Teacher Education Division Council for Exceptional Children 2011 Using Twitter to Promote Student...
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Transcript of Teacher Education Division Council for Exceptional Children 2011 Using Twitter to Promote Student...
Teacher Education DivisionCouncil for Exceptional Children 2011
Using Twitter to Promote Student Engagement, Critical Thinking and Professional Development
Nancy J. Aguinaga, Ph.D.Southeast Missouri State University
Overview
Introduce the fundamentals of using Twitter
Discuss how Twitter can develop critical thinking and communication skills in students
Introduce research on the impact of using Twitter in my teaching on student engagement
Twitter defined
• Microblogging• 140 characters• Communicate to your followers and follow
those you choose– Once you sign up to follow someone, you receive
their messages instantly on your smart phone or on your Twitter webpage
• Exchange of thoughts– Messages can be sent to all followers or to specific
followers as public or private tweets
Why Twitter for the classroom?
• Easily accessible• Free• Digital natives• Transparency, professional• Encourages participation and communication• Collaboration• Meaningful content• Feedback• Assessment
Digital environment
• Any-time, any-place learning
• Critical thinking– 140
• Community of Learners– Exchange of ideas
Pre-Service educators
• Bulletin board
• Increase, maintain engagement
• Communication skills
• Current events, resources
In-service educators
• Initial Support– Real-time feedback
• Ongoing Mentoring
• Professional Development
DOES THE USE OF TWITTER INCREASE STUDENT PARTICIPATION?
Increase participation, Increase learning
MY RESEARCH QUESTION
How I am using Twitter
• I invited half of my students (in one online class)to follow me and each other
• Periodically I will post a question or a thought on topics we are covering
• Announcements• Quick FAQ’s• FYI Forum with same info for entire class
Data collected
– Number of electronic interactions I had with students in both groups, and the number of electronic interactions they had with each other
– Questionnaire (anonymous) completed by
students regarding their perceived level of connectedness to me and to other members of the class• Pre (4 weeks) and post (10 weeks)
Number of student initiated electronic interactions
Twitter Group (19)• Me– 67
• Each other– 29
Non-twitter group(18)• Me– 38
• Each other– 16
Ten weeksIncluding e-mail, forum, twitter
Questionnaire – connectedness to classmates and professor?
• Anonymous – pre given before random groups selescted
• Demographic Info: Age range, Geographic location, Undergrad , grad, other, # of online classes taken before
• Lickert :1= very unconnected, 2=somewhat unconnected, 3=neutral, 4= somewhat connected, 5=very connected
• 8 Survey items
Survey responses (pre-post)
Twitter Non-twitter
How connected do you feel to Southeast? 3.9 - 4.2 3.9 – 4.0
How connected do you feel to your college? 4.1 - 4.2 4.1 – 4.0
How connected do you feel to your program of study?
4.3 - 4.5 4.3 – 4.4
How connected do you feel to this class, Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorders?
3.0 – 4.2 3.0 – 3.3
How connected do you feel to your classmates in this class, Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorders?
2.1 – 4.3 2.1 – 3.2
How connected do you feel to the professor of Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorders?
3.3 – 4.8 3.3 – 3.8
How connected have you felt in previous face-to-face classes?
3.9 – 3.8 3.9 – 4.0
How connected have you felt in previous online classes?
2.2 – 2.0 2.2 – 2.1
More communication, more connected
• 52% of world population under 30 yoa• 75% of this generation uses social media in U S
• Community of Learners– Carry on conversation outside of class
• Research has frequently shown that greater participation correlates with better academic performance (Barkley, 2010)
2010 Pew Research Center
Lessons learned
• Create a group in TweetDeck to keep class contacts somewhat separate
• Invite all classes to follow
• Effective – not invasive (FB)