TWITTER IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Dr Bex Lewisbex@bex-lewis.co.uk

A Digital Native: Jake’s Story

“Jake told the executive that he never goes directly to a brand like this man’s newspaper or even to blogs he likes. ... he reads a lot of news – far more than I did at his age. But he goes to that news only via the links from Digg, friends’ blogs, and Twitter. He travels all around the internet that is edited by his peers because he trusts them and knows they share his interests. The web of trust is built at eye-level, peer-to-peer.” (Jarvis, p.86, my emphasis)

Read more…

http://www.clex.org.uk/ Government Report by Sir David Melville,

published March 2009 The impact on their experiences and

expectations Their use of social networking Their adoption of new technologies Developments at schools, colleges, campuses,

including institutional developments. Read Summary:

http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/11/jisc-e-learning-fair/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/as_facebook_ages_gen_y_turns_to_twitter.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+readwriteweb+(ReadWriteWeb)

What is Twitter?

140 Characters (based on SMS) known as “Tweets” Displayed on author’s profile page Read by subscribers (known as “Followers”)

Different from Facebook More interest/thematic based Not time/geographically dependent Not as “personal” ‘I had toast’ does not cut it!

Privacy Options (not recommended) Retweets (a mark of approval)

@stephenfry

@drbexl

What is Twitter about?

Twitter is about relationship building, you can’t just “broadcast” announcements out, you need to engage with your followers.

Post a mix of useful information, links to others tweets/information, and some personal information… quotes seem to work quite well too!

Use ‘hashtags’ (#) to follow conversations. Well-known: #followfriday

The etiquette for recommending is somewhat interesting A certain amount of you pat my back… We want REASONS

Just invent a hashtag. Worth checking that others aren’t using one, and if using for an event, agree beforehand. #digisymphttp://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/09/christianity-in-the-digital-space/ used http://www.twitterfall.com/ for “backchat”

Twitter Lists

http://listorious.com/ http://mashable.com/2009/11/04/twitter-lists-uses/

A Visual Guide to Twitterhttp://applicant.com/twitter-guide/#more-1446

But how can we use it?

Technology is just a tool?

http://www.camb-ed-us.com/school/standards-assessment.asp

http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/11/9-great-reasons-why-teachers-should-use-twitter/ Together we’re better: a virtual staff room Global or local: you choose: potential to reach an international audience Self-awareness and reflective practice: sharing best practice / challenges/ the educator’s

journey Ideas workshop and sounding board: Share ideas and get instant feedback, and

constructive criticism. Newsroom and innovation showcase: Keep up with current affairs, both news and with the

latest developments in a specialist field – often being one of the first to know. Avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ by working smarter/sharing ideas. “Pay It Forward”

Professional development and critical friends: a powerful network available ‘all the time’, not just at break-out times between training sessions. Take time to find the right people to follow. A source of healthy debate, without losing days in development time/large amounts of cash, and gain the courage of your own convictions.

Quality-assured searching: Trust the people you follow, and as your network gains a critical mass, often a more reliable source of information than Google, and offering up to the minute information on time-linked trending topics.

Communicate, communicate, communicate: “Expressing yourself in 140 characters is a great discipline.”

Getting with the times has never been so easy!: It’s what the students are using, and therefore we also should. “Twitter is anything but complicated”, and plenty of websites offering help on how to get started.

Twitter? Helpful?

Presentation: Dr Lorraine Warren

http://www.slideshare.net/lisaharris/using-social-media-for-research

Practical Ideas?

Twitter: “Backchatter” Concise summaries of arguments/texts Collating information for students (e.g. world foods) for

students to work with in session Other Tools: Blogs: Real-time engagement, formative feedback Delicious: Bookmarking within a course, sharing links Online treasure hunt: leading to the library! Second Life: museum for Creating and Consuming History E-Portfolio: Space for reflective journaling Wiki: Non-linear development of an argument Facebook Group: Industrial placement students,

maintaining community YouTube (and similar): Session tasters

Blogged Ideas re: Twitter

http://web20teach.blogspot.com/2007/08/twitter-tweets-for-higher-education.html http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/uni-students-to-be-marked-o

n-tweets/story-fn3dxiwe-1225786315525 http://ws-cougar.quinnipiac.edu/wordpress/?p=144 http://cooper-taylor.com/blog/2008/08/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-education/ http://janeknight.typepad.com/socialmedia/ http://searchenginewatch.com/3630980 http://www.emergingedtech.com/2009/06/6-examples-of-using-twitter-in-the-classr

oom/ http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/ http://teachingtechnology.suite101.com/article.cfm/using_twitter_to_break_down_c

lassroom_isolation http://onlinecollegedegree.org/2009/03/19/100-tips-apps-and-resources-for-teacher

s-on-twitter/ http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/06/08/50-ways-to-use-twitter-in-the-college-cla

ssroom/ http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5649046/How-To-Use-Twitter-in-the-Classroom http://apaceofchange.edublogs.org/2007/08/08/promoting-twitteracy-in-the-classro

om/

http://www.polleverywhere.com/twitter-powerpoint-slides

Key Online Contacts David Hopkins (Bournemouth University):

http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/; @hopkinsdavid Steve Wheeler (University of Portsmouth):

http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/ @timbuckteeth Lisa Harris (University of Southampton):

http://www.lisaharrismarketing.com/ @lisaharris Lorraine Warren (University of Southampton)

http://www.doclorraine.com/ @doclorraine Jane Hart (Centre for Learning & Performance

Technolgies) http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/ @c4lpt Simon Ball (JISC/Personal Account)

@simonjball Forums, e.g.

http://www.aaceconnect.org/group/sociallearning/

Bex’s Twitter Accounts

http://www.twitter.com/drbexl (general tweets)

http://www.twitter.com/digitalfprint (digital education/social media tweets)

http://www.twitter.com/ww2poster (history/ poster tweets)

http://www.twitter.com/sfdo (adrenalin sports tweets)

http://hootsuite.com/dashboard#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXpYVTnyCjU

http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/09/hootsuite/

Tools

http://www.tweetdeck.com/ ; http://seesmic.com/ (multiple managers)

http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/ (Comprehensive guide to use)

http://mashable.com/category/twitter-lists/ (recommendations) http://apps.facebook.com/selectivetwitter/

(don’t alienate all your Facebook friends) http://tinyurl.com/ ; http://bit.ly/ (URL shortening services) http://www.echofon.com/ (iPhone app) http://friendorfollow.com/ (who doesn’t follow you back?) http://www.topfollowfriday.com/ (recommendations) http://www.twitpic.com/ (photos) http://www.twitbacks.com/ (backgrounds) http://topsy.com/ (monitor RT’s a post had received)

http://ww2poster.wordpress.com/