An investigation into the use of twitter by lecturers and students to support modules

Transcript

1. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
   An investigation into the
   use of twitter by lecturers
   and students to support
   UG and PG modules
   Dr Ed de Quincey
   

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2. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
   Dr Ed de Quincey @eddequincey @DrEddeQuincey
   Senior Lecturer, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences
   Head of the Web 2.0/Social Web for Learning Research Group, eCentre
   http://www2.gre.ac.uk/research/centres/ecentre/research-groups/web-2.0
   

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3. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
   

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4. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
   

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5. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
   Swine u
   

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6. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
   Epidemics of seasonal influenza are
   a major public health concern,
   causing tens of millions of
   respiratory illnesses and 250,000 to
   500,000 deaths worldwide each year
   Ginsberg et al., Nature Vol 457, 19 February 2009
   doi:10.1038/nature07634
   

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7. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
   

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8. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
   http://search.twitter.com/search?q=flu
   

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10. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    
    tag:search.twitter.com,2005:6404909749
    2009-12-06T17:43:56Z
    rel="alternate"/>
    @lais_couto Hoje é o dia do #hexa, mais sempre vai ver o a torcida do
    #flamengo apoiando o #flu... a união das torcidas cariocas ta linda...
    <a href="http://twitter.com/
    lais_couto">@lais_couto</a> Hoje é o dia do <a href="http://
    search.twitter.com/search?q=%23hexa">#hexa</a>, mais sempre vai ver o a torcida
    do <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23flamengo">#flamengo</
    a> apoiando o <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=
    %23flu">#<b>flu</b></a>... a união das torcidas cariocas ta
    linda...
    2009-12-06T17:43:56Z
    
    
    
    <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com/"
    rel="nofollow">TweetDeck</a>
    pt
    
    grippado (grippado)
    http://twitter.com/grippado
    
    
    http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q= u
    

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11. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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12. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Number of tweets containing the word “flu”
    

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13. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Most popular words found in all tweets
    

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14. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    From almost 3 million
    tweets collected
    during May to
    December 2009
    

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15. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    “I have swine flu”
    12,954
    

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16. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    “I have the flu”
    12,651
    

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17. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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18. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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19. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Using twitter with this course
    We are intending to use twitter with this course in 3
    ways:
    1.  As an alternative method for posting useful course
    specific information to students e.g. links to articles,
    emergency changes to lecture times etc.
    2.  Enable students to ask questions about courses e.g.
    clarifying something from a lecture, asking about
    coursework specifications etc.
    3.  Encourage students to help one another and create
    communities of practice.
    

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20. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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21. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    you could also use hashtags such as
    #COMP1314Lec1 if you are asking about
    something in the first lecture, #COMP1314Lab1
    for the first lab session, #COMP1314CW for
    information about the coursework and so on. Just
    make sure that the hashtag includes #COMP1314
    

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22. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Twitter was introduced during the first tutorial session for 3
    courses at UG and PG level, across 2 Schools within the
    University by 2 lecturers (@DrEddeQuincey and @AvrilHocking).
    

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23. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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24. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Tweets collected
    1.  All tweets posted from
    lecturer accounts
    2.  All tweets that contained the
    relevant course codes
    3.  All direct messages and
    replies (for @DrEddeQuincey)
    

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25. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    created in April 2011 solely for
    student/University related tweets,
    currently has 130 followers
    

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26. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    a rough estimate is that 80 (62%)
    are present or past students
    within the University
    

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27. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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28. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    289 tweets have been sent
    from the lecturer account
    between September 2011 and
    April 2012
    

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29. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    !
    frequency of terms used within those 289 tweets
    

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30. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    161 tweets (56%) were
    @mentions i.e. the lecturer
    replying to a student’s tweet
    indicating a good level of 2 way-
    communication
    

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31. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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32. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    !
    

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33. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    received 40 direct (private)
    messages from 11 students, all
    asking questions, again
    indicating a good level of 2-way
    communication
    

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34. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    The hashtags for the 2 courses
    had less impact than the use of
    messaging, with #COMP1444
    being used 98 times (50% by the
    lecturer account) and
    #COMP1314, 75 times (33%
    by the lecturer account).
    

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35. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Around 31% students used twitter as a
    way of communicating with the
    lecturer regarding the course and
    although a few individuals made
    attempts at sharing information by the
    use of hashtags, this was not the
    primary use
    

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36. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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37. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Students were willing to sign up
    for twitter and the majority sent at
    least one tweet, but their continued
    use was very much dependent on
    whether they were already active
    users or whether they understood it’s
    potential uses during and after the
    course
    

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38. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Communication
    

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39. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    A number of students have utilised
    twitter as a quick method of
    communication between
    themselves and the lecturer. This
    enabled for almost real time
    communication outside of lectures
    and tutorials and immediate
    resolution of issues
    

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40. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    Why not just use email?
    

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41. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    students have to ask concise questions that can
    be answered within the same limitation. From the
    lecturer point of view, replies can be quick and
    to the point, no need for email etiquette and
    format e.g. salutations and sign-o s.
    

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42. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    For lecturers that utilise
    twitter on a continuous basis
    as a natural part of
    their work, the ability to
    monitor and send quick
    replies to students via a
    range of devices is more
    e cient and does not get
    lost amongst other work
    related email.
    

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43. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    other students who follow the user
    who sent the @mention can also see
    the @reply from the lecturer,
    potentially reducing the
    number of communications
    that ask the same question.
    

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44. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    The hashtag course code was
    primarily only used by the
    lecturer and was sparsely
    used in either course to share
    information, discuss course content
    etc. by students.
    

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45. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    #TweetChats? #TweetUps?
    

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46. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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47. Using social media to engage students in mathematical sciences
    

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