How might we promote the same interaction among students using Twitter for classroom and learning?
Since Twitter is considered to be a social networking website, one aspect of this study looked at dialogue that transpired between followers to show evidence of collaborative conversations rather than unidirectional sharing of information.
Survey results show that nine out of ten of the respondents were able to give concrete examples of collaboration that occurred with fellow Twitter users.
These examples included ideas such as creating units, sharing of resources, students collaborating on projects between classrooms, exchanging professional materials and readings, writing book chapters, and even co-presenting at conferences.
beyond 140-character messages. That teachers moved discussions to forums that allow for deeper discussion and expansion of ideas is encouraging; Twitter does not seem to be a place to collaborate in depth, but rather to make those initial connections - a "jumping off" point.
how using Twitter has benefited them professionally. Four unique themes emerged from their responses:
Access to resources
Supportive relationships
Increased leadership capacity
Development of a professional vision
practical resources and ideas as a benefit.
opportunities for them to take leadership roles in developing professional development, organizing conferences, publishing, and grant writing.
This research study provides new insight into how teachers use social networking sites such as Twitter for professional purposes.
Study, Share, Connect with Your Classmates.
Allows students to collaboratively take notes and share notes on classes.
Limitations: Currently in beta. Requires a .edu email address.
Create collaborate workspaces that include a wiki-like shared note space, screen sharing, and video chat.
Limitations: 10 people can video chat at the same time. Another 20 people can participate in the conference without video.
Group Collaboration for Learning Teams.
Learning management system that includes video broadcasts, video meetings, text chat, screencasting, polling, and text messaging.
Collaborative online text editor. What makes this different from Google Docs is that you can edit as though you were using pen and paper. You can export your work as .txt.