Twitter and Tweeting; Community and

Composition

Social Media for Teaching and LearningSheraton Hotel, Boston

October 19, 2012

Social Media in the classroom?

Why? Why not?

My Objectives

• Use Social Media • Build a sense of

Community in the classroom

• Raise awareness of University Dialog topic

• Introduce the idea of critical analysis

• Launch the semester’s writing

Twitter

• Social Media that allows posts of 140 characters or less. (writing component)

• Build community by allowing users to “stay connected” to each other in a digital environment (builds community)

• Can “follow” = subscribe to their Twitter updates (University Dialog Topic)

• Student seem to LOVE or HATE Twitter… (critical analysis)

+

My Objectives

=

One Week Before Class Started…

Twitter is a microblog that allows you to express your thoughts, to share the happenings of your life… in 140 characters or less, per post. Your task in this assignment is to follow the musings (“tweets”) of your chosen classmates for the next week, and to post your own...

At the very least, please “tweet” and read “tweets” at least twice a day, so to insert yourself into this online classroom community. If you can tweet and follow more often, please do.

Your specific task in the coming week is to use Twitter to get-to-know and be-known… to the extent that this technology will allow. What do you want your classmates to know about you? Next, choose a handful of to “follow”. Read their tweets. “Listen” to what they’re doing, where they’re going… What is happening as they prepare for university life? Is it similar to your experience? Different? What reactions and responses have they shared? Obviously the character limitation impacts the type of material that is shared. Do you think that you are getting to “know” this person?

During the First Week of Class…

“… when my four closest friends and worldmates send me dozens of updates a week for five months, I begin to develop an almost telepathic awareness of the people most important to me.

It's like proprioception, your body's ability to know where your limbs are. That subliminal sense of orientation is crucial for coordination: It keeps you from accidentally bumping into objects, and it makes possible amazing feats of balance and dexterity.

Twitter and other constant-contact media create social proprioception. They give a group of people a sense of itself, making possible weird, fascinating feats of coordination…. “

How Twitter Creates a Sixth SenseClive Thompson

Let’s Talk…

~ Comments ~~ Questions ~

~ Conclusions ~