I think anything that allows education to become more engaging is excellent. And it serves a higher purpose too. Thinking beyond the education -- applying that knowledge and networking is also important. Technology is opening up doors here and allows people to connect on points of interest.
Angela
· 1 month ago
There are many, many of us who have been using this in our courses for quite some time (yet I suppose we don't teach at Purdue...) Using Twitter, Facebook, and other "backchannel" services doesn't sub for classroom participation - it enhances student participation and adds another layer with which they can engage with course material. And I unbanned laptops and cell-phones from my classroom long ago, and have not regretted it even for a second. Students have these great tools at their disposal, so it is really silly for us not to incorporate them into teaching and learning.
Bee
· 1 month ago
I agree its not new. However as a student I found it could get very disruptive.
Ed
· 1 month ago
One of the best things I can think of in support of the project is that the "class" is no longer confined to the room or the clock on the wall. While IM has been used for some amount of backchanneling in various venues, content - and conversations - on Twitter and Facebook can (and should) go on well after the bell has rung. And for the prof, being able to see, and perhaps engage in the after-class conversations would be of great value; at least for those professors that really enjoy teaching.
sswalker
· 1 month ago
I'm a journalism professor, @sswalker, at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas and I've created #twitternewschat on Twitter for my journalism classes. We tweet and discuss a variety of issues. We also invite guest (s) to discuss issues. Last week journalist Bridgette Outten, @bridgetteo, discussed storytelling techniques with us. It's a good tool to use and it turns a traditional classroom into a fun, interactive experience. Students enjoy connecting with professionals on the Internet.
Phil Hill
· 1 month ago
yes, these new tools for the classroom are great. there's one just launched out of GA Tech as well called OpenStudy.com (@openstudy) that lets students create study buddy groups online for assignments & test prep. Professors are using it for office hours as well.
patrickt
· 1 month ago
here's an idea. maybe instead of tweeting and texting they should just raise their hand, open their mouth and ask a question....participate in real life instead of the virtual world.
devinlamb
· 1 month ago
When was the last time you were a student in a large classroom? Did you really want to raise your hand in front of hundreds of people to ask a question every time you had one? If so, then you're pretty unique. Personally though, I would have let it go and never knew the correct answer. With a tool like this I can feel comfortable getting my question answered, and I think that's what's important. Learning is the main goal of classes; one way of accomplishing this shouldn't be denounced because it doesn't fit in with the classic way of doing things.
kevin oshea
· 1 month ago
I totally agree, at least for smaller sized lecture courses, but for large (anything over 100 students, which we have a fair share of) I think this opens a channel of communication that may not have been there before.
andytgeezer
· 1 month ago
I only partially agree with this comment. This would only allow people who are confident socially to participate and only one at a time. In some cases, the ability for everyone to talk and everyone to hear everyone elses points of view would be hugely beneficial. We have to bear in mind that a class has limited time to hear all the sides of the argument, but if you open discussion in this way then you give more people a chance to have a say.
This is not about replacing the real interactions of the classroom but enhancing them in my opinion
Sandra Connor
· 1 month ago
Fabulous! Anything that enhances communication and learning is a great tool to use.
patrick24601
· 1 month ago
Not the best idea. The back channel already exists w/o the school getting involved. Don't need the school to formalize it, manage it, track it and record it.
AJ
· 1 month ago
Excellent idea! It's already becoming a part of everyday business life, so it's great for college students to utilize social media as part of their college classes. Any medium that pushes the learning experience from listening to a lecture to integrating active participation and discussion increases the retention levels of the audience/students; social media (be it Twitter, Facebook, or the next platform/idea) definitely deserves a place.
Stephanie Daniel
· 1 month ago
Very promising... could make the learning experience a lot more engaging.
Spewf
· 1 month ago
I go to school at Purdue. Crazy isn't it?
mcgiddin
· 1 month ago
I guess I'm somewhat confused. What happened to in classroom participation, you know, like raising your hand to ask a question or simply blurting out the answer?
andytgeezer
· 1 month ago
I'm sure this still happens, but with the ability to answer in different ways as well then we allow pupils who are not able to simply blurt out an answer to do so. In addition, when they tweet or whatever way they choose to electronically answer, they may even think about it before they do so.
Opening up options for answering questions can only be a good thing
Hans K. Meyer
· 1 month ago
I set up a Twitter account to to allow students in a large lecture class the opportunity to comment in real time. It worked well. We had a couple of joke messages, particularly some from Charles Barkley, but I think it generated a lot of good discussion. The hardest part for me was to keep on top of all the comments.
Terry Hayes
· 1 month ago
I've felt like this type of thing could be useful for a while, but I couldn't see how exactly. I think the vote on questions feature is a HUGE deal. From my experience, students WANT to participate when things are interesting, and if this is much more likely to produce interesting classes.
Obviously, this has to be implemented cautiously as the potential for distraction is high as well. However, this definitely looks like a step in the right direction for the concept.
AspNet
· 1 month ago
waiting for more languages...
ONLINEPOKER
· 1 month ago
Nice!
Anand
· 1 month ago
wow..So I don't have to raise my hand to ask a question? Way to go. Let's create more anonymous cowards in the classrooms..
Tom Foremski
· 1 month ago
We are always in the hotseat wherever we comment. Which is a good thing...
We use an OpenSource tool called Moodle (http://www.moodle.org) to allow for collaboration outside the physical classroom. Using open formats like RSS we can pull in Twitter feeds etc..
Jessica Nunemaker
· 1 month ago
I think it's an interesting idea. I like it!
Hubs did online school and I think this would have been a better way of keeping the mandatory discussion forum posting interesting.
Real time conversation would have been more fun to follow than doing the log in and reply to the person above you kind of deal!
bigmarry
· 1 month ago
I think it's cool that they do this and show a useful face of social networks
CollegiateLiving
· 1 month ago
very exciting for internet marketing in general...more are sure to follow.
essayed
· 3 weeks ago
i m new & i want to have friends from all over the world
All Comments
Using Twitter, Facebook, and other "backchannel" services doesn't sub for classroom participation - it enhances student participation and adds another layer with which they can engage with course material. And I unbanned laptops and cell-phones from my classroom long ago, and have not regretted it even for a second. Students have these great tools at their disposal, so it is really silly for us not to incorporate them into teaching and learning.
This is not about replacing the real interactions of the classroom but enhancing them in my opinion
Opening up options for answering questions can only be a good thing
Obviously, this has to be implemented cautiously as the potential for distraction is high as well. However, this definitely looks like a step in the right direction for the concept.
http://www.replicawatchesindia.info/
Hubs did online school and I think this would have been a better way of keeping the mandatory discussion forum posting interesting.
Real time conversation would have been more fun to follow than doing the log in and reply to the person above you kind of deal!