SCFLTA 2010 Session by Lara Ducate and Lara Lomicka

1. Tweet, tweet! Ideas for using Twitter in the Language Classroom Lara Ducate Lara Lomicka Anderson The University of South Carolina SCFLTA 2010

2. Experience with Twitter? Heard of Twitter? Visited Twitter.com? Have a Twitter account? Tweeted? Read a tweet from someone else?

4. Tweets - text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followersCourtesy of wikipedia.com

5. Why twitter in the FL classroom? Twitter is gaining popularity in the language classroom (Antenos-Conforti, 2009; Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2009; Stevens, 2008) Community building Language practice outside the classroom Cultural information Avenues for language output and input Network with/learn from other teachers

6. Possible Projects Vocabulary building, cultural information, reading: Follow newsfeeds in TL Follow government / news organizations (vocab, geographical names) Follow individuals (vocab, culture) Community Building Students tweet with their class Student tweet with NS partners Teachers tweet with/read tweets of other teachers Promote your class/language

7. News tweets

8. News tweets

9. News tweets (Rue 89)

10. News Tweet (Lemonde)

11. Music

12. Famous person from target culture

13. Other tweets to subscribe to? Other news organizations Radio stations Bands Singers Politicians Movie stars Friends People of a certain occupation

14. Connecting students

15. Convinced and ready to tweet?

16. Getting Started Setting up an account Settings/privacy Following and being followed Using hashtags Retweeting Direct Messaging Linking to mobile phone, facebook, IM

17. Setting up an Account http://twitter.com

18. Applying for an account

19. Account Settings

20. Posting your first tweet

21. Following and being followed

22. How to find people to follow? Search by name on Twitter Find existing users in your e-mail address book Look for common interests on WeFollow.com Look at your friends’ friends

23. Followers Block, mention, unfollow, report

24. Using Hashtags Words beginning with a # to help you track specific conversations

25. @ Reply A comment aimed at one user, but visible to the public. Or, just mentioning a user’s name with an @ will help ensure that user sees your note.

26. Retweeting Sharing someone else’s post. Often abbreviated “RT.”

27. Direct Messaging (DM) A direct message sent in private to another user. Goes to your e-mail inbox

28. Linking to mobile phone, facebook, desktop TwitterFon -A great way to use Twitter from your iPhone. TweetDeck - Powerful, customizable way to use Twitter on your desktop. Facebook –

29. Beyond Tweeting Adding audio: twaud.io Adding pictures: twitpic.com

30. Sample project for Intermediate French, university level Required: 3 tweets / week (2 in TL, 1 in NL) Students interact with their class and with partners in France 30 mn training session in class Students must follow each other All tweets include the hashtag #RDE09 1 extra credit point for 5 direct replies Purpose: community building and language practice

31. Twitter for Intermediate French

32. Benefits Creates /builds community Connects outside world with class discussion Connects students from different classes/universities/countries Can be used to network, disseminate ideas, professional development Short and easy to write Fun, informal, play and practice with language

33. Challenges Tweets are very short – not a lot of language practice Need Internet access Tweeting doesn’t fit some personality types Time consuming Twitter spam (unwanted followers)

34. Ideas? How might you use Twitter in your classes? What challenges/benefits do you foresee? How might you use Twitter professionally?

35. Resources for Teachers Tips for Teachers on Twitter http://onlinecollegedegree.org/2009/03/19/100-tips-apps-and-resources-for-teachers-on-twitter/ http://mrdooley.blogspot.com/2009/03/teachers-twitter.html Other twittering teachers: http://twitter4teachers.pbwiki.com/ http://justtweetit.com/education/ http://mashable.com/2009/02/16/twitter-professors/

36. Twitter Guidebook http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

38. Dunlap, J. C. & Lowenthal, P. R. (2009). Tweeting the night away: Using Twitter to enhance socialpresence. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2). Available: http://www.patricklowenthal.com/publications/Using_Twitter_to_Enhance_Social_Presence.pdf

39. Stevens, V. (2008). Trial by Twitter: The Rise and Slide of the Year’s Most Viral Microbloggins Platform. TESL-EJ 12(1), 1-14.