Kelly and colleagues,
I am not honest there is much benefit to microblogging for a couple of reasons and though it is not an excuse but I am not a social media guru and frankly, I do not enjoy spending all my time reading tweets, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, emails, LMS discussions and so many other sources that I think too many things get lost (an overload if you will). It sounds great as it could provide immediate feedback and responses but keeping track with such an interactive tool, well frankly being in the classroom would be better (just my opinion), not to say that trying it would probably be a blast but to use this and all the other means of delivery for a course can become a bit overwhelming. If anyone knows of a friendlier version of immediate communication, then I am interested.
Mike
Michael,
You don't want to add on; you want to use an appropriate tool for the course and content. I use microblogging to teach students how to write succinctly. it is a great tool for that and they understand the perimeters.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The students are already blogging and using Twitter, it is helpful to use in class for this reason- they are ALREADY enegaged in this and you do no thave to convince them of value or show them how to utilize it.
Milka,
You make a great point. They do see the value. BTW, these tools are used in the workplace now!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The main benefit of incorporating microblogging activities in an online course is student engagement! Students love to use their phones throughout the day, why not give them a productive reason to use their phones and social media? Through using microblogging, you could make the course more relevant and live tweet in current news and pop culture that relates to the lecture. Students are also more likely to be more engaged in an online environment when they do not feel the pressures of the classroom.
Microblogging can be used to engage students throughout the week. It can also be used to highlight news stories and current events related to the course material. Online discussions to the course related material can also be conducted through microblogging.
Before this module, I really did not think of twitter or any microblogging apps, in general, as beneficial to my online courses. But as I read through the contents of the module, I realized that there many benefits to it.
First, if all students have cellphones and the microblogging app is installed or if they have set up alerts in their phones/e-mails, then tweets are received in "real time" and they can read the information right away. They can also respond right away.
It also a good tool to inform students about assignment due dates or other information that are time sensitive.
But what I like most about this is that they can follow people who are prominent in their field of study. They may learn things from this people or be inspired by these people's tweet which will motivate them to learn the topics in our class.
-Christine
To be truthful, I am not sure what are the benefits of incorporating micro-blogging activities in an online course. The reason is because is because I do not micro blog. I have never found the need to text message other people.
I have been in IT for 27 years, and I am well aware of the fact micro blogs stay out on the internet forever. Thus, I am very careful what I say in emails, and I would even be more careful about what I would micro blog.
In any case, this lesson is food for thought. I will think about it now.
Donald L. Buresh
