cynthia,
I love the term book report. Again the skill of self criticism is such an important one.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I would encourage the students to identify and follow any successful person in the industry whom they admire his/her work. However, I cannot guarantee the content and what interests the blogger may be pursuing in the tweets.
Austin,
I like this idea. You will have to make sure that you have a way to assess it!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kelly,
I see microblogging as a condensed form of student interaction with the instructor, and instructor feedback to the student. It is sort of like their own private area of the classroom where they can "dig deeper" into certain course topics.
- Dr. Eileen Wibbeke
With both students and experts having the same access to a microblog, then the two parties can openly and directly communicate about the relevant topic at hand. Without microblogging, the students may now have had the access to particular subject matter experts in the relevant course topic.
- Dr. Eileen Wibbeke
Have each student follow the tweets of the leader in their respective filed. Such as leading business man, experts, or someone who is highly respectable in that field. This will allow student to see the daily life of their field-leaders such as activities, ideology, thoughts, and routines.
Eileen,
I agree with you. Traditional students will connect with you using this medium. That is how they connect to their friends.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eileen,
Yes that is true. You can also bring experts in to participate in those bloggings if you choose to.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Sodang,
I love this idea. I think it can be so powerful. There are other social networking sites that provide interesting connections that tend to be more professional such as Digg.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
It's possible to get an expert in the field to participate in a blogging project. That will allow students to learn the specifics of the subject matter.
Ed,
This is one of the great ways to connect students with experts. It is one of the best things about the tool!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Microblogging is an excellent way to facilitate connections between students and experts in the field because the use of real world experience practiced may be related to unit concepts to further student overall learning experience.
I currently utilize Twitter.com to expose students to experts in the marketing field whom work for companies through out the world. This provides global expertise in the marketing field for students, providing overall greater knowledge.
Andrea,
That is a great use of twitter. It is a tool used professionally and a great way to tap into professionals. I see students find job opportunities and internship opportunities through these avenues.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think that drilling town into the course content is the first step. Then we would need to find that link between the content and what the student can get from or push out to the expert to get the interchange of ideas started. There would have to be a clear goal in mind.
Tina
Tina,
You make a great point. They need to be able to identify appropriate content or identify false or misleading information. They have to know content to do that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I believe that like anything new, if we use microblogging inthe class, it is first important to show the benefits in the use of this method.
Robert,
You are right. Students need to know there are specific outcomes that must be met with the microblogging exercise. They need to know that it isn't busy work and it isn't just added on to their other work.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
You can use the hashtag to direct students to the expert's web site, articles, and other forums. You can also provide an article summary with your tweet.
Lesley,
I like all of these ideas. I am not the tweeter some of you are so thanks for sharing these ideas.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Having a guest speaker respond to their questions. Give the course credibility. Plus it offers the instructor a reinforcements or additional credibility on reenforcing the lectures.
