Getting to Twitter Town

Getting to Twitter Town

Twitter Town’s Sheriff • Professor of Italian at Montclair State • iVenus – Apr 2007 • profeac – Jan 2008 • profenza – Jan 2009 • Students have used Twitter in • ITAL103 (Intermediate) • Grammar & Composition (Advanced) • Cultural Studies (in English)

The Laws of the Land • Text-based posts only • 140 character message size constraint • Community members include “friends” (people you choose to follow) and “followers” (people who follow you) • Public or private participation allowed

The Lay of the Land The last thing you micro-blogged: a.k.a. a tweet Where you update/ tweet The Town Square = the Timeline Town water cooler = Popular topics

Twitter Town Passports

Digital Natives in Twitter Town • What benefits will students and/or teachers perceive with this type of social network? • What disadvantages? • Raise your hand • Or chat

Twitter Town & You • Tweets are a source of information; people in certain places, at certain events, sharing at a global level • How is this applicable to the foreign language classroom? • What would you communicate to your students in 140 characters or less? • Use the hashtag - #larc09

#Hashtag • Create groupings by adding context and metadata

@Replies a.k.a. Mentions • The @Replies feature was introduced because we noticed lots of folks putting the @ symbol in front of Twitter usernames as a way of addressing one another. • For example: @biz what are you drinking in your avatar? (It's a soy latte.) • @username also now in the middle of tweets as a way to simply reference another account

The Retweet (RT / via …) • Sharing and crediting sources

The Power of the Retweet

Benefits to Twitterers They can: • be engaged in either synchronous or asynchronous modes of communication (always on, always connected) • interact with individuals or community members in the L2 • participate in the virtual classroom and in the L2 culture

Not just a place to visit Twitterers can: • micro-blog about what they are doing (learner written output) • read what others are doing (learner’s comprehensible input) • communicate directly with someone they are following (negotiation of meaning)

Twitter Town Tips • Create a Twitter handle for academic use only • Use class time to have students create their handle, follow classmates and tweet for the first time • Prompt them initially to have them feel comfortable with tweeting • Develop your best practices for course objectives

Educational Things To Do • Follow a Professional • Follow a Famous Person • Grammar • Rule Based Writing • Maximizing the Teaching Moment • Public Note Pad • Writing Assignment • Class chatter • Classroom community • Get a Sense of the World • Track a Word • Track a Conference • Instant Feedback Source: AcademHack www.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/

Tweeting in Italian • Unexpected uses of Twitter: • bulletin board, requesting information and help • in an academic context (e.g., looking for misplaced textbooks and handouts, asking about deadlines for assignments) • technology-related matters, (e.g., how do I tweet from my cell? how do I personalize my Twitter homepage like you did?) • Students tweeted rather than e-mailed the instructor with questions Twitter is self-perpetuating and generative • School 22.3 % • Entertainment 13.6 % • Feelings 13.6 % • Food 12.1 % • Hobby 8.0 % • Family 4.9 % • Home 4.4 % • Friends 4.1 % • American life 3.9 % • Events 3.6 %

Students’ Reflections • Twitter can transform social networking to educational networking. • Twitter helped reduce affective filters. • Learners stated that twittering had them asking for more information and allowed them to clarify using the L2.

Twitter Town & You • What would you communicate to your students in 140 characters or less? • What prompts would you use? • Use the hashtag - #larc09

Tourist Attractions • There are many different applications that can enhance your visit to Twitter Town http://twitter.pbworks.com/Apps

Thanks For Visiting. Y’All Come Back Now Soon

Getting to Twitter Town