Using Twitter to engage students
, Assistant Professor of Social Work at 91探花Tacoma鈥攁 2012 91探花Tacoma Tech Fellow鈥攈as used Twitter in and out of the classroom to engage students in a broad conversation about criminal justice issues.
How she did it
Twitter: 鈥淪etting up Twitter was the easy part for all. Operating Twitter was a little more difficult for students. I created a 鈥榟ow to鈥� document for them to follow, which seemed to shorten the learning curve. Within a week or two, most students were using Twitter effectively.鈥�
Student reactions: 鈥淪tudent reactions have been mixed. Some students love the instant interaction.鈥�
Benefits for students: 鈥淚 believe that Twitter enhances student learning. This is especially true when I have invited 鈥榞uest lecturers鈥� to class via Twitter. I have done this with authors of books, journalists and other scholars. This allows students to benefit from the reactions of others in the field in real time. Another added benefit occurs when the students 鈥榯ag鈥� authors of articles and the author responds directly to them.鈥�
Brevity requires focus: 鈥淚 believe that having to condense one鈥檚 thoughts into 140 or so characters provides focus. Some students welcomed this challenge, while others would much prefer the traditional essay.鈥�
Leveraging social media expertise: 鈥淪tudents already know how to use social media, but learning how to do so in a professional and articulate way can only benefit them in the long run.鈥�
Advice to other faculty interested in using Twitter: 鈥淏e patient and have a lot of structure regarding what you want from students.鈥�
Learn more
This article was originally published on March 2013 as part of a 91探花Provost report on trends and issues in public higher education. Read Dr. Ackerman鈥檚聽聽guide聽created for her students.