Tweet, tweet! Ideas for using Twitter in the Language Classroom

Tweet, tweet! Ideas for using Twitter in the Language Classroom
Lara Ducate
Lara Lomicka Anderson
The University of South Carolina
SCFLTA 2010

Experience with Twitter?
Heard of Twitter?
Visited Twitter.com?
Have a Twitter account?
Tweeted?
Read a tweet from someone else?

Twitter and tweets defined
Twitter - is a free social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets
Tweets - text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers
Courtesy of wikipedia.com

Why twitter in the FL classroom?
Twitter is gaining popularity in the language classroom (Antenos-Conforti, 2009; Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2009; Stevens, 2008)
Community building
Language practice outside the classroom
Cultural information
Avenues for language output and input
Network with/learn from other teachers

Possible Projects
Vocabulary building, cultural information, reading:
Follow newsfeeds in TL
Follow government / news organizations (vocab, geographical names)
Follow individuals (vocab, culture)
Community Building
Students tweet with their class
Student tweet with NS partners
Teachers tweet with/read tweets of other teachers
Promote your class/language

News tweets

News tweets (Rue 89)

News Tweet (Lemonde)

Famous person from target culture

Other tweets to subscribe to?
Other news organizations
Radio stations
Bands
Singers
Politicians
Movie stars
Friends
People of a certain occupation

Connecting students

Convinced and ready to tweet?

Getting Started
Setting up an account
Settings/privacy
Following and being followed
Using hashtags
Retweeting
Direct Messaging
Linking to mobile phone, facebook, IM

Setting up an Account
http://twitter.com

Applying for an account

Account Settings

Posting your first tweet

Following and being followed

How to find people to follow?
Search by name on Twitter
Find existing users in your e-mail address book
Look for common interests on
WeFollow.com
Look at your friends’ friends

Followers
Block, mention, unfollow, report

Using Hashtags
Words beginning with a # to help you track specific conversations

@ Reply
A comment aimed at one user, but visible to the public.
Or, just mentioning a user’s name with an @ will help ensure that user sees your note.

Retweeting
Sharing someone else’s post. Often abbreviated “RT.”

Direct Messaging (DM)
A direct message sent in private to another user. Goes to your e-mail inbox

Linking to mobile phone, facebook, desktop
TwitterFon -A great way to use Twitter from your iPhone.
TweetDeck - Powerful, customizable way to use Twitter on your desktop.
Facebook –

Beyond Tweeting
Adding audio: twaud.io
Adding pictures: twitpic.com

Sample project for Intermediate French, university level
Required: 3 tweets / week (2 in TL, 1 in NL)
Students interact with their class and with partners in France
30 mn training session in class
Students must follow each other
All tweets include the hashtag #RDE09
1 extra credit point for 5 direct replies
Purpose: community building and language practice

Twitter for Intermediate French

Benefits
Creates /builds community
Connects outside world with class discussion
Connects students from different classes/universities/countries
Can be used to network, disseminate ideas, professional development
Short and easy to write
Fun, informal, play and practice with language

Challenges
Tweets are very short – not a lot of language practice
Need Internet access
Tweeting doesn’t fit some personality types
Time consuming
Twitter spam (unwanted followers)

Ideas?
How might you use Twitter in your classes?
What challenges/benefits do you foresee?
How might you use Twitter professionally?

Resources for Teachers
Tips for Teachers on Twitter
http://onlinecollegedegree.org/2009/03/19/100-tips-apps-and-resources-for-teachers-on-twitter/
http://mrdooley.blogspot.com/2009/03/teachers-twitter.html
Other twittering teachers:
http://twitter4teachers.pbwiki.com/
http://justtweetit.com/education/
http://mashable.com/2009/02/16/twitter-professors/

Twitter Guidebook
http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

References
Antenos-Conforti , E. (2009). “Microblogging on Twitter: Social networking in Intermediate Italian classes” In The Next Generation: Social Networking and Online Collaboration in Foreign Language Learning, Eds, Lara Lomicka and Gillian Lord, (pp. 59-90). CALICO: Texas State University.
Dunlap, J. C. & Lowenthal, P. R. (2009). Tweeting the night away: Using Twitter to enhance socialpresence. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2). Available: http://www.patricklowenthal.com/publications/Using_Twitter_to_Enhance_Social_Presence.pdf
Stevens, V. (2008). Trial by Twitter: The Rise and Slide of the Year’s Most Viral Microbloggins Platform. TESL-EJ 12(1), 1-14.

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Tweet, tweet! Ideas for using Twitter in the Language Classroom

by Lara Anderson on Feb 18, 2010

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