Presentation about how educators can use Twitter as a teaching tool.

1. Twitter: A Terrific
Technology Teaching
Tool
Barbara O’Neill, Ph.D., CFP®
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
oneill@aesop.rutgers.edu
@moneytalk1 on Twitter

2. Workshop Objectives
• Discuss basic Twitter functions
• Discuss pros and cons of using Twitter
• Discuss how Twitter chats operate
• Discuss how to organize, market, manage, and
deliver Twitter chats
• Discuss how to evaluate Twitter use and Twitter chats
• Discuss how to archive a Twitter chat (Storify)

3. Do You Use Twitter?
• Yes or no?
• If yes, personally or
professionally?
• If professionally, how?

4. Develop a Twitter
“Game Plan”
• Professional use only? Personal and professional use? Two
separate accounts: personal and professional?
• Links to other social media (e.g., Facebook)?
• Write a “Twitter Mission Statement” to guide your tweeting
activity
– Personal Example:
“To provide useful, research-based personal finance
information (and occasional non-controversial personal
anecdotes) to an increasing number of followers.”

5. BUILD A NETWORK
ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY
TRACK & ANALYZE IMPACT

6. Why Use Social Media?
IF FACEBOOK WERE A COUNTRY, IT
WOULD BE THE THIRD LARGEST IN
THE WORLD. THERE ARE MORE
FACEBOOK USERS THAN PEOPLE IN
THE UNITED STATES.
THE WORLD’S SECOND MOST POPULAR
SEARCH ENGINE (AFTER GOOGLE) IS
YOUTUBE.
TWITTER WAS CREATED IN 2006.
MORE THAN 645 MILLION PEOPLE
WERE ACTIVE REGISTERED TWITTER
USERS IN MARCH 2015. 135,000
USERS SIGN UP EVERY DAY.
AN AVERAGE OF 58 MILLION TWEETS
ARE SENT DAILY
Source: http://www.statisticbrain.com/twitter-
statistics/

7. Advantages and
Disadvantages of Twitter
Pros
• Every tweet goes to your
followers
• Tweets are easy to create
• You can get to the point
• You can embed links
• It’s free
• It’s searchable (by #)
Cons
• Tweets get buried in your follower’s
feeds: “a moment in time”
• Not the best medium for visual
content
• 140 character limit
• Has had spam problems
• Lower user base than Facebook
• It can be addictive

8. Here’s How You Tweet
What’s happening?

9. You Have 140 Characters…to
Teach or Promote Something

10. Make Sure You Complete a Profile
and Include Your Credentials

11. Things That You Can Tweet About
• Links to fact sheets/newsletters/press releases, etc.
• Links to news articles where you are quoted
• Links to interesting articles (read completely first!)
• Links to Facebook pages
• Links to reputable information sources (e.g., WSJ, EBRI)
• Links to blogs and YouTube videos and music
• Short succinct concepts (e.g., “pay yourself first”)
• Re-tweets from reputable sources

12. Twitter Tips
• Use a # to facilitate searches (e.g., #credit)
• Or a # and an _ for two words (e.g., #credit_cards) or a
“word mash” (e.g., #creditcards)
• Use a @ to flag another user (e.g., @RutgersNJAES or
@moneymattersNJ)
• Insert short bit.ly links into tweets that can be tracked
• Use 120 characters (makes it easy for others to retweet
your messages)
• Follow/contribute to conference Twitter feeds (e.g.,
#ACCI2015 at ACCI conference)

13. Twitter Hashtags
• A key component of Twitter use is the hashtag (#) symbol
followed by a series of unique characters
• The hashtag serves like a “magnet” to link together the
tweets of Twitter users who are interested in the same
topic (e.g., credit) or who are linked together in some way
(e.g., professional conference attendees)
• By using a hashtag, users can effectively hold a
“conversation” with one another about a topic of interest

14. Twitter Chats
• Online users gather at a specified time (e.g., every
Friday at 3 pm ET) to “discuss” (read: tweet about)
certain topics, questions, or issues.
• In other words, they are a synchronous learning
environment where participants interact in real time
using their Twitter user names (a.k.a.,”handles”).
• As with tweets at conferences, the “glue” that holds
Twitter chats together is the designated hashtag
• A Twitter chat hashtag creates a running stream of
tweets so that everyone can follow the “conversation.”

15. More About Twitter Chats
• Chat hashtags are often derived from a chat sponsor’s
name (example: #wbchat for WiseBread); industry
(example: #creditchat); or program title (#SSHWchat
for the Small Steps to Health and Wealth™ program)
• A Twitter chat hashtag creates a running stream of
tweets so that everyone can follow the “conversation”
• The formatting convention used to follow Twitter chat
threads is Q1 for Question 1 and A1 for participant
responses to that question

16. Still More About Twitter Chats
• There are more than 300 existing Twitter chats on a wide
variety of topics such as money, agriculture, etc. (see
http://chatter.thundertech.com/post/How_to_run_a_succe
ssful_Twitter_chat.aspx)
• There are special Web sites for Twitter chats such as
– http://www.tchat.io/ (Tweet Chat tool)
– http://tweetchat.com/ (Tweet Chat)
– http://twubs.com/ (Twubs)
• You need to use one of these web sites to conveniently
see a Twitter chat in its entirety

17. Ongoing Personal
Finance Twitter Chats
• Some have sponsors and offer prizes
• Some have “guest Tweeters”
• All have defined niches and defined topics
• Most popular personal finance chats include:
– #creditchat (Wednesdays, 3 pm ET)
– #wbchat (Thursdays, 3 pm ET)
– #cashchat (Fridays, Noon ET)
– #mcchat (Fridays, 4 pm ET)

18. Step 1:
Set Twitter Chat Goals
• Teaching key concepts to students
• Engaging students learning at a distance
• Driving traffic to a Web site
• Selling something (e.g., a new book)
• Building brand identity
• Promoting a positive behavior (e.g.,
saving money)

19. Step 2: Designate a Date
and Time for Chat
• Avoid conflicts with regularly scheduled Twitter
chats
• Think about time zones and participant
convenience
• Avoid major government or religious holidays
• Consider “teachable moments” for personal
finance topics (e.g., income taxes)

20. Step 3:
Determine a Hash Tag
• Check to see if your proposed hashtag
already exists
• 7-8 letters is good
• End the hashtag name with “chat” (e.g.,
#SSHWchat)
• Try to derive the hashtag from the name of
a program or sponsor or topic

21. Step #4: Determine Chat
Topic and Questions
• Have an overall theme (e.g., health and wealth, saving
money, reducing debt, frugal vacation tips)
• Prepare 8-10 questions for a one-hour chat
• Prepare responses to use in case chat response is slow
Q1: In what ways are health and personal finances related?
• #Health requires #wealth. People with good health generally need to save > unhealthy
people 2 last longer lifetime:
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/sshw/book/02_Health_and_Wealth_Connections.pdf
• #Health & #money problems affect job productivity and income:
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/sshw/book/02_Health_and_Wealth_Connections.pdf
• #Health & #money problems often start small but grow over time:
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/sshw/book/02_Health_and_Wealth_Connections.pdf
• Both #health & #finance have lots of jargon like BMI, LDL, IRA, 401(k):
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/sshw/book/02_Health_and_Wealth_Connections.pdf

22. Step 5: Market the Chat
• Develop a marketing flyer or Web page with a link:
http://www.slideshare.net/BarbaraONeill/money-
smart-week-twitter-chat-flyer-for-04-2115
• Share link frequently through social media
• Attend other Twitter chats, build community, and
discretely announce your chat
• Encourage colleagues to promote a chat
• Get a sponsor or grant funding to provide prizes
• Announce the prizes in the Twitter chat publicity

23. Step 6: Deliver the Chat
• Have a primary Tweeter and at least one assistant
• Connect with each other via telephone
• Assistants act as “spotters” to make sure that primary
Tweeter responds to posts
• Assistants also help select prize winners (if any)
• Respond to queries and ideas as if you were in a
conversation
• Retweet good participant tweets
• Thank people for coming with positive strokes

24. Step 7: Evaluate Impact
and Outreach
• Online survey (e.g., Qualtrics) link embedded in final chat tweets
(with prizes as an incentive to complete)
Dr. Barbara O'Neill @moneytalk1Apr 29
Please let us know if U found #SSHWchat helpful & take this brief survey:
https://rutgers.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9X0V77kUKhOqlWB … Will pull winners at 1:30 pm #sshwchat
• TweetReach and HashTracking statistics: http://tweetreach.com/
www.hashtracking.com/ (type in chat hashtag to pull a report)
• Follow-up contact from participants (Twitter direct messages, e-
mail, etc.)
• Traffic to Web site during and after a chat
• Other?

25. Sample TweetReach
Report

26. Evaluating Overall Impact
• Number of followers
• “Prestige” (position) of followers and their followers
• Hits on your Web site(s) linked to from your tweets
• Embedded online (e.g., Qualtrics) survey
• Twitter metrics based on key factors:
– Number and power of followers
– Number of updates and update recency
– Follower/following ratio
– Number of tweets that are retweeted by others

27. Twitter Impact Metric
http://klout.com

28. Step 8: Write Impact
Reports
• Number of followers and chat participants
• TweetReach report outreach numbers
• Participant survey data
• Data from other feedback methods
• Sample Evaluation Report:
http://www.slideshare.net/BarbaraONeill/ssh
w-twitter-chat-impact-statement-0414

29. Step 9: Archive the Chat
With Storify
https://storify.com/ Storify is an organized collection of tweets
with links, photos, etc. to “tell a story” from Twitter content
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9iHniFjiVc
Storify Samples:
https://storify.com/RutgersSEBS/cook-douglass-community-day-2014-at-rutgers
https://storify.com/RutgersNJAES/small-steps-to-health-and-wealth
https://storify.com/moneytalk1/cooperative-extension-money-smart-week-chat-mswcha
https://storify.com/moneytalk1/acci-2015-annual-meeting

30. Step #10: Review,
Revise, and Repeat
• Learn from prior Twitter chat experiences
• Tweak the production process as needed
• Build a collection of archived Storified Twitter
chats with links on your Web site
• Share your storified chat links on social media
• Have fun!

31. #eXASchat
Evaluation Results
• Four consecutive Monday evenings in February 2014 to
promote America saves and saving money
• Hashtag: #eXASchat
• 69 participants
• Estimated reach: 42,838 (estimated overall reach of tweets in report)
• Exposure impressions: 249,382 (based on participants’
followers; tells how many tweets were sent by users to their followers)
• Number of tweets sent by users with > 1,000 followers
(96th percentile of all Twitter users): 38

32. #SSHWchat
Evaluation Results
• Held at noon ET on 4/29/14 for Financial Literacy Month
• Topic: Strategies to improve health and finances
• Hashtag: #SSHWchat
• 34 participants
• Estimated reach: 25,294 (estimated overall reach of tweets in report)
• Exposure impressions: 50,553
• Six-question Qualtrics survey: 29% response rate
• 100% of respondents reported learning something new
• 100% of respondents reported planned behavior changes
• Comment: “Please have one monthly, if possible”

33. eXtension Twitter Cohort
• A great resource for learning about Twitter from
eXtension Network Literacy experts
• Archived resources from structured eXtension
learning experiences with assignments, videos, etc.
• https://learn.extension.org/events/2099#.VW4bfk3
bKM9
• Videos: http://twittercohort.wordpress.com/

34. Twitter Chats for Online
and Hybrid Courses
• Provide real time synchronous engagement with class
• Build “community” among distance education students
• Costs nothing!!!
• Can print out TweetChat summaries to capture
thoughts and assess student participation
• Can archive digitally with a link via Storify

35. Twitter Chats for
Research?
“Using social media to talk with
customers is like getting access
to the most honest focus group
that’s ever sat around a
conference table and not paying
a dime for their input,” p. 195).

36. Questions? Comments?
Experiences?
CEE Grant Project: Even the process of
writing tweets is educational even if
students are not allowed to send them