Using Twitter in an undergraduate classroom (economics) to improve writing, reflection, and community

1. Tweeting Your Way to Improved
#Writing, #Reflection, and
#Community
Alice Louise Kassens
Roanoke College
kassens@roanoke.edu
VAE 2014
Roanoke College

3. What is Twitter?
O Online microblogging
technology
O Post “tweets” up to
140 characters
O ~200 million active
users, ~400 million
tweets/day
O Free service,
www.twitter.com
O Accessed through
variety of portals:
cellphone, computer,
tablet
O Tweets can include
pictures and videos
O User’s twitter page
can be customized
using templates

4. @kassensecon122

5. Twitter in the classroom
O Twitter has been
shown to improve:
O Engagement
O Participation
O Writing
O Community
O Learning
O Memory

6. Twitter and writing/reflection
O 140 character limit
forces succinctness
O “electronic editor”
O Brevity of tweets =
powerful tool for
teaching writing &
other communication
skills
#writing

7. Twitter and writing/reflection
O Writing about
economics=vital test
of understanding
O Challenge in 100-
level courses
O A key to good
writing=developing
an argument
#reflection

8. What we did (2013)
O Social media project
O ~25 student avg.
O 15% of course
grade
O Computer lab
O Screen projecting
Twitter feed
O Unique hashtag
#kassensecon122
O Ten graded tweets
O Rubric developed
with class
O Assignments both
in and out of class
period
O Review tweets in
class

9. Preparation (in class)
O Brief introduction to Twitter (many students
had never used Twitter)
O Set up accounts
O 10-15 minutes to personalize page, follow,
tweet
O Develop rubric: “What makes a good tweet?”
Faculty should
already be
familiar with
Twitter

10. Preparation (in class)
Twitter grading rubric

11. Sample assignment
O State of the Union
Address 2013
1. Watch address
w/in 24 hours of
event
2. Tweet several
comments or
questions
3. One tweet graded
O Purpose
O Increase student
awareness of
current issues
O Apply course
material to these
issues
O Communicate in
thoughtful/concise
manner

12. Sample assignment
…
…

13. Sample assignment

14. Results Share of
students
earning
highest
rubric score

15. Results

16. Unintended consequence
O Twitter expands the
classroom beyond
the physical walls
O Global
conversations
O “guest speakers”
O Community can be
developed in typically
isolated experiences
#community

17. Suggestions Benefits
O Hold class in lab
O Establish ground rules
O Allow practice tweets
O Select unique #
O Grade tweets via
student page
O Follow your students
O Assign a significant
weight to assignment
O Expand classroom,
become part of a larger
community
O Refine reflection &
writing skills w/o a
large written
assignment
O Increase engagement
O Demonstrate
responsible use of
social media

18. Difficulties Cautions
O Challenging with
large classes
O Currently are not
reliable applications
to collect tweets for a
record
O Professor should be
comfortable with the
technology
O Pick a unique
hashtag for all
assignments
O Keep tweets to
course material

19. Trial
O Do you have a Twitter account?
O If so, tweet something (clean) to
@kassens122