March 2011 Video

Thayne Sweeten presents his research on "What do students think about IVC broadcasts and how do they respond differently to these broadcasts compared to face-to face delivery?"

Link to the video.

During our discussion, (go to 23:20 on the recording) Dan Allen shared how he uses Twitter in IVC classes for remotely located students to "raise their hands" virtually. Here is his written contribution describing what he does:

Twitter in IVC Classes

Dan Allen wrote: I teach business classes that range in size from 50 – 130 students. I like to promote involvement in class discussions by all students, which is a challenge with IVC technology alone. While teaching a marketing class with 128 students, I sought an alternate channel for communication and began an experiment with Twitter.

Twitter facilitates short (maximum 140 characters) comments, is free to use, and is trendy. Younger students react positively to having the freedom to use technology in class without guilt. Rather than banning laptops and cell phones during class, I give the students license to incorporate their use in class discussions.

In order for this to work, I provide my Twitter account information and invite students to “Follow” my “Tweets.” Upon receiving notice from Twitter that a student is following, I reciprocate by becoming a follower of the student. Once this exchange occurs, students may then send messages to me.

During class, I run an application called “TweetDeck.” This is another free program that allows users to bring multiple social networking sites to a single place for monitoring. However, the feature that is useful in a class setting is its ability to display a flash of the message in the upper right corner of my computer screen as Tweets are received. As messages come in, they appear on my screen and I can make a quick judgment as to whether I will acknowledge or respond. If I take no action, the message disappears in a few seconds. If I decide I want to hang on to the message longer, I simply place my cursor over the message and it remains as long as the cursor stays in place.

I do not require students to use this tool. It is offered on a voluntary basis as an alternative to the microphone. Benefits I have seen include less microphone contention, involvement of students who are timid about speaking in class, and the general excitement about using a cool, popular tool.