This document discusses integrating Twitter into the classroom. It recommends students have a professional Twitter presence before graduating with a communications degree. The author incorporates Twitter into their media law class by having students tweet three times with a hashtag, with at least one post related to media law. A spreadsheet tracks participation, which is 5% of the grade. The author suggests increasing this percentage and emphasizing more discussion among students in the future.

1. Integrating
Twitter into
the classroom
Dr. Matt J. Duffy
Berry College
@mattjduffy

2. Why do this?
 What I tell my students:
 You shouldn’t graduate with a comm
degree if you don’t know how to use Twitter
 Important to enter workforce with a Twitter
presence
 Consider having two accounts
 one professional, one for fun
 What I’m hoping for:
 Increased comprehension of laws, concepts
 Understanding of pervasiveness of law issues

3. Twitter basics
 Hashtags allow users to have
conversations about common themes
 #COM4470
 Starting a tweet with a @handle means
only people that follow you and that
person will be able to see tweet
 So, you don’t have to clog up your twitter
feed with hashtag-specific comments
 Very important!!!

4. Incorporating Twitter hashtag
into classroom
 Twitterfall
 Before class
 Discussion of
Twitter posts
at beginning
of classes.

5. Grading
 Five percent of grade
 Students required to tweet three times
 At least one post must be to something
related to media law
 Other tweets can address other posts
 Students should show understanding of
some media law issue with posts
 Open-access Google Docs spreadsheet
records participation

6. Storify

7. What would I do differently?
 Increase grade percentage
 10 percent instead of 5 percent
 40 percent of students didn’t participate
 Stress more discussion among themselves
 Like which way would a case likely go?
 What evidence would sway case?

8. The End!
 Slides and storify available
at www.mattjduffy.com
 Matt J. Duffy, PhD
 Berry College
 Rome GA
 Teach journalism, multimedia storytelling