Twitterat first seemed like a bad idea to David Parry, an assistant professorof Emerging Media and Communications at the University of Texas atDallas. For those not in the know, Twitter is a service that lets youmicro-blog your life by dashing out very short notes (140 charactersmax) to a select group of friends or other subscribers, who can receivethem as text messages on their cell phones. Mr. Parry’s first instinctwas that Twittering would just encourage students to speak in soundbites and self-obsess.
But then he gave it a try, and he now sees Twitter as a useful classroom-communication tool.
How is that? He outlines several “Ways to use Twitter in Academia” on a post on the blog AcademHack.
Lastsemester he required the 20 students in his “Introduction toComputer-Mediated Communication” course to sign up for Twitter and tosend a few messages with the service each week as part of a writingassignment. He also invited his students to follow his own Twitter feed,in which he sometimes writes several short thoughts each day. Yesterdaymorning, for instance, he sent out a message that read: “Reading,prepping for grad class, putting off running until it warms up a bit.”Last week, one of his messages included a link to a Web site he wantedhis students to check out.
The posts from students alsomixed the mundane with the useful. One student twittered that she justbought a pet rabbit. Another noted that a topic from the class wasbeing discussed on a TV-news report.
The immediacy of themessages helped the students feel like more of a community, Mr. Parrysaid in an interview Monday. “It was the single thing that changed theclassroom dynamics more than anything I’ve ever done teaching,” he said.
Onedownside: Some students have to pay a small fee for each text messagethey receive, and that means all this Twittering can add up to realmoney. Students can avoid such charges by setting their Twitter accountso that they receive e-mail messages instead of text messages, but thateliminates much of the point of the service.
Should more professors use Twitter? Have you tried it in your classroom? —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Monday January 28, 2008 | Permalink |联系客服
I’m biased because Dave sits down the hall from me. I also use twitter and have found it sets up an interesting social situation. Of the students who twitter I feel closer to them, like I know what’s going on and can anticipate more how to prepare and respond to them. It’s like the class is split in this new way – centered around whether they practice microblogging or not.
— Dean Terry Jan 28, 03:05 PM #
SMS and email aren’t the only two ways to get your twits. Twitter.com has a web interface that’s accessible via mobile devices, and for those of us who still use computers, a slew of third-party desktop apps (Twitterific, Twhirl, and Snitter, just to name a few) have emerged.
Twitter’s also great for keeping in touch with colleagues, and finding out what’s going on at events you might not be able to attend. For instance, a large contingent of educators & technologists have created a live ELI 2008 backchannel thanks to Twitter.
— Ryan Brazell Jan 28, 05:16 PM #
What Ryan said.
The twitter wiki: http://twitter.pbwiki.com is v. useful for finding 3rd- party apps, tips, and the like.
Also, this semester I’ve found that the 140-character limit helps me reflect on class session.
— Jason B. Jones Jan 28, 07:39 PM #
I can see interesting potential Twitter applications and the possible community effect, but I also can’t help but think of what would/will happen if this spreads…Joe Student takes 15 hours (5 classes), with an average of 50 students in each. Three of his profs require students to use Twitter, leading to hundreds of microblog posts to Joe’s phone or email each week. Seems like the novelty would be short-lived?
— Nancy Jan 28, 10:22 PM #
One of the nice things, is that you can choose to follow/unfollow at will. Of the people you are following, you can also set notifications off (meaning you won’t get IMs or text messages, but it’ll still show up on your page on the web). I’d like to see this more as an “option” than a requirement.
— Robert Rowe Jan 29, 12:12 AM #
As a youth pastor, I use it with my youth group. There’s definitely a stronger sense of community since we started using it.
— Josue Sanchez Jan 29, 12:55 AM #
The feeling of twenty people scattered all over the globe, going through each day together, more together than husbands and wives usually do, is great if the 20 people are witty, interesting, thoughtful caring people. It makes me imagine a half dozen such groups of colleagues, organized along very different dimensions, I would also enjoy going through each day with. I have organized by graduated students and going though 20 diverse careers daily is informative and tremendous fun though there is a cost of hearing about mundane hassles.
— Richard Tabor Greene Jan 29, 06:52 AM #
Are people simply over-obsessed with online and computer mediated socialization?
— Bob Jan 29, 08:30 AM #
We are becoming twitter pated.
— Mark Jan 29, 10:08 AM #
David Parry has provided a an excellent contribution relative to improving teaching and learning in the classroom. If technical problems don’t present themselves, students will have lots of opportunities for, hopefully, worthwhile interactions. Inexperienced instructors may not feel comfortable teaching using this technology, but will if they put forth patience.
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
— Dr. William Allan Kritsonis Jan 29, 11:23 AM #