Using Social Media in the Classroom

Presented By:Donna Armelino, Business Faculty &

Janiece Kneppe Walter, Early Childhood Ed Faculty

Red Rocks Community Collegedonna.armelino@rrcc.edujaniece.kneppe@rrcc.edu

ELCC ConferenceBreckenridge, CO

April 17, 2014

Define Twitter Setup a free twitter account Learn best practices for using twitter in the

classroom Explore how Twitter is being used at RRCC Hands on Practice using Twitter here & now!

Goals for our Session:

Learn the Basics - Twitter.com

Twitter Lingo: Tweet – A message on Twitter (140 characters or less) Follow – When you subscribe to messages from another

individual. Followers – Individuals who subscribe to your tweets @ Reply – Message sent from one individual to another DM – Direct message from one person to another RT – Retweet a message that another person posted on

Twitter. Hashtag – Allows a tweet to be located by topic

Learn the Basics

Anatomy of a Tweet

Source: Tech Social http://teksocial.com/socialblog/2013/6/17/the-anatomy-of-a-tweet-cheatsheet.html

Signing up for Twitter

To create an account:1. Go to http://twitter.com and find the sign up box, or go directly to

https://twitter.com/signup.2. Enter your full name, email address, and a password.3. Click Sign up for Twitter.4. On the next page, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers

on Twitter) — type your own or choose one we've suggested. We'll tell you if the username you want is available.

5. Double-check your name, email address, password, and username.6. Click Create my account.You may be asked to complete a Captcha to let us know

that you're human.7. Twitter will send a confirmation email to the address you entered on sign up,

click the link in that email to confirm your email address and account.

Key Elements to note: I use my full name in my profile.  This helps me to build a positive digital footprint.  Adding my picture

lends credibility to my professional image. (Don’t be an ‘Egghead!’) My “Twitter Handle” @JanieceKneppe is easy to remember and is a variation of my name.  Leave out

your school from your twitter handle as you only want to create a handle once (unless you want to set up more than one account!)

In my bio, I mention a bit about what I do professionally.  It is EXTREMELY important to say what you do or teach as it helps people connect with you.  If you teach grade 2 and share that, there will be other grade 2 teachers specifically that will want to connect and learn with you.

Link to George Couros blog post about professional vs. private social media accounts

Setting up your Profile

Key elements to consider: Create a professional profile linked to your role at a program or institution Add a graphic that clearly identifies you. Consider adding a profile description

so followers can expect what kinds of information you will tweet about and share.

Often times professional profiles like these use a specific hashtag to share information.

Alternative Profile Options

Try tweeting throughout this session using one of

the following hashtags in your tweet: #elcc2014 #Mar216FA13 #ece102rrcc

Tweet a comment about what you are learning, a photo, a link to an interesting website or article…have FUN!!

Hint: download Zite app (android or iTunes) to search/link to articles on topics of interest.

Tweet this!

How we use Twitter

In our classes

Focus: Moving from Twitter Experiment to Twitter Experience

Source: http://teachbytes.com/2013/03/25/22-ways-to-use-twitter-with-blooms-taxonomy/

Twitter Facts in Business

93% of marketers use social media in business

Over 200 million active members on Twitter

67% of Twitter users are far more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter

Over 90% say they follow businesses on Twitter to get discounts and promos.

42% of Twitter users say they use Twitter to learn about products and services.(

70% name brand marketers view social media advertising more valuable

Application/Goals Goals

Practical use of social media Business Consumer

Create an interactive and dynamic learning experience for students

Apply theory and explore concepts with critical analysis

Sources: http://socialmediatoday.com/stephaniefrasco/1770161/100-facts-figures-about-twitter-business

Course Relevant to the Social Marketing (MAR 216 –

Principles of Marketing) Online environment (7 week course) Marketing-based activity creating a link to real-world

use of Twitter in business

The Setting

Resources How to set up Twitter How to use hashtag Instructions to students

Tools

Introduction to Twitter

http://www.slideshare.net/alextronic/an-introduction-to-twitter-in-higher-education

Course Links: http://www.slideshare.net/alextronic/an-introdu

ction-to-twitter-in-higher-education http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSbZ-qTrifc&

list=PLDjz50rCyX8JL_KM1qIfi4wm9tmB4rjHB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h08SlngA2z

k&list=PLDjz50rCyX8JL_KM1qIfi4wm9tmB4rjHB http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ZvYRU1Y5Y&list=PLDjz50rCyX8JL_KM1qIfi4wm9tmB4rjHB

Tools: Links

Guided students by a series of reminders

Introduce and explain activity Current use (2a – polled students) Account set-up (2a – polled students) Step-by-step outline of Twitter activity, discussion

forum post, and explaining the marketing activity Twitter feeds on course homepage Twitter discussion link in Content section of course Follow-up with students who did not initially

participate / encourage and guide

Method

Method Time Table

Beginning

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 7

Ongoing

Introduce X X

Explain X

Set-up X

Privacy X

Twitter Activity X

Discussion Forums

X X

Marketing Activity

X X

Feeds X X

Discussion Link X X X X

Follow-up X

Introduce and explain activity Account set-up in class with iPads Practice tweeting in class “Describe an Orange.” Weekly tweet prompts during class time related to

course content LOW Stakes grading (3 points for each week a student

tweets, 30 total points possible across the semester) Instructor Goal: familiarize students with Twitter as a

means to create a personal learning community Extension: join a formal twitter chat for professional

development. (i.e. #edchat, #kinderchat, etc.)

Using Twitter in ECE102

Your invitation to use Twitter in your course

Create a hashtag just for your course. Encourage students to use this hashtag if they find course-related items in different social media spaces or elsewhere on the web. Make sure the hashtag is unique to your course. Consider reviewing the posts and then sharing an item a week with the entire class.

Why it works: Students are actively contributing to the conversation by sharing resources and information they find rather than just reviewing the content you have collected.

Required a step-by-step process = ORGANIZATION

Lots of follow up and coaching with students Directions Follow up to encourage them to tweet Confirmation that they were on track

Technology glitches

WELL WORTH GETTING THROUGH!

Roadblocks

Positive Attributes

Created significant lead time to introduce and prepare class for activity

Incremental Step-By-Step Process (method outline)

Participation with students Incredible tech support

Maximizing The Tool

I think social media is one of the most important tools to

promote products and build customer loyalty, the social network twitter is one of those tools. I didn’t have enough time to contribute to the twitter discussion as I would’ve liked to, but I do know that if you have a business or are marketing a product, then twitter and blogging are great tools to use. I do not use twitter because I am a reserved person and I don’t like to twit about my life (I just don’t think is that important). However, in the world we live today businesses use it to approach customers and inform them about products and services.so, if I had a business or simply was seeking to promote a company’s service then I would definitely use twitter as a promotion tool. Thank you for introducing me to twitter and highlighting its importance. -Kate

Student Feedback

I actually did not participate in the Twitter

experiment, as I am quite leery about getting involved in social media on a personal basis. On that note, I found it interesting how right about the same time there was a sort of firestorm on Twitter regarding the Miss America pageant, with a lot of both hateful and stupid remarks being tossed around. -Anthony

Student Feedback

About Twitter, it is hard for me to have an opinion

about the experience seeing that we had only one twitter discussion feed. But I do understand that Twitter is being used widely amongst companies and will probably prove to be a significant factor in the coming future. So yes I think you should continue doing the experiment maybe try to start it earlier so that students get more practice with it. Twitter was definitely confusing at first, but that’s coming from someone who still thinks Facebook is confusing to use after 7 years of using Facebook.

Take Care, Nickolas Anderson

Student Feedback

Launch first in a

hybrid or classroom format

Poll students early in the class about their familiarity and use

Assign points for credit

Future Considerations

I liked the Twitter experiment for a couple of

reasons. I really do think that when used correctly, Twitter can be a powerful marketing and communication tool. For frequent users, it's a quick and easy way to get or stay in touch. Once some conversations were started, it was much easier for me to respond to classmates via Twitter than to log into D2L. My only disappointment- and surprise, frankly- was that none of the other students had experience with Twitter and they didn't seem excited. Overall, I think it's worth sharing and exploring with future classes. Hope this helps!

Thanks again, Gemma Ganni

Student Feedback

Twitter for Educators: A Beginners Guide

Edutopia website - primarily K-12, but thought provoking information that is adaptable for higher ed

Twitter Infographic - Social media use by higher educators

International Society for Technology in Education - primarily K-12, but adaptable to higher ed – if this is what K-12 students are being exposed to, why is higher education so much slower to adopt these strategies?

More Resources: