Teacher Education Division Council for Exceptional Children 2011

Teacher Education Division Council 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 Ø Introduce the fundamentals of using Twitter Ø Discuss how Twitter can develop critical thinking and communication skills in students Ø 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

MY RESEARCH QUESTION DOES THE USE OF TWITTER INCREASE STUDENT PARTICIPATION? Increase participation, Increase learning

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 Ten weeks Including e-mail, forum, twitter Twitter Group (19) • Me – 67 • Each other – 29 Non-twitter group(18) • Me – 38 • Each other – 16

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 2010 Pew Research Center • Community of Learners – Carry on conversation outside of class • Research has frequently shown that greater participation correlates with better academic performance (Barkley, 2010)

Lessons learned • Create a group in Tweet. Deck to keep class contacts somewhat separate • Invite all classes to follow • Effective – not invasive (FB)

Questions/Thoughts Thank you Be green and prosper!