An investigation into the use of Twitter in teaching

David Strafford, Lecturer

Events Management, Service Sector Management

Sheffield Business [email protected]

@davidstrafford

#SHUeventschat – the story

1. Why I started

1. Why I started

2. Why Twitter...

3. Benefits of using TwitterEncourages active and participatory learning Critical thinking through questioning and

dialogueRecapping topics outside of the classroomExperiential learning through doingIncrease professionalism and employabilityParticipants from industry / ‘real’ worldAnswers are viewed by allCondensing information and summarising your

thoughts into 140 characters is quite challenging!

3. Benefits of using TwitterEncourages active and participatory learning Critical thinking through questioning and dialogueRecapping topics outside of the classroomExperiential learning through doingIncrease professionalism and employabilityParticipants from industry / ‘real’ worldAnswers are viewed by allCondensing information and summarising your

thoughts into 140 characters is quite challenging!

3. Benefits of using TwitterEncourages active and participatory learning Critical thinking through questioning and

dialogueRecapping topics outside of the classroomExperiential learning through doingIncrease professionalism and employabilityParticipants from industry / ‘real’ worldAnswers are viewed by allCondensing information and summarising your

thoughts into 140 characters is quite challenging!

3. Benefits of using TwitterEncourages active and participatory learning Critical thinking through questioning and dialogueRecapping topics outside of the classroomExperiential learning through doingIncrease professionalism and employabilityParticipants from industry / ‘real’ worldAnswers are viewed by allCondensing information and summarising

your thoughts into 140 characters is quite challenging!

4. Academic ContextDHIR A., BURAGGA, K and BOREQQAH, A. (2013). Tweeters on Campus: Twitter a learning Tool in the Classroom? Journal of Universal Computer Science. 19 (5) 672-691EVANS, C. (2014). Twitter for teaching: Can social media be used to enhanced the process of learning? British Journal of Educational Technology. 45 (5) 902-15GROSSECK, G and HOLOTESCU, C. (2008). Can we use Twitter for Educational Activities? Conference Paper for the 4th International Scientific Conference eLSEKASSENS-NOOR, E (2012). Twitter as a teaching practice to enhance active and informal learning in higher education: The case of sustainable tweets. Active Learning in Higher Education 13 (1) 9-21KUZNEKOFF, J.H., MUNZ, S. and TITSWORTH, S. (2015): Mobile Phones in the Classroom: Examining the Effects of Texting, Twitter, and Message Content on Student Learning, Communication Education, DOI: 10.1080/03634523.2015.1038727LOWE, B and LAFFEY, D. (2011) Is Twitter for the birds? Using Twitter to enhance student learning in a marketing course? Journal of Marketing Education 33 (2) 611-637RINALDO, S.B., TAPP, S. and LAVERIE, D.A. (2011). Learning by Tweeting: Using Twitter as a Pedagogical Tool. Journal of Marketing Education 20 (5) 1-11

5. And lots of other articles…

6. Using the Tweetchat

6. Using the Tweetchat

6. Using the Tweetchat

7. Was it successful?

8. The research77 Level 4 students at the end of Semester 1

39 Level 5 students at the end of Semester 2

Total of 116 survey respondents

40% approx. response rate

Triangulated with 4 qualitative student interviews in April 2015.

9. Positive feedback

76% of respondents use Twitter at least once or twice a week

9. Positive feedback

Over 52% of respondents said they used social media to look for placements and volunteering opportunities

Over 22% said to look for Events Management related stories.

9. Positive Feedback

Overall they agreed! (just)Mean of 3.11

9. Positive feedback87% were aware of the #SHUeventschat

tweetchat

9. Positive feedback

Only 5% of respondents said they actively engaged with it…

…but over 28% said they enjoyed reading the posts afterwards

33% of students had positive interactions with the tweetchat

10. Positive Student commentsOnce it was for the Events Foundation e-portfolio, I was

researching cultural events and [the questions and information] you were putting on about Halloween and St Patrick's Day were good for me to get information in my portfolio, so it was really helpful (4a)

I thought Twitter was better because you can look at it any time of day and then because the chat was done in the evening, it’s like outside of study time. It’s not mandatory as well, so you can engage with it when it suits you (4b)

As well as links to other articles it was more like through questioning I managed to see things in other ways, like kind of helped. Like things I wouldn’t have usually thought of, were kind of discussed through the application (4b)

10. Positive Student commentsOnce it was for the Events Foundation e-portfolio, I was

researching cultural events and [the questions and information] you were putting on about Halloween and St Patrick's Day were good for me to get information in my portfolio, so it was really helpful (4a)

I thought Twitter was better because you can look at it any time of day and then because the chat was done in the evening, it’s like outside of study time. It’s not mandatory as well, so you can engage with it when it suits you (4b)

As well as links to other articles it was more like through questioning I managed to see things in other ways, like kind of helped. Like things I wouldn’t have usually thought of, were kind of discussed through the application (4b)

10. Positive Student commentsOnce it was for the Events Foundation e-portfolio, I was

researching cultural events and [the questions and information] you were putting on about Halloween and St Patrick's Day were good for me to get information in my portfolio, so it was really helpful (4a)

I thought Twitter was better because you can look at it any time of day and then because the chat was done in the evening, it’s like outside of study time. It’s not mandatory as well, so you can engage with it when it suits you (4b)

As well as links to other articles it was more like through questioning I managed to see things in other ways, like kind of helped. Like things I wouldn’t have usually thought of, were kind of discussed through the application (4b)

10. Positive Student commentsOnce it was for the Events Foundation e-portfolio, I was

researching cultural events and [the questions and information] you were putting on about Halloween and St Patrick's Day were good for me to get information in my portfolio, so it was really helpful (4a)

I thought Twitter was better because you can look at it any time of day and then because the chat was done in the evening, it’s like outside of study time. It’s not mandatory as well, so you can engage with it when it suits you (4b)

As well as links to other articles it was more like through questioning I managed to see things in other ways, like kind of helped. Like things I wouldn’t have usually thought of, were kind of discussed through the application (4b)

10. Positive Student commentsTwitter is much easier to access rather than going

through week on week on Blackboard. It’s just more organised and much quicker as you can use your phone (4b)

Twitter is good because it’s instant and it doesn’t have to be the tutor replying, other students can too (5a)

I can see why you would want to use it as it's a good way of getting university and work and learning into something that we use a lot, rather than being sat in a classroom (5b)

10. Positive Student commentsTwitter is much easier to access rather than going

through week on week on Blackboard. It’s just more organised and much quicker as you can use your phone (4b)

Twitter is good because it’s instant and it doesn’t have to be the tutor replying, other students can too (5a)

I can see why you would want to use it as it's a good way of getting university and work and learning into something that we use a lot, rather than being sat in a classroom (5b)

10. Positive Student comments Twitter is much easier to access rather than going

through week on week on Blackboard. It’s just more organised and much quicker as you can use your phone (4b)

Twitter is good because it’s instant and it doesn’t have to be the tutor replying, other students can too (5a)

I can see why you would want to use it as it's a good way of getting university and work and learning into something that we use a lot, rather than being sat in a classroom (5b)

11. Positive feedback summary1. The ones who engaged, really engaged2. For some students it really helped them

learn3. The less formal learning platform was of

benefit for some4. Accessing information through mobile

phones was much easier & quicker5. It was seen as fun – not really ‘learning’ 6. Tweets which helped with assignments were

the most popular

12. Negative feedback

24% of respondents don’t even use Twitter once or twice a week

12. Negative feedback

12. Negative feedback

12. Negative Feedback

12. Negative Feedback

13. Negative Student commentsI think others were worried if they started

interacting with the Tweetchat then their lecturers might start following them on Twitter. Also, they didn’t want to be seen to be a right geek! (4a)

Maybe some people were scared of actually tweeting into it (4b)

I know a lot of people that put a lot more explicit things about themselves on Twitter that they don’t want tutors or university to know about (5a)

13. Negative Student commentsI think others were worried if they started

interacting with the Tweetchat then their lecturers might start following them on Twitter. Also, they didn’t want to be seen to be a right geek! (4a)

Maybe some people were scared of actually tweeting into it (4b)

I know a lot of people that put a lot more explicit things about themselves on Twitter that they don’t want tutors or university to know about (5a)

13. Negative Student commentsI think others were worried if they started

interacting with the Tweetchat then their lecturers might start following them on Twitter. Also, they didn’t want to be seen to be a right geek! (4a)

Maybe some people were scared of actually tweeting into it (4b)

I know a lot of people that put a lot more explicit things about themselves on Twitter that they don’t want tutors or university to know about (5a)

13. Negative Student commentsI think others were worried if they started

interacting with the Tweetchat then their lecturers might start following them on Twitter. Also, they didn’t want to be seen to be a right geek! (4a)

Maybe some people were scared of actually tweeting into it (4b)

I know a lot of people that put a lot more explicit things about themselves on Twitter that they don’t want tutors or university to know about (5a)

13. Negative Student commentsI don’t want to associate Uni with my Twitter. My

Twitter is very private and it’s set to private and I only have my friends on it, it’s really just to keep in contact with my friends and put pictures up (5a)

I think cos Twitter is more for personal use rather than university, it's more for escapism. When I want to get away from University and work, I go on Twitter and see what my friends are up to (5b)

If someone follows a lot of people then it might get lost amongst all their news feeds (5b)

13. Negative Student commentsI don’t want to associate Uni with my Twitter. My

Twitter is very private and it’s set to private and I only have my friends on it, it’s really just to keep in contact with my friends and put pictures up (5a)

I think cos Twitter is more for personal use rather than university, it's more for escapism. When I want to get away from University and work, I go on Twitter and see what my friends are up to (5b)

If someone follows a lot of people then it might get lost amongst all their news feeds (5b)

13. Negative Student commentsI don’t want to associate Uni with my Twitter. My

Twitter is very private and it’s set to private and I only have my friends on it, it’s really just to keep in contact with my friends and put pictures up (5a)

I think cos Twitter is more for personal use rather than university, it's more for escapism. When I want to get away from University and work, I go on Twitter and see what my friends are up to (5b)

If someone follows a lot of people then it might get lost amongst all their news feeds (5b)

13. Negative Student commentsI don’t want to associate Uni with my Twitter. My

Twitter is very private and it’s set to private and I only have my friends on it, it’s really just to keep in contact with my friends and put pictures up (5a)

I think cos Twitter is more for personal use rather than university, it's more for escapism. When I want to get away from University and work, I go on Twitter and see what my friends are up to (5b)

If someone follows a lot of people then it might get lost amongst all their news feeds (5b)

14. Negative feedback summary1. Time and date were wrong, having a focussed

hour wasn’t popular2. Twitter still seen by some as personal not

professional3. Students don’t want lecturers to follow them

& interact with them on Twitter4. Not all students use Twitter in the first place!5. Students don’t want to ask ‘stupid’ questions

online or been seen to be the class ‘swot’

15. How could it be improved?If more people had tweeted it would have

encouraged more people to tweet!Keep it as a general course or module account

which generally tweets and retweets – hub of activity

Get the students to tweet using hashtags during lectures & seminars first to build confidence

Focus more on Linkedin for Level 4 students, push them onto this

Use Twitter more actively with Level 6 students who are (potentially) more confident

16. Top tips 1. Accept that you won’t reach everyone2. Recruit as many colleagues & keen students as

possible to tweet alongside you3. If you use the ‘tweethour’ functionality, base it

around assignment help / revision4. Start off with older, more confident students5. Make sure you view it purely as an additional

tool which underpins learning rather than delivering anything central.

6. Post interesting content!7. Be mindful of how much time it will take…

A final thoughtDo we ban mobile phones or embrace them?

A final thoughtDo we ban mobile phones or embrace them?

Any questions?

ReferencesDHIR A., BURAGGA, K and BOREQQAH, A. (2013). Tweeters on Campus: Twitter a learning Tool in the Classroom? Journal of Universal Computer Science. 19 (5) 672-691EVANS, C. (2014). Twitter for teaching: Can social media be used to enhanced the process of learning? British Journal of Educational Technology. 45 (5) 902-15GROSSECK, G and HOLOTESCU, C. (2008). Can we use Twitter for Educational Activities? Conference Paper for the 4th International Scientific Conference eLSEKASSENS-NOOR, E (2012). Twitter as a teaching practice to enhance active and informal learning in higher education: The case of sustainable tweets. Active Learning in Higher Education 13 (1) 9-21KUZNEKOFF, J.H., MUNZ, S. and TITSWORTH, S. (2015): Mobile Phones in the Classroom: Examining the Effects of Texting, Twitter, and Message Content on Student Learning, Communication Education, DOI: 10.1080/03634523.2015.1038727LOWE, B and LAFFEY, D. (2011) Is Twitter for the birds? Using Twitter to enhance student learning in a marketing course? Journal of Marketing Education 33 (2) 611-637RINALDO, S.B., TAPP, S. and LAVERIE, D.A. (2011). Learning by Tweeting: Using Twitter as a Pedagogical Tool. Journal of Marketing Education 20 (5) 1-11