Setting up Engagement

Through Text Messaging:

Using Remind 101 and

Twitter in Online Courses

Jason Neiffer

Montana Digital Academy

Online Workshop for Teachers

Agenda

Justification: Communication and

OmniPresence

Justification: Why text messaging?

Tool: Google Voice

Tool: Remind 101

Tool: Twitter

Today’s Format

Expose... today

Explore… later

Justification: Communication &

Omnipresence

Instructional Goals that Justify

Adopting Alternative

Communication Platforms

Enhanced effort to create communication

conduits between teachers and students

Immediate re-engagement at the first sign of

instructional trouble

Quick response to student questions

Face-to-face frameworks?

Learning?

Relationships

Relevance

Rigor

Daggett et al 2005

Experience tells me…

The rules…

1. Create regular “footprints” in a course

2. Professional is great, but, polish can also

be dangerous

3. Presence should be public when possible

and appropriate

4. Be mindful of workflow and adopting

technologies that are easy to maintain

5. Abandon these rules of they don’t work

for you

Justification: Mobile and Text

Messaging as a Platform

“Teach the students sitting in

your class…”

Although we provide email (Gmail for

Moodle students, messaging for

PowerSpeak users) for each student, do

they check email?

Tool: Google Voice

Why Google Voice?

One number can ring all of your phones: home, mobile, school, desktop

Mobile apps for iPhone and Android platforms

Cans can be made and/or ring to your gmail account

Avoid giving out your private call/home number to students

Fine-tuned controls: block numbers, set custom messages

Voicemail-to-text

Text messages to email/mobile devices etc.

Google Voice Demo

Tool: Remind 101

Why Remind 101?

Built for teachers in an educational context

Free and no ads

Can set up different classes in one location

Usable by teachers and parents

Remind 101 Demo

Twitter

Why Twitter?

Using Twitter is a different context, but…

Twitter is public, adding “transparency” to

your classroom

Potentially already used by your students

Accessible from any number of apps

Can be displayed in a course (Moodle, in

particular) or website

Twitter Demo

Tips for the short message

universe!

Balance the need to communicate with the

need not to overwhelm

Supplement with text, don’t replace with text

Remember to mind your tone with text

messaging

24 hour access means 24 hour access;

balance access realistically!

Questions?