OMG!! There are so many!! LOL I will, however, limit my response to only a few. I have never used microblogging, but I plan on using it when I start teaching again at my regular job.
Students can write a story or poem. Many students have experimented with Twitter’s 140-character format to bring new, serialized works in small chunks to attention-divided audiences. Some of us may like the idea of asking our students to apply their creative writing skills to a restrictive social media outlet (almost like those little word magnets students use to compose short, simple, yet meaningful, poems!)
Have students tweet ideas and quotes from their favorite literary figures/works. Alternately, students can also pretend to be famous fictional characters as well.
Typing keywords into Twitter’s search engine wields every microblog entry on the subject, providing an excellent way for students to research ideas, opinions and movements as they happen.
Eileen,
No, many instructors are connecting a microblog assignment to discuss a Youtube clip. Social bookmarking is another great tool to link to a discussion.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eileen,
I don't think discussion board are outdated. I use them because I try to use as much as I can within the LMS. I teach a writing course and I find in the business arena more people are using instant messaging to communicate business objectives so I use Twitter to helps students write short succinct messages. It is really pretty good for that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eileen,
I use remind.com to do just that . . . remind. My students don't go to their computer all the time (neither do I) they use their phone. For information I want them to read ASAP I use remind.com. I always have a strategy. I try one tool and take one tool away from the teaching in a semester. I use it then evaluate. I don't want to overwhelm my students either. The tool has to meet a goal of the course or assess an objective.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
How do you use YouTube for microblogging? Or did I misunderstand you?
I need to learn how to do this. :-)
I do this with discussion boards now. Do you think Twitter is a better forum? Certainly, the posts would be shorter. Are discussion boards outdated?
Gosh, this is overwhelming. All of the tools discussed here sound great -- but where do you draw the line? I can see a use for Twitter, but why, for instance, would you use Remind.com? Can't you use Twitter to do the same thing? Or is it a matter of just figuring out which platform you like best? I want to start incorporating more of these tools into my online classes, but like all of you, I have a finite amount of time. Just responding to emails and discussion board questions (I have a "virtual office" where students can post questions the whole class can see) already takes an inordinate amount of time. As a result, I've resisted diving into the social media waters even though I've used Blackboard for a decade and consider myself very tech-savvy (guess I'm just social media-phobic).
Thanks for this explanation. I visited the site and couldn't figure out why it would be useful. Now I get it! Thanks, Claire.
Sabahudin,
i think it is a great idea. I know I have a colleague that share by dialog.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Scott,
Try putting them padlet.com a digital wall. It will allow you to post all sorts of different articles, videos, etc. Students could create their own mall.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Karen,
I have used poll anywhere. You can google it. Your LMS may have a tool to use. I have also used are university's personal response system since it has an access code that can be used with a smartphone or a laptop.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Stacy,
Twitter is where the traditional students are now. I actually text my students using reimind101.com. It is a great tool.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jerome,
These are great ideas I had a instructor that had students take a tweet and another tweet to put together a story. I was an interesting idea.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Donna ,
It is getting your point across with few words like 140 characters. Twitter is an example.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dori,
You are on the right track. You may want to look at padlet.com It is a digital wall that will allow to post in one area all sorts of media. Similar to Pinterest.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I would be most interested in sharing the resources with the class, like conferences, new research or developments in my field. I think that would be the most effective, rather than sharing opinions or suggestions to each other.
I am not that old (45, but maybe I am) and I often read an old fashioned newspaper. In it, I often find articles, editorials and political cartoons that are directly related to my course content. Many times articles articulate points better than I do or have the appropriate data that could support points I may have made in my course. I often use Twitter to send out links to the article (once I look it up online), usually in the morning. I don't necessarily expect students to read every article, but I will bring up the article in the next online discussion. I have found that to be an effective way of incorporating myself into the daily academic lives of my students. As many others have said, I would also agree that Twitter is useful in reminding students of when assignments are due.
Which software would you poll your students with?
I could use microblogging to remind students about deadlines. There's also an opportunity to post announcements that are relevant to the course. Since Twitter is commonly known and utilized, this could be a useful method.
