The document discusses the use of Twitter as an educational tool to enhance writing, reflection, and community engagement among students at Roanoke College. It highlights a social media project where students tweeted as part of their coursework, focusing on the benefits and challenges of incorporating Twitter into classroom activities. The project emphasized improved communication skills, increased participation, and the extension of learning beyond traditional classroom boundaries.

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