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Some general comments on the "twitter Experiment" by Monica Rankin (Ut Dallas) there has been a lot of interest in the "twitter Experiment" video posted by Kim Smith chronicling my U.S. History class at U.t. Dallas and our use of twitter in the classroom. I have fielded a number of inquiries from educators across the United States and even overseas who are interested in finding ways to use social networking in an educational setting. this write-up is intended as an informal summary of my use of twitter in the classroom. I hope it will help to clarify my experience and I welcome additional questions and commentary, particularly suggestions for how to improve this type of classroom interaction. the class: I used twitter in the basic U.S. History II survey course at U.t. Dallas in the spring 2009 semester. this is a "core" course requirement in the state of texas. It generally enrolls students from all majors across campus. At the beginning of the semester, there were 90 students enrolled in my class. the class met in a large auditorium-style classroom on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11:30-12:20. I had one graduate student teaching assistant to help with grading and other administrative duties for the class.

T&L blogger Ryan BreTag recenTly saT down wiTh his sTudenTs and asked Them abouT 21sT-CenTury Learning sTraTegies. Their suggesTions are amazing. Read The whole piece here: hTTp://www.Techlearning.com/blogs.aspx?id=15776 Some snippeTs: Each discussion poinT sTarTed and ended wiTh The focus on learning. For example, The sTudenTs Talked abouT creaTing a learning environmenT ThaT was abouT learning noT jusT memorizaTion. To do This, They wanTed To seek ouT parTnerships boTh locally and globally in order To build connecTions ThaT would fosTer a "learning To learn" movemenT where sTudenTs are learning for learning, open To learning, and innovaTive. Clearly, TexTbooks were noT fasT enough nor diverse enough in Their eyes. They longed for ways To inTeracT wiTh maTerials ThaT were updaTed frequenTly and offered a wealTh of perspecTives. In facT, a good porTion felT There was a need To move beyond The TexTbook because "informaTion changes To rapidly" for TexTbooks To be The main source in The classroom. Along wiTh This, informaTion and resources needed To come in a varieTy of formaTs if The curriculum was going To remain progressive and currenT: narraTive, ficTion, digiTal, mulTimedia, and non-ficTion.

Enhancing Learning through technology (ELt) We are increasingly aware of how technology can enhance the student learning experience. Our work with institutions indicates a shift towards an overarching approach which uses technology to enhance core activities, e.g. using technology in assessment to improve feedback to students. this shift has been taking place within institutions over the past few years since the release of the original 2005 HEFCE e-learning Strategy, as reflected in the Welsh HEFCW (Higher Education Funding Council for Wales) Enhancement of Learning Strategy. More recently, on 26th March 2009 HEFCE released their Enhancing Learning and teaching through technology (ELtt) Policy Statement. this Policy Statement includes an Implementation Framework to support our stakeholder institutions for the development of their own L&t strategies - this Framework was developed through evidence collected from a range of Academy and JISC programmes. to reflect this emphasis, and in line with our remit to support the student learning experience, the Academy has developed an Enhancement of Learning through technology (ELt) programme. We are in the process of developing this website to reflect this shift and to map our menu structure onto the HEFCE Implementation Framework, i.e. to support institutions on the interpretation of the Framework - to be completed by mid June 09 (JISC are undertaking a similar exercise). We are also developing an additional resource through EvidenceNet. Currently, to support institutions and in collaboration with the JISC we have developed a joint search tool, as below - Academy resources can also be accessed using the menu on the left.