TWITTER IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Bex.Lewis@winchester.ac.uk

1st March 2010Dr Bex Lewis

Time is Short. Money is Short.

Invest in Twitter?What is Twitter?How do you use it?What are the conventions of

Twitter?

http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

What can you do WITH Twitter?What are some of the Twitter

tools/3rd Party applications?How can Twitter lists help?How can Twitter help with your

academic profile?How might Twitter help in the

classroom?

The 21st Century Learner

A Digital Native: Jake’s Story

“Jake … 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.” (Jarvis, p.86)

http://www.clex.org.uk/

Government Report by Sir David Melville, published March 2009 The impact of new technologies on student experiences and expectations

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

http://bit.ly/buZ0mM, September 2009

What is Twitter?

What is Twitter?

140 Characters known as “Tweets” Displayed on author’s profile page

Read by subscribers (known as “Followers”)

Privacy Options (not recommended)

http://twitter.com/stephenfry

Different from Facebook?

More interest/thematic based

Not time/geographically dependent

Not as “personal” ‘I had toast’ does not cut it

http://twitter.com/drbexl

What are the conventions of Twitter?

http://bit.ly/catuMv

What is Twitter about?

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

Retweets: A Mark of Approval

#Hashtags: Following Conversations

Well-known: #followfriday We want REASONS

Invent a Hashtag Keep it short Worth checking it’s not in use For an event, agree beforehand.

#: Follow a Story

http://hashtags.org/tsunami

Direct Messages

Twitter Tools/Third Party Apps

http://echofon.com/twitter/iphone/

http://www.twitpic.com/

URL Shortening Services

http://tinyurl.com/http://bit.ly/

http://www.twitterfall.com/

http://friendorfollow.com/

http://apps.facebook.com/selectivetwitter

#fb

http://topsy.com/

http://www.twitbacks.com/

http://hootsuite.com/dashboard#

How Can Twitter Lists Help?

Twitter Lists: Being Followed

Twitter Lists: Following

http://listorious.com/

How can Twitter Help with your Academic Profile

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://ww2poster.co.uk

@doclorraine, @lisaharris

Networking/Community of Interests Follow calls for funds (@JISC) Follow sources such as @timeshighered Put out calls for conference papers

Crowdsource: Questions to gauge opinionQuickly identify & share news & resources

“Attend” conferences virtuallyPublish NOW, for free

http://bit.ly/bO0L5H

Key Online Contacts

@haroldfricker @timbuckteeth@jamesclay@hopkinsdavid@c4lpt@nwjerseyliz@documentally

Technology is just a tool?

http://www.grouptweet.com/

Expressing yourself in 140 characters is a great disciplineConcise summaries of arguments/ texts JournalismCreative WritingReflection

Backchatter/feedback

BackChannelling

Collaboration

Performance (http://bit.ly/djgtAb)

Novel: http://twitter.com/manyvoices

Crowd-sourcing

Bring the attention of good information to your students

a powerful network available ‘all the time’ (http://bit.ly/bUUdVV)

http://bit.ly/bwJBnc

Debate?

Can we INSIST that students have Twitter? Concerns about privacy? Set up a PRIVATE (locked) account.

Is it a voluntary add-on, or can it be used as a form of assessment?

Why would you want to?

“Twitter is anything but complicated” Plenty of websites offering help on how to get started.

Much to gain, lots to share Save re-invention of the wheel Widen the student learning experience