Twitter in the Classroom
Tuesday, June 2, 2009 by Kelly Sutton Has the latest Internet addiction actually been made relevant by a prof at UT Dallas? Quite possibly.
Professor Monica Rankin from UT Dallas observed the technologies (some) of her students were using and decided to adapt her lectures. Given that her typical class has 90 students in it, discussions become nearly impossible. This is similar to a system that Harvard has implemented that Diana Kimball discussed during the educational panel I was on at SXSW 2009. (Download an audio recording here.) With the UT Dallas Twitter system, TAs monitor the "backchannel" during class and follow up with @-replies or direct messages.
Professor Rankin starts off each class with the specialized hashtag for the current lecture. This allows everyone in class to track the discussion. Participation is not requried, but encouraged.
This video below is a good 5-minute summary of how her class works. It's a little propagandalistically (is that a word?) positive, but the students' accounts are convincing nonetheless.
Now if only Twitter supported mathematical formulas...
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Reader Comments (7)
That's brilliant, its great to see technology being so actively integrated into the curriculum. I tried to start a wiki on which all course material could be published for my department. I was told that while Universities like MIT and Cambridge make their materials available online, the department didn't think it would encourage students to attend lectures.
So basically, the best and most prestigious Universities in the World have got it wrong.
They are trying to ban Twitter in the German parliament - in the actual building, not in the whole country.
Successfully Using Twitter in the Classroom
Successfully Using Twitter in the Classroom
Brilliant! Fantastic! I love it!!! Thanks Prof Rankin!!
Successfully Using Twitter in the Classroom
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Fantastic example of innovative technology usage. It's not about the technology, it's about the students, and Dr. Rankin sees this clearly and integrated it into her class successfully. Kudos.