Twitter in Education: Interactively exploring the
conversation with TAGS and TAGSExplorer
Martin Hawksey
@mhawksey
#TLCWebinar
Slides go.alt.ac.uk/TLCWebinarTAGS This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0. CC-BY
mhawksey
alt.ac.uk
Outcomes
◊ Able to perform basic Twitter analysis techniques;
◊ understanding of the limitations and opportunities
of data from Twitter;
◊ *Inspire* you to do more
2@mhawksey
Why?
3
Image: CC-BY-NC-ND Tintin44
https://flic.kr/p/7oLZc5
alt.ac.uk@mhawksey 4
Education is changinging
@mhawksey 5
Image: CC-BY-ND Bryan Mathers
https://flic.kr/p/p2UJ5d
Connected now…
©EDUCAUSE
http://vimeo.com/76178422
@mhawksey Image credit: http://edtechreview.in/images/Daily/E-Learning/twitter_learning_tool.jpg
What’s happening …
@mhawksey 8
ActivePassive
Dialogic
Transmission
In-class Backchannel
Uses: ad hoc class discussion,
real-time commenting, recording
divergent viewpoints
Benefits: engages less vocal students,
archives otherwise ephemeral
comments
Outside of Class Discussions
Uses: extend class discussions,
exchange comments about readings
or questions about assignments
Benefits: community building,
continuity between class sessions
In-class Directed Discussion
Uses: Open or guided questions with
student responses collected for later
analysis
Benefits: engages all students in
discussions in large lecture classes
Tracking Activities
Uses: find and follow instructor
experts in the field, or key topics
Benefits: exposure to the lager
cultural conversation about the class
material
Lightly Structured Activities
Uses: solicit course feedback, offer
ambient office hours, poll class,
language or writing practice
Benefits: flexibility, availability,
scalability
Metacognitive/Reflective Activities
Uses: students report on self
learning, articulate their difficulties,
recap the most valuable lesson of the
day
Benefits: fosters critical thinking
Institutional communication
Uses: community outreach, alerts,
announcements
Instructor Communication
Uses: announcements, syllabus
changes, reminders
Pedagogical Communication
Uses: sharing timely links and
resources
Student Activity
DialogicTransmission
Passive Active
Mark Sample’s Twitter Adoption Matrix
@mhawksey 9
vulnerability
©Alec Couros
https://flic.kr/p/64ZQkd
Patterns are
…left behind
Courtesy Marc Smith
http://www.slideshare.net/Marc_A_Smith/2013-nodexl-social-media-network-analysis11
alt.ac.uk
Twitter Search
12@mhawksey
alt.ac.uk13@mhawksey
@mhawksey 14
Lets interface … {API}Image credit: CC-BY-NC nikki
https://flic.kr/p/5d59EW
alt.ac.uk
Twitter Search API – Single tweet
16@mhawksey
alt.ac.uk
Twitter Search API Limits
◊ Data from last ~7-9 days
◊ Last 18,000 tweets for search term
◊ Developer ‘Rules of the Road’ on storage
17@mhawksey
alt.ac.uk@mhawksey 18
Twitter Archiving Google Sheet
alt.ac.uk19
alt.ac.uk20@mhawksey
alt.ac.uk
Google Sheet benefits
21@mhawksey
alt.ac.uk
Going further… TAGSExplorer
22@mhawksey
alt.ac.uk
Breaking the cell
23
alt.ac.uk
Activity
Worksheet - go.alt.ac.uk/TAGSSetup
Note: Links are case sensitive
24@mhawksey
alt.ac.uk
SocioViz
@mhawksey 25
alt.ac.uk@mhawksey
nodexl.codeplex.com
26
alt.ac.uk
Summary
◊ Able to perform basic Twitter analysis techniques;
◊ Understanding of the limitations and
opportunities of data from Twitter;
◊ *Inspire* you to do more
27@mhawksey
alt.ac.uk28
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/social-media-analytics
@mhawksey
STARTS 20 AUGUST
alt.ac.uk
Worksheet - go.alt.ac.uk/TAGSSetup
Slides - go.alt.ac.uk/TLCWebinarTAGS
Note: Links are case sensitive
Thank you!
@mhawksey+MartinHawksey
29@mhawksey
Association for Learning Technology
Registered charity number: 1063519
www.alt.ac.uk @A_L_T

Twitter in Education: Interactively exploring the conversation with TAGS and TAGSExplorer