A study of the use of Twitter by students for lecture engagement and discussion

Abstract

Research indicates that student engagement with lectures, and participation in discussion and debate, greatly improve their learning and experience of University. The nature of some lectures means they can lack opportunities for interaction and active learning. For this reason it can be difficult for some students, especially students new to University, to fully engage in lectures, and interact with their peers. This study attempts to use Twitter as a means of increasing these opportunities for interaction and engagement for students, especially those who may lack the confidence to engage traditionally. As a first step, the study analyses the use of Audience Response Systems to understand the role technology can play in providing opportunities for interaction. Following this, a review of experiments conducted using Twitter is carried out. While there is a dearth of research in this area, these cases provide some valuable insights into the use of this technology and its integration into education. In the methodology section, the process of using Twitter in lectures is explained, along with some of the challenges and obstacles faced. Findings presented indicate that while adoption of Twitter was low, the platform provides engagement opportunities for timid members of the group, while having a generally positive impact on engagement and discussion for the group as a whole. Finally, emerging uses of the Twitter platform are examined, allowing the reader glimpse possibilities for future integration.

Twitter in the collaborative classroom: micro-blogging for in-class collaborative discussions

“…However, one student did note that he preferred speaking aloud in class. This difference in preferred interaction styles reflects findings by Tiernan (2014), who described some students using Twitter to interact with the professor during a lecture, while other students asked questions aloud, in a more typical form of interaction. This indicates both forms of interaction may be important and providing a range of modes for students to share their ideas with their classmates and professors may be important in allowing the widest range of students to voice their opinions and receive support.…”

“…In addition, Twitter chats -meetings or discussions held on Twitter -allow account holders to participate in conversations with experts or peers with related interests. The potential of these features, which have been used extensively for business and social purposes, have been recognised within education, with increasing examples of their use in a range of settings (e.g., Ally, 2012;Dhir et al, 2013;Gao et al, 2012;Junco et al, 2013;Markham and Belkasim, 2011;Tiernan, 2014). Dhir et al's (2013) review of Twitter as a learning tool, provides ten potential benefits for using this tool in education settings.…”

“…The authors reported a relationship between students' enjoyment of using Twitter and their perceived engagement with the course, but they did not find that using Twitter, regardless of students' enjoyment of the tool, was associated with perceived engagement. Tiernan (2014) reports on the use of Twitter in lectures to ask questions of the lecturer, respond to questions posted by the lecturer and comment or share experiences related to the topics being discussed. While not all students used Twitter and some chose to voice their response or questions during discussions rather than tweet, the additional mode of engagement appeared to increase overall feelings of engagement in the course.…”

The impact of the MOOC movement on social networks. A computational and statistical study on Twitter

“…Emily Purser, Angela Towndrow, and Ary Aranguiz (2013) have explored the relationship between peer tutoring and options for interacting in MOOCs through on-line learning-support tools, such as the hashtags used in #edcmooc. Peter Tiernan (2012) has also examined the role of Twitter in increasing interaction by students in academic conversations. His study concluded that Twitter has great potential for encouraging the development of virtual conversations outside the university once face-to-face classes have ended.…”

Twitter adoption, students’ perceptions, Big Five personality traits and learning outcome: Lessons learned from 3 case studies

“…Student engagement is defined as the time and effort students invest in educational activities which are linked to desired outcomes (Kuh, 2009). It was observed that students have poorly adopted the tool, reporting that there were technological barriers and lack of motivation (Tiernan, 2013). Students reported that Twitter helps their interaction in a variety of ways.…”