Twitter as an Instructional Tool

Tarena Ruff

Georgia Southern University FRIT 7330 The Internet in Schools

Twitter as an Instructional Tool The microblogging website, Twitter, which was created in 2006, has changed the way people connect and communicate on the Internet. In 140 characters or less, Twitter subscribers can share with a few chosen followers, or the entire world, what they are doing. Chen (2011, p. 760) disputes that Twitter is not just virtual noise of people talking at each other, as some critics contend, but it is a medium that people actively seek out to gratify a need to connect with others. With this new form of communication comes skepticism about the state of human relationships. How can such brevity in communication ignite deep discussion and connectedness, and what are the implications of using this technology in the field of education? In the review of the research on social networking websites, particularly Twitter, the common themes that appeared in the literature were Twitters ability to provide brief, instantaneous messages to multiple users, while creating a sense of connectedness. Individuals use Twitter to connect with a community of supporters, promote involvement and personalize issues. Underlying each theme is an apparent motivation to declare individual involvement publicly (Smith, 2010, p. 331). As a communication tool, Twitter has the potential to engage diverse audiences. Raguseo contends that social networks facilitate connections, instant communication, and multimedia format sharing worldwide, making it even easier for users to interact and spread digital content on the web in real time (2010, p. 1). In his study of Twitters influence on public relations in the wake of the Haiti earthquake, Smith contends that Twitters character-count limits and real-time updates render it a place for ongoing and immediate interaction (2010, p. 330). Twitter is

2 increasingly used by news organizations to receive updates during emergencies and natural disasters (Jansen, Zhang, Sobel and Chowdury, 2009, p. 2173). Through instantaneous, and real-time tweets people from all over the world was given a call to action to help those affected by the disaster. Additionally, Twitter was used as an open forum to express dismay with the state of political affairs not only in Haiti but worldwide. These Twitter conversations promoted dialogue about social injustice, as well as offered real life perspectives from people directly involved with the relief efforts. The many-to-many communication model, distinctive in Twitter, conflicts with the one-to-many communication model of the traditional classroom. Much like the teacher as giver and student as receiver, the broadcast model assumes one distributer informs the masses. As media becomes more interactive, multimodal, and navigable, the receiver tends to become the source of communication (Jansen at el., 2009, p. 2170). In other words, the audience ceases to be static receivers of messages, but active participants. In contrast to the imagined broadcast audience, which consumes institutionally-created content with limited possibilities for feedback, the networked audience has a clear way to communicate with the speaker through the network (Marwick and Boyd, 2010, p. 129). Technologies, such as Twitter today and the telegraph in the past, inspire negative responses because they disrupt established concepts of communication, prevailing notions of space and time and the distinction between public and private spheres (Arceneaux and Schmitz Weiss, 2010, p. 1265). However, this new form of communication should not be ignored, especially since microblogging and social networks are being embraced by many different industries. Even educators are beginning

3 to use Twitter, and other technologies as instruments of collaboration and student engagement. Although it was initially conceived as just a social medium for electronic communication, some users have stretched the limits of the medium and have now transformed Twitter into an open publishing platform for microfiction (Raguseo, 2010, p. 2). In her study, Raguseo suggests strategies for using Twitter to broaden the reading and writing abilities of students. Some examples include using Twitter for collaborative storymaking; to introduce tweet dialogue between two opposing characters, and to create conversations around plot events in literary works (Raguseo, 2010). Twitter could also be used to keep students informed about current events. As with the disaster in Haiti, Smith uncovered that the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince in January 2010 was a highly visible trending topic on Twitter (2010, p. 330). Students and educators who were connected to the Twitter universe were aware of the events as it happened, and could even follow the commentary about the social conditions that plagued the Haitian people. Perhaps such exposure could advance students understanding of history and political systems, promote empathy, and spark social change. Moreover, Twitter can influence buying decisions of consumers because people are sharing their opinions and experiences through microblogging (Jansen et al., 2009). As educators seeking the best tools for their classrooms, the expressed sentiments of colleagues about educational products and services could be helpful. With a trusted network of professionals, the electronic word of mouth potential of Twitter can be beneficial in influencing teaching and learning strategies.

As a new Twitter subscriber, my first reaction to the tool was similar to the critics who dismissed its relevancy; however, Twitter has the potential to engage students. It is easy to set up an account, customize the background, and locate people to follow. With the use of third-party applications, Twitter is not limited to textual communication, but can be used as a means to share photos, videos, and web links. Since it can be linked to mobile devices, Twitter has its strength in delivering messages almost instantaneously. Teachers could tweet reminders about assignments, quizzes and exams, encourage discussion about course content in and out of class, and inform parents of events and activities. It could also be used as a classroom response system. Students could tweet answers using their cellular phones in real-time, and the teacher gets immediate feedback on students knowledge. One barrier that educators face, however, is the overload of information. Depending on whom a person follows, he or she could be inundated with information that is not useful for teaching or learning. There is also the potential for cyber bullying, since Twitter subscribers can use aliases. Furthermore, with Twitter it is impossible to know who reads or retweets your messages so there is the issue of privacy. Moreover, the social norms of appropriate communication may hinder true personal expression because the Tweeter simply does not know its real audience. Marwick and Boyd argue that the networked audience creates new opportunities for connection, as well as new tensions and conflicts (2010, p.130). These tensions and conflicts may present a barrier for Twitters implementation in educational settings.

5 Despite the drawbacks, Twitter could potentially change the way teachers and students communicate in and out of the classroom. The technology that currently exists provides new ways of forming connected communities in education, and perhaps the use of the technology will enhance learning, make students aware of the society outside of their surroundings, and foster collaborations that are unbounded by geographical locations. Social media has already changed our written communication. Most of us are becoming familiar with the use of emoticons and text-speak. With Twitter, the user is forced to get his or her point across in 140 characters or less, and this could challenge readers and writers to explore meaning, synthesize and paraphrase text and foster structural and semantic awareness (Raguseo, p. 9). Educators and students are bound to find new ways to use this tool beyond what it was intentionally created for. At the very least, Twitter, and other tools like it, will allow for the masses to have a voice on the Internet, and require us to consider the positive and negative affects of social networking and electronic communication.

6 References Arceneaux, N. & Schmitz Weiss, A. (2010). Seems stupid until you try it: Press coverage of Twitter, 2006-9. New Media & Society, 12(8), 1262-1279. doi: 10.1177/1461444809360773 Chen, G. (2011). Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how active Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 755-762. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.10.023 Jansen, B., Zhang, M., Sobel, K. & Chowdury, A. (2009). Twitter power: Tweets as electronic word of mouth. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 60(11), 2169-2188. doi: 10.1002/asi.21149. Marwick, A. & Boyd, D. (2011). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience. New Media & Society, 13(1), 114133. doi: 10.1177/1461444810365313 Raguseo, C. (2010). Twitter fiction: Social networking and microfiction in 140 characters. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 13(4). Available online: http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume13/ej52/ej52int/ Smith, B. (2010). Socially distributing public relations: Twitter, Haiti, and interactivity in social media. Public Relations Review, 36, 329-335. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.08.005.