
RT - retweet

Overview
Possibilities
Higher Education
Secondary Education
Elementary Education
Considerations
Outcomes Based Approach
Safety & Security
Alternative Tools
http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/2537309848/

Higher EducationPossibilities

Educators
Institutions
Educators
Institutions
Disburse information

Educators
Institutions
Listen

Educators
Institutions
Engage

Student support

Instruction

Educators
Institutions
Fostering a decentralized network

Educators
Institutions
Having a plan

“We are @nmsu a group of students and staff members..”
Follow @nmsu
Who @nmsu follows
Improve @nmsu
Team members
Current updates
Other NMSU personas

Secondary EducationPossibilities

What are we looking for?

News and Updates

Attendance? Vocabulary?... ru 4 real?

Idealized Backchannel
S1: In Bio listening to a great lecture on cell division. She ROCKS!
S2: Reading "Chapter 7" for Mr Wilson. Not my favorite so far but I'll get through it
S3: Great quote from Mr B: "History is written by the winners." He said it's not his original quote, tho’
S4: @S1 Mrs D is awesome! Looking forward to 5th period when I'll hear it, too
S4: @S2 Tell me about it. I've got to read it tonight. But I'm a fast reader.
S2: Anyone know a good website to help me to understand Chapter 7?
S1: @S3 Yeah, I heard that quote before, too. Hold on and I'll look it up for you.
From Twitter with Students? @jgates513

Possible Backchannel?
S1: wht's 4 lunch? I'm staving!S2: NFW I'm readg that @#$ Chapter 7. Hes got 2 B Sh*ttin' me!S3: "History is writn by th winners?" DUH!S4: I get out of her class 5th period, dude! S*cks 2 B U!S4: @S1 its only 9:30 dude! U cnt B hungry alrdy U pig!S2: Any1 know if any of ths @#$% in Ch 7 will B on the test?S1: @S3 No duh! Who ELSE wld write it. Hes so lame!
From Twitter with Students? @jgates513

Collaborative Research
http://socialtechineducation.wikispaces.com/ from @teachpaperless

Collaborative Assessment
Students have access to texts and translation tools
Allowed to use Twitter to ask questions and offer help
Instructor can listen and contribute if assistance is needed
Each student translates a different part of the passage
One score to entire class as long as equal contributions to the hashtag
Students shared resources and translations by linking to blogs
All discussion had to take place on Twitter.
http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com from @teachpaperless

A few more ideas for Secondary Education
Collaborative writing
Collaborative research
Real time reflections
Communicate with subject matter experts
Crowdsourcing
Follow or research live events
Providing ‘lifeline’ assistance/support
Opt in text notifications
Easy web page updates
http://delicious.com/hollyrae/microblogging+education

Elementary EducationPossibilities

Parent ‘IMHO’
"I guess my point is (IMHO) if I found out that my 6th grader's school time was being used to learn about Twitter, MySpace, or any other social tool, that school would be getting a rather terse phone call from me. Teach my kid math, english, history, etc. I'll teach him about twitter etc....when I think he's ready and so that I can set boundaries…” Fromhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jessica-gross/embracing-the-twitter-cla_b_204463.html

School Presence

Classroom Presence Possibiliites
Opt in network for parents and family members
Send reminders about homework or announcements
Microblog of classroom events

Collaborative Writing

!
Safety & SecurityConsiderations

@PawLuxury

Considerations about Twitter itself
API Vulnerabilities
Google Results
Location Awareness

Responsible Use Considerations
What else will students do with this?
What policies are in place?
Cyberbulling committee, anonymous reporting
Responsible use agreement
Parental consent, student assent
How will account(s) be administered?
Blocking, following, privacy

!
Outcomes Based ApproachConsiderations

Define parameters & goals
What is the purpose of the account?
Determine outcomes, norms, parameters
What links, names, locations should be shared (if any)?
Consider limiting information in your profile’s bio
Who can follow (if private) and how will that be managed?
What will happen on vacation, breaks, nights or weekends?
Higher Ed example @nmsu

Prepare to stay involved & immersed
Monitor/listen to your brand or community
Research your integration of search and search widgets (ongoing)
Change account name when necessary
Be mindful of password access or third party access (ie: Twitpic email address)
Listening Engines
* http://www.socialmention.com/
* http://search.twitter.com/
* http://www.whostalkin.com/
* http://www.samepoint.com/

Know your tools!
Be familiar with the support documentation.

Include & inform stakeholders
Acceptable/responsible use
Parental consent
Student assent
Administrational approval
Responsible and transparent classroom use will require your advocacy!

!
Alternative ToolsConsiderations

Private account with GroupTweet
http://www.grouptweet.com

Grouptweet Insiderview
d @pvia great class today!
= via @hollyrae: great class today!
Advantages
Ability to create a private conversation
Attribution is included
Support presence on Twitter
Disadvantages?
Delays in posting
Use may require training

Alternatives Rock

Consider the size of the conversation

Additional microblogging networks
Microclassroom
Edmodo.com
Enterprise (domain based)
Yammer.com
Present.ly
SocialCast.com
White Label
Twingr.com
Open Source
Laconi.ca
Created with http://www.wordle.net

Twitter for Education ! ? …
Twitter has safety and security liabilities
Safety and security is a moving target
Requires a strong & ongoing commitment
Alternative tools can support many of the benefits with fewer safety considerations

Questions & Comments
Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz @hollyraehollyrae@nmsu.edu
Laura Grant
@laurapresently
lgrant@nmsu.edu

http://connectedschool.pbworks.com	145
http://nmtiepresentation.pbworks.com	33
http://te831fall2011.wikispaces.com	30
http://te831summer2011.wikispaces.com	26
https://te831s11.wikispaces.com	21
https://nmtiepresentation.pbworks.com	16
http://www.slideshare.net	12
http://steveyuen.org	11
http://learning101.posterous.com	10
http://te831us11.wikispaces.com	10
http://te831f10.wikispaces.com	10
https://te831f10.wikispaces.com	9
http://dragon.ep.usm.edu	9
http://www.weblearning.co.za	7
http://virtual.ucc.edu.ni	6
http://posterous.com	3
http://lbccelearning.blogspot.com	2
http://blog.toddwessels.net	2
http://retapedia.pbworks.com	2
http://200.85.170.228	1
http://community.sloanconsortium.org	1

Twitter in Education: Considerations & Possibilities

by Holly Rae on Nov 20, 2009

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