Yakin, I., & Tinmaz, H. (2013). USING
TWITTER AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL: A CASE STUDY IN HIGHER
EDUCATION.
Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology, 12(4), 209-218.
OVERVIEW:
The article begins by discussing the growing implementation
of Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom, specifically the “microblogging”
website, Twitter. The overall focus of
the article is to explain a research study performed to measure the effects of
using Twitter in an academic setting, particularly higher education, in
Turkey. Prior to performing the study,
researchers theorized that there are some countries which still undervalue the
use of social media technology in the classroom, and felt that the use of such
technology would facilitate learning by increasing interactivity among
participants, increasing the active participation, and increasing the feedback
among users.
Participants of the study included 48 enrolled students at a
private university in Turkey. Some of
the students already had a Twitter account, but some did not. Regardless, students were expected to create
an account for the course, and to follow the course account as well as the
accounts of other students. Students were
surveyed during several “phases” of the study, regarding the ways that they
were using Twitter, while the activity on Twitter was measured as well.
The primary use of Twitter, in this particular class, was as
a discussion forum, where students posted and responded to topics on a weekly
basis. The study revealed that there was an increase in several factors of the
experiment. First, during the course of
the study, Twitter activity increased among participants. Participants also reported feeling more
comfortable with the use of Twitter, and that their confidence in
self-expression also increased. Students
agreed that Twitter made the class more enjoyable, and increased the level of
engagement among participants.
The survey revealed that one of the downsides of using
Twitter in the classroom is that “tweeting” during class can be distracting. However, the overall response of participants
was positive, as they reported that learning “increased by means of shared and
created knowledge capital between the followed people and students.”
REFLECTIONS:
I enjoy reading educational research studies when they
pertain to a topic of interest. Having
taught high school English for several years, I am always interested in
evidence that supports some means of instructional design that results in an increase
in engagement of students in the learning process. I particularly like reading the concrete data
resulting from the study, which can give me a clearer picture of the positive
and negative aspects of an instructional method.
Because high school students are already so involved in
social media, Twitter in the classroom would be something fairly easy to
implement. However, the study in the
article focused on a university level class, where I assume students are more
mature than those in a high school junior-level general education class. The study participants even reported that
tweeting during class could become distracting, and high school students are
already distracted by so many things.
The study also explains some reasons for the site’s popularity, siting
that it allows for online exhibitionism and voyeurism – not sure that I want to
encourage that at the high school level!
My overall reaction to the article is that I am sure there
are many positive effects of using social media in the classroom – probably more
than negative – but I think the maturity level of the student must be taken
into account before implementation, and that if students are not academically focused
in the classroom to begin with, Twitter will only be a further
distraction.
I do, however, think that it is worth a try, to increase
engagement and facilitate learning that is created through sharing
knowledge. I would probably implement
slowly and observe.
