Practical Applications of Research: Using Twitter for learning. Can we? Should we? How?

July 22nd, 2009, In Instructional Design, Research, Social Media, by Editor

PAR for July 22, 2009
Practical Applications of Research: Using Twitter for learning. Can we? Should we? How?

Background: The most popular request we’ve been receiving for an issue of PAR is to explore the idea of using Twitter for learning. Since this is a new technology, there is very little research available. This issue of PAR gathers up some of the recent ideas and anecdotes offered by our peers in the field as a means of opening a healthy discussion about using Twitter, or other microblogging tools, to facilitate always-on collaborative learning.

Note: At the end of this article is a link to a survey where you can share how you, as a learning professional, are using Twitter as a learning tool. Once you complete the survey (one screen, one minute) you’ll see the results for all respondents. That’s the best way we can answer the question ourselves – how are we using Twitter for learning?

Important: This article assumes you are somewhat familiar with the idea of Twitter. It does not aim to provide a basic education about Twitter in general, but is focused on how Twitter is used for learning. If Twitter is a new subject for you, the Definitions section of this article may be helpful.

Activities around Twitter for learning

Ideas around Twitter for learning

How Twitter is being used for learning

Definitions
Twitter: a service that enables users to send each other short text messages, of 140 characters or less, via an Internet browser or application on a mobile device. This is expanding to include other media, and can include hyperlinks.
Tweet: a message sent via Twitter
Followers: people who opt-in to receive your messages on Twitter
Following: the people whose messages you want to see on Twitter
Block: a setting that prevents someone from following you or sending you direct messages
Direct Messages: a private tweet between you and one other person
Digital immigrants: People who were not surrounded by technology while growing up. As opposed to the Digital Native defined in a prior issue of PAR – people who have been surround by technology all their lives.
Micro-blogging: sharing your writing, as in a blog, but in a very short form (140 characters or less)
Re-tweet: to forward a Tweet you’ve received to your followers. To give the original author credit, it is preceded with the letters RT and the original author’s username.

References
Community College Week, Special Report, May 18, 2009; pages 6-8
Nursing Education Perspectives, National League for Nursing, March/April 2008 pages 110-112 (offers extensive bibliography)
T+D, American Society for Training and Development, Trends, March 2009, pages 28-30

Take the Twitter for Learning survey now

PAR (Practical Applications of Research) is a weekly publication of eLearningFuture.com. We summarize recent learning research to help you understand what is proven to work, or not. We also provide guidance for how to apply that research to your learning projects.

Is there a subject you want to learn more about? Propose a topic for an upcoming issue of PAR by emailing your request to: editor@elearningfuture.com . Please put PAR in the subject line.

17 Comments

Editor July 24, 2009

In a future article, we will expand out the results of the survey to make them easily readable to everyone.
Scott D Howard July 25, 2009

I see this column as a great base to start defining exactly what scenarios Twitter would be a good tool for and what scenarios would other social media do a better job. It would be good to lay out specifics as to what are the true benefits of Twitter versus other recent social media. The question that seems to come up often from people that have not really used Twitter much is why use Twitter? Why not use a full blog? Why not use Facebook? Why not use a wiki? Why not use LinkedIn? Why not use a forum?

My quick answer is two words. Mobile Phones.

Twitter is like fast blogging that can be done by text message. Text message is like fast emailing that can be done by Internet. Internet is like fast telegraphy that can be done by smartphone.
Kim Petty July 25, 2009

How can we use Twitter and have it be “protected” behind firewalls internally within a company?
The topic of text messages can be expensive if you don’t have unlimited, but there are other ways to receive tweets and each user can sign up for the way they want it.
Very Interesting topic, thanks for sharing! I have been brainstorming this myself (especially item 1).
- Andrew Wood July 30, 2009
  
  Twitter allows you to ‘protect’ your tweets – to only let people you have selected see your tweets. In that sense you can keep your updates secure. Our CEO recently ‘unprotected’ his tweets (@askadrian), as it seems to be more in the social networking spirit of the tool, but if you are using it as an internal comms tool, protection is the way to go!
  
  My Twitter: @andrewlwood
William Rogers McInnis July 27, 2009

The problem as I see it, is that learners, at least at the college level (who typically have limited resources) *could* be left out by having mobile plans that do not include text messaging. I personally think that there are much more robust apps (FaceBook, for one; Moodle, for another) that have stronger development teams. Even as a Blackberry user, I still get charged outrageous fees for Text Messages, but can synch to FB in real-time without any charges.
I admit I’m not a very experienced Twitter user, simply b/c of the above fact.
Marcello Rinaldi July 27, 2009

Really interesting topic. I am investigating about the same area right now. Reported about your text in my blog (in Spanish) on Social Learning “Conduciendo a Ciegas” (Driving Blind):

http://conduciendoaciegas.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/twiteando-y-aprendiendo/

[... El interesante artículo se llama Practical Applications of Research: Using Twitter for learning. Por supuesto Twitter, al ser tan mimimal tanto en la forma como en los contenidos que se pueden enviar a través de su aplicación, NO puede ser el centro de un sistema de educación pero es probable que pueda adquirir un papel cada vez más importante. ...]

My best,

Marcello
Lou Roberts July 28, 2009

This is a topic we’ve been grappling with for over a year. The closest we’ve come to applying social networking in the corporate learning environment is in the enhancement of online and blended learning programs. We’re now looking at using real time social networking and communications media for point-of-performance systems (i.e., “Electronic Performance Support Systems”) associated with corporate computer applications in which both training and networking can be combined to help users who are learning to use new applications. We’ll be following your research closely.
Kevin Love July 29, 2009

Dr. Boland,

This is the best article I have seen to date in defense of using Twitter for learning and why it can work. I have re-tweeted this article on my Twitter and plan to point people to this every chance I get.

Best regards,

Kevin Love, MBA
Training and Development Professional
Dallas / Fort Worth Area
Google Voice: 817-778-8540
Email: kevindlove@hotmail.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinlove
RJ July 29, 2009

Unfortunately, the graphics for the results were very difficult to read (text over text). If you can get the problem resolved, please email me! I’d like to get a better view! Very important topic and very timely!
Mark Lassoff August 2, 2009

How about some real outcome based studies on whether Twitter actually helps people learn? I know it makes the eLearning folks feel a sense of mastery when they find a way to use Web 2.0 social media technologies, however, shouldn’t we be asking “Is it effective?”

Maybe its distracting to be tweeting questions and discussion items during class and learners miss core content?

Is anyone asking if this is effective, or are we just jumping on the Web 2.0 bandwagon? This is a discussion that needs to occur.

I have spoken at 2 recent eLearning production events and received questions such as “I heard about mobile eLearning. How can we get in to that?” or “How do I use twitter for eLearning.” It’s almost like there is a formula:

2.0 Buzzword or Technology + eLearning = Good idea

If we are truly professionals shouldn’t we be using actual science and study to determine whether a technology that works for socialization and commerce is actually good for learning?
- Lisa Hawkins August 3, 2009
  
  Amen, Mark. Just because we can, does not mean we should.
  
  Has anyone conducted a study to determine the students’ perspectives? Do students ‘want’ this? Do students really want to be connected to their course and instructor so closely? Do students want to deal with all of these applications, or would they prefer to log into a single site that is strictly for their education?
  
  How does this technology conform to FERPA regulations?
  
  I conduct faculty training and am often asked “how” to use applications such as twitter, and I always respond by asking them what they want to accomplish by using it. What are the objectives? Will the application actually address those objectives?
Michael Byrne August 4, 2009

Collecting real time experiences could be the key. Take trip advisor for example when you read an account of how someone’s holiday experiences went this has educational value to the hotel or restaurant in terms of feedback. I would love to hear the tweets of the people who are arriving at, eating in and on the road home from these establishments. Right here right now. The reason for this is that the person is ‘in the experience’ as they are tweeting.

140 characters of ‘now’ are worth 3000 words of reflection.

Here and now experiences are more objective. When people reflect they can distort, exaggerate and delete key pieces of information. The game becomes very subjective. The educational (insight) value of what is being read is less valuable. If you give observers ‘here and now’ they can do their own reflection and draw their own conclusions from a solid primary source.

Tweeting is very tacit in nature and is far richer in content than most people realise from an educational point of view.
The down side of ‘hear of and now’ is that it only represents a moment in time in terms of experience. But multiple ‘moments in time’ that have a common thread, theme or experience add up to something very valuable.

Last thing about twitter is that as most people access from their mobile and rarely go to the web to view the whole story so to speak. This means that responses from individuals to experiences are relatively unaffected by others.
Compare this to discussion boards where you observe mimes and herd wisdom. After the first 3 comments on a board you could write the next responses yourself. Or indeed because you can read that someone else has made your point you decide to not contribute. With tweets you can instantaneously get thousands of people responding to the same experience, stimulus or event without each one being knowing what the other person thinks in that moment.

Very powerful for gaining ‘clean’ insight.