using twitter to promote student engagement, critical thinking and professional development

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

Familiarity

• In general

• In education

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

IMPLICATIONS

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)

Questions/Thoughts

Thank you

Be green and prosper!