Presentation given from the LSE NetworkED Seminar Series 2013 on the use of Twitter in Education. "Since the launch of the micro-blogging service Twitter in 2006 a number of academics have experimented with it's use within education. Examples range from the passive/monologic course announcements to the active/dialogic directed discussion. This workshop will explore some educational 'Twitter hacks' which cover a wide range of activities from a free SMS broadcast system, Twitter for classroom voting and the application of social network analysis to for mining Twitter for actionable insights. As part of this participants will be shown a range of free and open source tools to assist in Twitter data collection and analysis including the Twitter Archiving Google Spreadsheet (TAGS) and NodeXL."

1. What the little birdy tells me
Twitter in education
Martin Hawksey
@mhawksey
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 1

2. About the Association for Learning
Technology (ALT)
• ALT is the UK's leading membership organisation
in the learning technology field
• Over 1,400 members from a wide range of
disciplines and backgrounds
• We aim to improving practice, promoting
research, and influencing policy.
• LSE is a Organisational Member and staff can
join as Associate Members for free
alt.ac.uk
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 2

3. Things you need to know
• Hashtag for the session ‘#LSENetEd’
• Links and slides http://go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 3

4. The Connected Age
©EDUCAUSE
http://vimeo.com/76178422
http://vimeo.com/76178422

5. In the beginning…
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 5

6. In the beginning…
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 6

7. In the beginning…
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 7

8. In the beginning…
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 8

9. In the beginning…
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 9

10. Dialogic In-class Backchannel
Outside of Class
Discussions
In-class Directed
Discussion
Uses: extend class discussions,
exchange comments about
readings or questions about
assignments
Uses: Open or guided questions
with student responses collected
for later analysis
Twitter Adoption Matrix
Uses: ad hoc class discussion,
real-time commenting, recording
divergent viewpoints
Benefits: engages less vocal
students, archives otherwise
ephemeral comments
Benefits: community building,
continuity between class sessions
Benefits: engages all students in
discussions in large lecture
classes
Tracking Activities
Lightly Structured
Activities
Metacognitive/
Reflective Activities
Uses: find and follow instructor
experts in the field, or key topics
Uses: solicit course feedback,
offer ambient office hours, poll
class, language or writing practice
Uses: students report on self
learning, articulate their
difficulties, recap the most
valuable lesson of the day
Benefits: exposure to the lager
cultural conversation about the
class material
Benefits: flexibility, availability,
scalability
Benefits: fosters critical thinking
Institutional
communication
Instructor
Communication
Pedagogical
Communication
Uses: community outreach,
Uses: announcements, syllabus
changes, reminders
Uses: sharing timely links and
resources
Monologic alerts, announcements
Passive
Student Activity
Mark Sample’s (@samplereality) Twitter Adoption Matrix
Active

11. Instructor Communication
(Free SMS Broadcast)
Hawksey, 2008
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 11

12. Instructor Communication
(Free SMS Broadcast)
Hawksey, 2008
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 12

13. Instructor Communication
(Free SMS Broadcast)
The catch … supported UK carriers
• Orange
• Vodafone
• O2
• 3
• Sure (CWC)
• Lycamobile
Hawksey, 2008
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 13

14. Instructor Communication
Network summary
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 14

15. Instructor Communication
Network summary
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 15

16. Instructor Communication
Outbox
• Using http://dlvr.it to
turn RSS feeds into
tweets
• Alternatively
http://twitterfeed.com
there are others
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 16

17. Lightly Structured Activities
Electronic Voting
Hawksey, 2009
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 17

18. Lightly Structured Activities
Electronic Voting
Hawksey, 2009
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 18

19. Lightly Structured Activities
Electronic Voting
Hawksey, 2009
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 19

20. Lightly Structured Activities
Electronic Voting
Hawksey, 2009
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 20

21. Lightly Structured Activities
Electronic Voting
Hawksey, 2009
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 21

22. http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/uiSJlvek7RjJSNK
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 22

23. In class backchannel
Lecture capture enhancement
Hawksey, 2010
http://hawksey.info/ititle/ex/estict.html
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 23

24. In class backchannel
Lecture capture enhancement
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 24

25. In class backchannel
Lecture capture enhancement
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 25

26. Open Directed Discussion
Flipping the bird
©Alan Levine 2013-11-06
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/10728065255/
• Pre-recorded interviews
• “as you listen please tweet your notes and comments
using the #phonar hashtag and don’t forget
to storify the global set of notes/tweets afterwards.”
• More about #phonar http://youtu.be/lNmTKxeiC2Y
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 26

27. Social Learning Analytics
LEVEL2
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 27

28. ©Tony Hirst 2010-10-12
[Original]
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychemedia/5076732134 #LSENetEd
[Modified] 2011-02-14 ©Martin Hawksey
November 12, 2013 | slide
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhawksey/5446711248/
28

29. Social Learning Analytics
Potential uses
• Identifying disconnected students
• Identifying key information brokers within a
class
• Indicating the extent to which a learning
community is developing within a class
• Identify groupings that could support learning
Ferguson & Buckingham-Shum, 2012
• See how conversations connect providing
opportunities for situational awareness
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 29

30. Social Learning Analytics
NodeXL
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 30

31. Social Learning Analytics
NodeXL Reply Network
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 31

32. Social Learning Analytics – TAGS
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 32
http://mashe.hawksey.info/2013/02/twitter-archive-tagsv5/

33. Social Learning Analytics – TAGS
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 33
http://mashe.hawksey.info/2013/02/twitter-archive-tagsv5/

34. Social Learning Analytics – TAGS
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 34
http://mashe.hawksey.info/2013/02/twitter-archive-tagsv5/

35. Social Learning Analytics
#phonar
•
•
http://hawksey.info/tagsexplorer/?key=tmT8RPk1-WB1IBUe4GM6-Iw&sheet=oaw
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqGkLMU9sHmLdG1UOFJQazEtV0IxS
UJVZTRHTTYtSXc&usp=drive_web#gid=119
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 35

36. Live Examples
• Setting up TAGS for #LSENetEd
• Example TAGS picking up poll data
• Example TAGS picking tweets to page
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 36

37. Live Examples
• Setting up TAGS for #LSENetEd
• Example TAGS picking up poll data
• Example TAGS picking tweets to page
Caution
“We find that the search API over-represents the
more central users and does not offer an accurate
picture of peripheral activity; we also find that the
bias is greater for the network of mentions”
Gonzalez-Bailon, Sandra and Wang, Ning and Rivero, Alejandro and Borge-Holthoefer, Javier and Moreno, Yamir,
Assessing the Bias in Communication Networks Sampled from Twitter (December 4, 2012). Available at SSRN:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2185134 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2185134
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 37

38. Why
• Mobility – crossing the dived between in and
out of class
• Flexibility – not hard to add functionality and
interface with Twitter service
• Learner communities – opportunity to share
learning within cohort and further afield
• Light intervention – brevity of 140 characters
allows less but more often
• Lifelong – connections made in the class can
support further independent learning
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 38

39. Why not
• Distraction
• Reliance on 3rd party services
• Privacy
• Educational value
• Equality
• [Facebook]
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 39

40. Thanks!
Martin Hawksey
mashe.hawkse.info
@mhawksey
go.alt.ac.uk/twitterED
#LSENetEd
November 12, 2013 | slide 40