This link has been bookmarked by 55 people . It was first bookmarked on 30 May 2009, by Kyle Stevens.
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21 Jul 14
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04 Jun 13
Anja Harnisch"udents to reply to each other, and the discussion stream tended to wander. By the time a comment was posted and students had a chance to respond to it, several other tweets had gone up and new ideas had been introduced. I suspect that this bothered me more than it bothered the students. I tend to think and process information in a much more structural manner. Most of the students (in their world of intense multi-tasking) seemed completely capable of following several streams of thought at one time.
Strengths:
Overall, I think the twitter experiment was successful primarily because it encouraged students to engage who otherwise would not. Even in smaller classes, only a small number of students actively participate in class discussions. Students knew that their class participation grade would be partially determined by their involvement in these discussions and most of them seemed comfortable with using the technology to engage with the reading materials.
I think it is absolutely essential that educators consider new approaches and new technologies in the classroom. I consider my own teaching strategies to be in a constant state of creation and re-creation. If there are any questi" -
15 Feb 13
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Mondays and Wednesdays I delivered traditional lectures covering important terms and concepts
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twitter experiment
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set up all of the students on twitter
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post discussion ideas/questions and respond to each other using twitter
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required to complete a reading assignment prior to class
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related to the lectures I had given on Monday and Wednesday
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reading suggestions and questions on my website
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open-note quiz based on the assigned readings and the web questions
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set up a twitter account for the class called ushistoryII
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posted instructions on my website
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introductory “how-to” video
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special hash tags to use on all of their comments.
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hash tags were organized by week
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tweetdeck
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search for that week’s hash tag
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projected it onto the large screen
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those first weeks were primarily spent getting used to the technology
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preferred to use their own computers.
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After some trial and error
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small groups (of 3 to 5) and allowing the group to discuss the material together
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give them discussion topics
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tweet for ten minutes or so and then I would suggest a change of topic
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each student could tweet the most relevant comment
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respond
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more constructive if I circulated around the room and made myself available for comments, questions, and other direct feedback
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TA sat at her computer and monitored the discussion unfolding on the screen
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last 5 to 10 minutes of class
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processing time
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emphasize some of the most useful comments
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respond to ideas they saw and/or ask questions for clarification.
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twitter was most effective when it was combined with other discussion strategies
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enhanced
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students who chose not to set up a twitter account
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did not have the equipment
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to write down their comments on a paper
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turn them in to the TA
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TA would go through all of the comment
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send a direct response to any tweets that needed to be addressed
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favorites
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140 characters
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discussion stream tended to wander.
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difficult for students to reply to each other
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students to engage
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22 Oct 12
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28 Sep 11
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28 Jun 11
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22 Mar 11
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15 Mar 11
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10 Mar 11
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26 Jan 11
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twitter in the basic U.S. History II survey course at U.T. Dallas in the spring 2009 semester.
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enrolls students from all majors
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90 students
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large auditorium-style classroom
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Most educators would agree that large classes set in the auditorium-style classrooms limit teaching options to lecture, lecture, and more lecture. And most educators would also agree that this is not the most effective way to teach
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find a way to incorporate more student-centered learning techniques and involve the students more fully into the material
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primarily interested in finding a service that students could use IN the classroom in place of the standard classroom discussion
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nearly every student in the class had a mobile phone and used text messaging features regularly. Twitter’s texting and internet options seemed to offer more students the opportunity to participate.
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Then I introduced the idea to the students in the class. Many of them had never heard of twitter and only a few were actually using twitter at the time, so this was new technology to them as well. But nearly all of them used Facebook, My Space, and other similar services so they were familiar with the concept of social networking. I asked them to set up a twitter account and to follow the class. I posted instructions on my website for those who needed them and Kim Smith made an introductory “how-to” video that I also posted on my website.
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hash tags were organized by week
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special hash tags to use on all of their comments.
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Tweetdeck
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quite pleased with using twitter in the classroom for facilitating discussions.
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did take some trial and error
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a few constructive comments based on the reading material posted toward the end of the class, but those first weeks were primarily spent getting used to the technology
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Some students did post comments class-related comments outside of class time, but this was the exception.
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“best practices:”
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putting students into small groups (of 3 to 5) and allowing the group to discuss the material together stimulated more ideas
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best to give them discussion topics so that most of the comments were based on a common them
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mini-discussions in their small groups and each student could tweet the most relevant comments being circulated in the group
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least related to the same reading
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“discussions” were more constructive if I circulated around the room and made myself available for comments, questions, and other direct feedback
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respond directly to students and I could get suggestions from them of other topics they wanted to address
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Limitations
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post more than one tweet if necessary.
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somewhat limiting
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somewhat difficult for students to reply to each other, and the discussion stream tended to wander
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successful primarily because it encouraged students to engage who otherwise would not
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Students knew that their class participation grade would be partially determined by their involvement in these discussions and most of them seemed comfortable with using the technology to engage with the reading materials
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absolutely essential that educators consider new approaches and new technologies in the classroom
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05 Nov 10
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22 Sep 10
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04 May 10
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01 Apr 10
Sarah ThorneycroftDocumentation of an experimental project on integrating Twitter into a lecture/tutorial environment.
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Since I was new to twitter, I enlisted the help of Kim Smith, who is currently enrolled as a graduate student in the U.T. Dallas Emerging Media and Communications (EMAC) program. Kim was instrumental in helping me to understand how twitter works and how I could best incorporate it into the classroom.
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25 Feb 10
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25 Nov 09
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26 Oct 09
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20 Oct 09
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07 Oct 09
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04 Oct 09
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02 Sep 09
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I used twitter in the basic U.S. History II survey course at U.T. Dallas in the spring 2009 semester.
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I had one graduate student teaching assistant to help with grading and other administrative duties for the class.
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I wanted to find a way to incorporate more student-centered learning techniques and involve the students more fully into the material.
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Twitter users had the option of posting updates or comments either through the twitter website or by text messaging on a mobile phone.
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But nearly every student in the class had a mobile phone and used text messaging features regularly.
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The idea was to set up all of the students on twitter while they were in class and have them post discussion ideas/questions and respond to each other using twitter.
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Many of them had never heard of twitter and only a few were actually using twitter at the time, so this was new technology to them as well.
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First, I set up a twitter account for the class called ushistoryII.
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Following Kim’s suggestion, I gave the students special hash tags to use on all of their comments.
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I loaded tweetdeck on the classroom computer and projected it onto the large screen at the front of the room so students could watch the stream of comments.
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This was an important aspect of our twitter experiment. With 90 students in one room, I needed the TA’s participation to make this format work. She was completely on board and energetic about trying new things and figuring out how to make twitter an effective classroom tool.
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With our “best practices,” we found that twitter was most effective when it was combined with other discussion strategies (small group discussions, interaction with the instructor, and processing as an entire class.) Twitter did not replace more conventional discussion formats; instead it enhanced the discussions and brought more student interaction.
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here were also some students who either did not have the equipment (laptop computer) to use twitter in class or who did not have an unlimited texting plan on the cell phone.
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Since twitter is a public and open access internet technology, I made twitter participation optional for students.
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The TA would go through all of the comments after class and send a direct response to any tweets that needed to be addressed—including questions that remained unanswered or exceptional comments that warranted direct feedback.
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I suspect that this bothered me more than it bothered the students. I tend to think and process information in a much more structural manner. Most of the students (in their world of intense multi-tasking) seemed completely capable of following several streams of thought at one time.
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Even in smaller classes, only a small number of students actively participate in class discussions.
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Overall, I think the twitter experiment was successful primarily because it encouraged students to engage who otherwise would not.
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18 Aug 09
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12 Aug 09
Gavan WatsonThere has been a lot of interest in the “Twitter Experiment” video posted by Kim Smith chronicling my U.S. History class at U.T. Dallas and our use of twitter in the classroom. I have fielded a number of inquiries from educators across the United States
twitter education teaching technology university learning pedagogy web2.0 from.delicious
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07 Aug 09
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19 Jul 09
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10 Jul 09
Spiro BolosGreat practical advice from Monica Rankin
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09 Jul 09
Anne FoxHow to use twitter to increase discussion in a large class. Guess edmodo could be an alternative except that it would not have th option of bringing externals in.
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Kathy CannonThis write-up is intended as an informal summary of my use of twitter in the classroom
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08 Jul 09
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07 Jul 09
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03 Jul 09
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01 Jul 09
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24 Jun 09
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13 Jun 09
Chris BetcherThis write-up is intended as an informal summary of my use of twitter in the classroom. I hope it will help to clarify my experience and I welcome additional questions and commentary, particularly suggestions for how to improve this type of classroom int
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02 Jun 09
Mathieu PlourdeThis write-up is intended as an informal summary of my use of twitter in the classroom.
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01 Jun 09
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30 May 09
Kyle StevensProfessor reflects on use of Twitter during survey course at UT Dallas.
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