Retrieved from http://twitter.com/

 

Twitter

by David Plummer

 

Twitter Historical Background  Relevance to education Glossary of Terms Start-up Costs Key-players, gurus, experts Sample Lesson Plans Tutorial Sources

 

According to the Twitter website, "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?" It is difficult to describe what exactly Twitter does.  The video below, created by Lee LeFever of CommonCraft.com, is a short, entertaining look at what people can do with Twitter.

 

  

  

Historical Background 

 

Twitter is described as a micro-blogging service that, according to an article by Educause Learning Initiative (2007), is an "online application that is part blog, part social networking site, and part cell phone/Instant Messaging [IM] tool" (para. 3). While the service is free, users are initially required to register for the service by creating a profile.  The sign-up process is similar to other social networking services on the internet such as Facebook or MySpace. Once the sign-up process is completed, users can than locate others that are already members and choose to follow them.  Also other registered members can then locate the new user and elect to follow them. Members have a choice of either making the messages, called tweets, public or private (Bell, 2008; Twitter, 2008). Micro-blogging, which has evolved from another social networking tool called blogging, allows a limited set of characters to be sent in a message. Twitter allows users to send messages up to 140 characters in length. These messages will be immediately posted to the users profile page and sent to all followers by multiple methods including cell phones, email, or IM among others (Bell, 2008; Bren, 2007; Micro-blogging, 2008; Twitter, 2008).

 

 Retrieved from https://twitter.com/davidp_edtc6329

 

The service allows users to provide information almost immediately after an event occurs. For example, after the recent, devastating earthquake in China, Twitter users had posted tweets providing information about the quake an hour before any reports were issued by the major United States news networks (Regan, 2008). Twitter also has the capability of letting users provide information, such as updates during conferences, to keep colleagues abreast of what is occurring in close to real-time (Bell, 2008; Ojala, 2008).

 

While many people are using Twitter much like IM to keep up-to-date with friends and family members, the service can be used in many other ways. Below are some interesting uses of the Twitter service found by Dr. Mary Ann Bell (2008) of Sam Houston University in Huntsville, Texas:

 

• Musicians keeping their fans informed of upcoming shows
• Shoppers updating each other on their finds
• Politicians informing voters on what’s happening on the campaign trail
• Schools and businesses using Twitter as another method of communication during emergency situations
• Several lists such as TwitterLit and KidderLit that post the first lines of books twice a day to entice people to read those books

 

Retrieved from http://www.twitterlit.com/ 

 

Twitter was developed within a start-up company called Obvious, LLC as a research and development project in March 2006 in San Francisco, California (Micro-blogging, 2008; Twitter, 2008). The service was used within the company from initial development through October 2006 when Twitter was first made available to the public. Twitter quickly gained a loyal following and was debuted at the South by Southwest 10th Annual Web Awards in March 2007 where the service won in the blog category. In April 2007, Twitter was spun-off from Obvious, LLC into a separate entity called Twitter, Inc. With growing popularity and the recent award, Twitter quickly garnered $5.4 million in venture capital to expand and improve operations (Baker, 2008; Twitter, 2008). Another round of raising venture capital in the first half of 2008 generated an additional $15 million validating the increasing popularity of Twitter and social networking services nationwide (Guynn, 2008).

 

From the initial release, technical problems have been an issue as a result of the rapid growth experienced by Twitter. Twitter has taken steps to address these issues. Baker (2008) says that “the company has replaced key members of its tech staff, including lead architect, Blaine Cook” (p. 15) during the April – May 2008 timeframe. According to the Twitter Blog at http://blog.twitter.com/, upgrades to the infrastructure have been made to handle the tremendous volume of traffic. Also according to the same blog, a stress test using the traffic generated by the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference held June 9-13, 2008 showed that the new architecture could handle 10 times the normal load.

 

While Twitter has only been in existence for a few years, the service seems poised to keep expanding rapidly as new uses for the service continue to be developed.

 

Relevance to education

 

In a study sponsored by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Fox and Madden found that the 12 to 28 year old age group is deeply immersed in online environments and the use of various communication tools. This group is much more likely to use communication tools such as email, instant messaging [IM], text messaging and blogs than older users. While this group will use email, they were found to prefer IM over email which is considered older technology. This same group is also much more likely than older users to utilize online environments to play games, download music and search for information (2005). The 12 to 28 year old population has been raised in the digital age and expects instruction using available communication tools in online environments (Lorenzetti, 2003). Twitter is a tool which can utilize the majority of communication tools identified by Fox and Madden above.

 

An article by the Educause Learning Initiative (2007) stated that Twitter could be used to utilize active learning strategies within the classroom. Using Twitter can “facilitate active learning” (para. 13) by providing a way for students to interact in a new and meaningful way along with expanding a lesson farther “than simply listening to an instructor and taking notes” (para. 13). Also “Twitter can be a viable platform for metacognition, forcing users to be brief and to the point—an important skill in thinking clearly and communicating effectively” (para. 13).

 

The 140 character limit of messages, or tweets, creates a unique resource for teachers to challenge students in fun and original ways (Bell, 2008; Skiba, 2008). Examples of the uses of the Twitter service to encourage students in reading, writing and poetry could include the following found by Bell and Skiba: writing an entire fictional microstory in 140 characters or less. Sites such as http://www.twitterfiction.com/ are dedicated to the microstory; another method for writing longer stories is for students to write an entire story using no more than 140 tweets, or posts, each 140 characters or less; writing poetry, such as Haiku, in 140 characters or less. The site http://twitter.com/twitterpoetry is dedicated to those Twitter users interested in poetry; using Twitter as a journal where students post about any aspect of their lives one or more times per day; Twitter can also be used to continue discussions beyond the timeframe of the classroom so that students can both ask and answer questions with the teacher and their class peers 24/7.

 

While not much literature can be readily found on Twitter for educational uses outside of reading, writing and poetry, below is one possible way to use Twitter for science. Currently the Jet Propulsion Lab at NASA is using Twitter to send out updates on the Mars Phoenix Lander at http://twitter.com/Marsphoenix. Students can keep abreast of the latest findings from Mars Phoenix and interact with the JPL using the Twitter service.

 

Retrieved from http://twitter.com/Marsphoenix

 

While security is always a concern, these assignments can be limited only to those students registered in a particular class. All tweets, or posts, related to these students will not been seen by the general public but only those registered followers. While Twitter may be fine for high school and college students, teachers may feel the need to have more control over the access their students have to the service. In response to this issue, Paul Allison, a New York City ISD teacher, developed the Youth Twitter micoblogging site that provides teachers with the ability to edit student tweets. Mr. Allison hopes that this site will give teachers a tool with enhanced security features so that educators will feel more comfortable using the educational benefits that Twitter offers (Ash, 2008).

 

Twitter can appeal to students through the interaction of many types of communication tools available through this service. The applications of this service in the classroom are only limited by the ingenuity of the teacher (Bell, 2008; Skiba, 2008).

 

Glossary of Terms

 

Blog - An abridgment of the term web log, is a website usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog)

 

Follower - A person who elects to receive the Tweets of a particular Twitter user. (http://help.twitter.com/)

 

Instant Messaging - A form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. The text is conveyed via computers connected over a network such as the Internet. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging)

 

Microblog - A form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblog)

 

Tweet - A microblog text-based post, up to 140 characters long, sent via the Twitter service. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter)

 

Start-up Costs

 

Twitter is a free service with no charge to register. Teachers and students will require a computer with internet access and internet browser to register and use the Twitter service. No additional software applications or internet plug-ins are required to install other than a standard internet browser. The only support required may be for the school district IT techs to unblock the Twitter website from the school district internet filters and/or firewall appliances.

 

Twitter has no additional requirements to use any devices other than a computer with internet access. However, teachers and students that have PDAs, Blackberries, mobile phones or other communication devices can opt to have tweets sent directly to their devices. These devices may require an application that can downloaded at no charge. Specific downloads can be found at http://twitter.com/downloads. While the downloads are free for these devices, there may be a standard charge for SMS and text messages from the mobile device service provider.

 

Retrieved from http://twitter.com/downloads

 

Key-players, gurus, experts

 

Dr. Mary Ann Bell - Professor of Library Sciences at Sam Houston State University. Dr. Bell has a blog where she writes about technology. She has written about Twitter in both her blog and in an article (see the citation in the sources section below). You can follow her on her blog at http://drmabell.blogspot.com/ or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/drmaryannbell.

 

Jack Dorsey - He is credited with the orginal idea for Twitter when working at Obvious, LLC and is now CEO of Twitter, Inc. You can follow him at http://twitter.com/jack.

 

Evan Williams - Founder of Obvious, LLC where Twitter was developed. He is also Chairman and Co-founder of Twitter, Inc. You can follow him on his blog at http://evhead.com/ or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ev.

 

Noah Glass - Co-founder of Twitter, Inc. You can follow him at http://twitter.com/noah.

 

ReporTwitters Blog at http://blog.reportwitters.com/ - A blog dedicated to bring together internet news reporters outside of regular new media that use Twitter to report news events worldwide.

 

Twitter Blog at http://blog.twitter.com/ - The official blog of the Twitter service for updates, information and news.

 

Twitter Fan Wiki at http://twitter.pbwiki.com/ - Set "up as a place to post cool ideas, uses and feature requests for Twitter".

 

Twitterholic at http://www.twitterholic.com/ - Ranks the top 100 users based on number of followers. Currently Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is number 3 and the Mars Phoenix Lander is number 7.

 

TwitterPacks at http://twitterpacks.pbwiki.com/Education+Pack - A community site of Twitter users that recommends other Twitter users by interest or geographical area. This particular area breaks down those Twitter users interested in education into multiple categories.

 

Sample Lesson Plans

 

Lesson #1

 

Background Information:

This lesson is designed to be used for a language arts class composed of high school students. This lesson could easily be adapted for use in a college course as well. With prior coordination this project could be expanded to include participation from multiple classes within the school, school district, nation or the world.

 

Objective:

The student will become a participant in a collaborative project to write a story using Twitter posts of 140 characters or less, called tweets, with only 140 tweets to complete an entire story.

 

Instructor Instructions:

1. Create a class username and password at twitter.com

2. Create a roster with the sequence of students in the order they are to post their 140 character portion of the story. Roster can be alphabetical, random or other method as determined by the instructor

3. Determine timeline when each student will post their response

4. Develop story guidelines for class. Story could be fiction, biographical, based on current events or other genre as determined by instructor.

5. Distribute roster, timeline and related materials to students

 

Student Instructions:

1. Student will read entire story that has been posted to date.

2. When it is the students turn to post a tweet, the student will use a word processor such as Microsoft Word to develop their tweet. Most word processors provide tools that will provide a count of the number of characters typed. Remember that spaces, periods, commas and other punctuation counts toward the 140 character limit. The tweet should fit into the story line and continue the flow of the overall story.

3. Log into twitter using the class username and password when it is their turn to post a tweet.

4. Copy the tweet from the word processor and paste into the Twitter textbox. If the student opts to use a mobile device, they will most likely have to re-type the tweet to post.

5. Re-read the post to ensure that is has been copied correctly prior to posting.

6. Post the tweet

7. Log off twitter

 

Lesson #2

 

Background Information:

This lesson is designed to be used for a language arts class composed of high school students. This lesson could easily be adapted for use in a college or English as a Second Language (ESL) course as well.

 

Objective:

The student will increase their vocabulary and practice writing skills in a collaborative project. The class will be assigned a book to read. Each student will be assigned a particular section of that book to identify new words. Each student will then define each identified word in a Twitter post, called a tweet. Students will have to gain an understanding of the word and then be able to synthesize the information in order to post a definition with a 140 character maximum.

 

Instructor Instructions:

1. Create a class username and password at twitter.com

2. Assign each student a section of the assigned book

 

Student Instructions:

1. Student will read the book assigned for the class reading project.

2. Identify new words in your assigned section

3. Use a word processor such as Microsoft Word to develop your definition. Most word processors provide tools that will provide a count of the number of characters typed. Remember that spaces, periods, commas and other punctuation counts toward the 140 character limit. The definition needs to relevant to the way the word is used in the book.

4. Log into twitter using the class username and password when a definition is complete.

5. Copy the tweet from the word processor and paste into the Twitter textbox. If the student opts to use a mobile device, they will most likely have to re-type the tweet to post.

6. Re-read the post to ensure that is has been copied correctly prior to posting.

7. Post the tweet

8. Log off twitter

9. Continue 2-9 for each new word identified.

 

Using Mobile Devices:

Instructor and students have the option of using mobile devices to send and receive tweets via SMS/text messages. However, there may be charges for this service from the mobile device service provider.

 

Tutorial

 

It is a fairly easy and straight forward process to register on Twitter. Follow a few easy steps and you will be ready to Twitter away.

 

Step 1: Go to the Twitter website at https://twitter.com/ and click on "Get Started - Join!"

 

Step 2: Enter the required information on the "Create a Free Twitter Account" Webpage. Then check the box if you want to receive email updates followed by clicking on the accept button.

 

Step 3: The next screen is optional. You can have Twitter check via your web email if anyone on your contact list are Twitter members already. This is one method to find and follow someone. You can enter the information requested or click on "skip" to move to the next screen.

 

Step 4:You are now ready to begin posting. You have the options available to Find & Follow someone and add your mobile device and/or IM information.

 

Below is an informative screencast created by Liz Davis designed to assist educators in setting up a Twitter account and start using the service.

 

 Retrieved from http://edtechpower.blogspot.com/2008/01/getting-started-with-twitter-screencast.html

 

Sources

 

Ash, K. (2008, June 25). Educators test the limits of twitter microblogging tool. Education Week, 2, Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2008/06/24/01twitter_web.h02.html?qs=twitter

 

Baker, S. (2008, May 15). Why twitter matters. Business Week Online, Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc20080514_269697.htm

 

Bell, M. A. (2008).What's all the noise about twitter?. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools. 15, 36-38.

 

Bren. (2007, March 10). The several habits of wildly successful twitter users. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from Slacker Manager Web site: http://www.slackermanager.com/2007/03/the-several-habits-of-wildly-successful-twitter-users.html

 

Educause Learning Initiative. (2007, July 18). 7 things you should know about twitter . Retrieved June 22, 2008, from EDUCAUSE Connect Web site: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7027.pdf

 

Fox, S., & Madden, M. (2005). Generations online. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Retrieved on April 26, 2008, from http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Generations_Memo.pdf

 

Guynn, J. (2008, May 31). Twitter inspires extra-short short stories. Los Angeles Times, Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-twitlit31-2008may31,1,1367116.story

 

Lorenzetti, J. P. (2003).Thirty-two distance education trends. Distance Education Report. 7, 1-6.

 

Micro-blogging. (2008, June 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Micro-blogging&oldid=217652952

 

Ojala, M. (2008, April). The art of twittering. Information Today, [25(4)], 26.

 

Regan, T. (2008, May 22). When disasters strike, citizen journalists turn to twitter. Christian Science Monitor, [100(125)], 16.

 

Skiba, D. J. (2008, March/April). Twitter & tweets. Nursing Education Perspectives, [29(2)], 110-112.

 

Twitter. (2008, June 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twitter&oldid=219041856