Relevant & Innovative Learning Scenario
Instructing Educators To Integrate Twitter Into A Behavioral Science Class
Target Audience – For my learning scenario I will be instructing my colleagues, approximately ten college-educated adults.
Materials – In order to successfully complete my RILS I will need:
- A classroom or work environment
- A computer
- A projector or display
- An internet connection
Objectives – At the end of this instructional session my colleagues should be able to:
- Analyze the different types of Tweets one can send through Twitter, the effectiveness of micro-blogging, and the techniques that various organizations and personalities utilize through Twitter.
- Design their own micro-blogging presence, follow interesting and relevant organizations and personalities, and customize their online presence.
- Create their own Tweets, share links to relevant information, and effectively promote discussion through micro-blogging.
Procedure –
1. Discuss the value of micro-blogging, promoting community, allowing for simple and effective feedback and alternative means of communication.
2. Create a Twitter account
3. Follow at least 10 educationally relevant organizations and personalities
4. Review the types of messages one can send and receive on Twitter
5. What to Tweet: Send 3 different types of Tweets: Original material, Retweet & Simple Response
Web 2.0 Tool – Twitter.com
Twitter is a simple micro-blogging tool that allows users to post information, share links and follow other users. Twitter users are limited to 140 characters in the transmission of their messages.
Link: Full Sail BSC Online Twitter Account
Social Participation/Social Learning – An integral part of the Twitter concept relies on Social Participation. It is an environment where the best, most entertaining or most interesting ideas rise to the top. My target audience will experience this type of participation first hand through the “Retweet & Simple Response” exercise where they will communicate with another Twitter user and respond to one of the other participates in the target audience.
Making Connections – Engaging our students on their level and promoting social interaction are always a focus in a forward thinking educational environment. This activity will serve to foster those interests, lend to student focused research and discussion and hopefully lead to more timely assignments through additional reinforcement.
Create/Produce – By the end of this learning scenario my target audience will have learned how to create a Twitter account, produce engaging messages and share relevant links.
Assessment – At this point in the assignment all of the Behavioral Science instructors should have a twitter account with a standardized format (i.e. @MDunn_BSCO) Since I will be able to follow my fellow colleagues micro-blogs I will be able to assess their comprehension of the lesson through the messages they have sent. If they were able to successfully send three messages they will have successfully passed the learning scenario.
Reflection – The reflection process will be observed through their micro-blogs as well.
- One day after the initial learning experience my target audience will be asked to make a quick post to their account to show the most important thing they learned through the RILS experience.
- I will reflect on my own RILS experience through personal interviews and observation of the micro-blogs in my target audience.
I must admit that I have consciously been avoiding Twitter. I guess that I will have to break down and get Twitterized and begin Tweeting so that I can incorporate this in my future classes and encourage my colleagues to do so as well. I enjoyed reading your RILS and I may consider using this with my colleagues when I encourage them to use Twitter.
ReplyDeleteMichael, awesome job on the Twitter idea. I know it sounds weird, but I avoided using Twitter because it's so popular, I wanted to go in a different direction and make it more personalized to my students. I'm still new to Twitter, and I use it mainly as a glorified news reader. But, I have been looking at starting a class Twitter account, or maybe an entire "Show Production" twitter account. I'm curious as to how you have set yours up. Does every CD in Behavioral Science have access to post on the main Twitter account? I ask because if I do get the clearance to start a degree-wide Twitter account, I'd like multiple CD's in my program to have access to it. This way we can assure that it will be active, and the burden does not lie on one person. I'd love to know more about how you are managing the tweets, as a team, or if it's just you behind the curtain, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to review your plans for incorporating Twitter in your classes. I, too, feel that Twitter can have amazing possibilities within the classroom setting. It is a wonderfully new way of promoting discussion, as you said, in school. Some people may be hesitant to say things out loud before the entire group. As a student in HS, that's how I was. I may have participated much more, had I had something like Twitter.
ReplyDelete