WPP Final - Twitter as a Research Tool

The Problem to Address

At Kent Innovation High every student has a computer and therefore access to endless amounts of information. This obviously has is benefits and at the same time creates obstacles. Students often go to the first Google search and/or get side tracked with all of the other possibilities. During my CEP810 course I became, lets say, addicted to Twitter. I realized quickly how much great information and resources Twitter offered while providing the ability to narrow the research. What I appreciated most was the ability to ask questions or share information.

Problem

It was CEP 812 that got me thinking about using Twitter in a fashion that would connect students with ideas and research that related to their projects. Although the WPP project is done in December, I plan to continue with my research on using Twitter as a research tool. In fact I have been given the opportunity to share at MACUL about using Twitter in the classroom to implement the ISTE NETS for students.

The Connection with TPACK

TP - For this project I will be using two different pieces of technology, Google docs and Twitter. Google docs  will be used to create a pre and post survey  so that I can collect information on the students' abilities to research online (in a manner that deepens understanding). This formative assessment will be used to collect data that I can use to determine the impact of using Twitter in class. Google docs was chosen because my students are familiar with it and in a 1-on-1 setting it is a tool that I can use easily without interrupting the daily lesson.  

TC - The second piece of technology is Twitter. Students will be using Twitter as a researching tool; identifying, following, and having conversations with experts, as well as, looking for links to articles and research that is pertinent to their projects. This is the basis of my research, using the NETS-s (www.iste.org) as a guide I hope to see an improvement in the ability of the students to find information, analyze the information, and to ask questions or look for feedback on their own conclusions. I could not do this as a sole expert but Twitter provides access to many experts.

PC - My project may be a bit different because it is not looking at one lesson but rather a skill that I would like to facilitate the growth of within my students. In a PBL classroom there is a focus on turning the learning over to the students and with that in mind I have challenged myself to change my overall pedagogical approach from being a teacher to becoming a facilitator. I believe that building skills; such as researching, communication within the content, and asking for feedback will give the student deeper and more enjoyable learning experience.

Prezi Presentation (to see the presentation without the voice over go here)

Professional Learning Plan

My Professional Learning Plan, I created this using Powerpoint and Camtasia. The idea was inspired by ignite talks and my goal was to use no printed text.

Group Leadership Project

For the MSU MAET Program we were asked to work in small groups to create a stand alone PD course for teachers who wish to implement technology into their classroom. Our goal was to make a PD that was relative to today's teachers, short enough for teachers to complete, and would provide a take away that can be used by the teacher.

In today's teaching there are a lot of buzz words; flipping, workshops, differentiation, etc. In the end, we need to find multiple ways to reach students at their individual needs and level. Technology, such as flip cameras, smart phones, laptops, and apps assist teachers in their attempt to accomplish this. Educreations is an app that falls within this category. Educreations, although limited compared to powerful editing programs like Camtasia, it is a tool that can be used on the laptop or Ipad to create and edit short lessons quickly. These lesson then can be shared via the internet using a "class" feature, shared link, social media, or email. Our team created the PD using Educreations so that teachers could see the simplicity of it. 

We created a PD that a teacher could receive in a short period allowing them time to apply what they learned. So in making our final product we tried to keep it around 10 minutes. This was a challenge becasue we had to show how to get started and how to use it, what it could be used for and provide a classroom example. The other challenge was merging the three parts into one lesson. Educreation has many strengths but lacks a collaboration piece that allowed each of us, working at a distance from one another, to edit the same lesson. To overcome this, we created three separate lessons and them merged them using Camtasia. Although this was an extra step, Camtasia provided some tools that Educreations does not, allowing us to create a more enhanced PD. 

It is important to point out that Educreation has limitations if you are  making a high quality production, but it is excellent for making quick web based lessons. I hope to use it to create an audio/visual instructions to go along with the written instructions for each of my assignments. This will address UDL needs for ELL students and others who struggle with reading comprehension.

If we were to do this project again, I would like to have each of us do voice-overs periodically throughout the lesson. As it is now, Melissa talks during the first third, Mark the second third, and I wrap it up. I think the quality of the video may improve if we mixed it up more. This was an oversight when making the storyboard, but it is also part of the issue with distant collaboration. Even with Camtasia we would not have been able to collaborate at the same time but instead we would had to mail projects or audio recordings back and forth. 

Mobile Learning Lab

After joining Classroom 2.0 I replied to two ongoing conversations. These are the first two screen shots. My interactions inspired me to create my own discussion, this is the third screenshot.

This past Friday I started class with a fun poll, using Poll Everywhere. I asked my students what there favorite social media tool was. Here are the results, they include my vote and that of my co-teacher.

It seems as though Facebook continues to hang on to their superiority, but a shocking result for me was the popularity of Grooveshark (and that Spotify, a paid service that is similar to Grooveshark and used by many adults, was zero).

In addition to Classroom Web 2.0 and Poll Everywhere I have tried flip cameras, cell phones, and  laptops in the classroom. I have had my students use the flip cameras to make videos for end products, snap pictures for VoiceThread, and to record answers for summative assessments. Although we still have flip cameras and we still use them, more and more students have Smart Phones which shoot video just as easy and many students are choosing this option over the flip camera. Because the phone is connected to the Wifi, it is easy to edit the video and then transfer it to Vimeo or another hosting site. My Students also use their phones to Tweet, take pictures of notes on the board, and one student even livecasted our class on Ustream. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, I teach at a 1-on-1 school so we utilize the power and resources of laptops all of the time; researching the Internet, producing videos and other end products, using Google Docs, and Skyping into class (when they are sick) just to name a few uses.

I would like to start using more podcast as support lessons and even have the students begin to create podcast. Perhaps we could make a series of Biology podcast made by students for students. I would also like to begin creating and having my students create "video problems" as seen at Ben Rimes Vimeo Channel Video Story Problems.

In my opinion, the biggest challenge to using mobile devices in the classroom is making sure that the device does not become a distraction or obstacle to the lesson. In other words students need to know how to use them, why they are being used, and what to use them for. By educating the student the device becomes a tool that enhances learning.

WPP Part D Findings and Implications

In an earlier blog titled WPP Part A, I mentioned that this project would continue on for sometime, but as a check point (and for an MAET deadline) I had the students take complete a survey today. I gave the same group of student a survey two plus weeks ago, that survey was about researching skills, habits, and tools that they used. Unlike that survey, this one was only about using Twitter as a research tool.

This was a good time to collect information. So far, the implementation has gone as planned with no major errors, but feedback will help me move forward with this project. From an observation students seem to be embracing it. As a rule, student do not moan and groan when asked to go to Twitter, in fact many seem excited. Of course there is one or two that will say "I hate Twitter", but then they join the rest of their classmates.

I have been surprised at the speed that some of the students have grasped the concept of using the "thick"tweets and in determining the quality of their experts (listen to their words on the podcast of WPP Part C). At the same time there are many who are still becoming comfortable with asking questions of an expert. And many are shocked when an expert does not respond to a question or request of a student. This makes me wonder if providing some more formal workshops on Twitter before we started may have been useful. Either way, I have shared some data below that I believe indicates that implementing Twitter as a research tool has been a success so far.

The snapshot below shows the number of students who have completed this survey. Of that number 51 have made the leap to trying Twitter as a research tool. The bottom graph indicates that of the fifty one students, forty one of them have used it on four different occasions. And twenty one of them have used it 8 or more times.

This next graph indicates how the students found Twitter to be useful or not in their research. It is important to point out that twenty of the twenty eight responses that found "nothing was useful" are probably the twenty who have not used Twitter as a research tool. I believe the other results indicate that Twitter can be used as a research tool. If I were to do this survey again I would like to ask the same question about Google or any other search engine. I don't believe the students could give search engines the same marks as they did Twitter. Especially for  interesting (tweets) "comments" made by others in the field of study. Nor do I believe students can formulate a relationship that allows them to ask questions and get feedback. In fact, I think students will usually find websites rather then current articles or actual people when they use a search engine.

The data below indicates that the students like Twitter as a research, perhaps not all of the time, but they are beginning to recognize it uses. In fact when the data is narrowed to students who have used Twitter 10 times or more, then the likelihood of Twitter being a useful tool increases. As does the number of students who have had two way conversation with an expert. I think this is a sign of growth and becoming comfortable.

I plan to continue to use Twitter as a research tool in class. To enhance it I plan to provide several short work shops that will help students identify who to follow and who not to follow, locating article links, and building professional relationships. While creating these workshops I plan to use the ISTE NETS for students and teachers as a guide. In addition to the NETS I am hoping to get suggestions from individuals such as Dr. Martin Eve (@martin_eve), who has presented on the idea of using Twitter as a research tool.

If you want to implement Twitter as a tool, here are my suggestions to get started:

1. Model use of Twitter in class.
2. Have students load Tweetdeck or Twitterific onto their devices. I personally like Tweetdeck for my laptop but Twitterific for all my mobile devices.
3. Get students using Twitter to share, have them use @ and #.
4. Have them search a topic by placing a # in front of the topic.
5. After becoming comfortable with searching, have students begin to identify individual as experts; number of followers, biography, websites, and number of tweets.
6. Provide regular time several times per week, it only takes 3-5 minutes to do a Tweet Start or a Tweet Ender, student will begin to spend more of their own time once they realize the power of the tool.
7. Encourage the building of networks and or pln's.
8. Use storify or an visual.ly to capture whole class use and to encourage continued use.
9. Share your class' experience with me @marcschulzkih and @kihscience.

WPP Part A

At Kent Innovation High every student has a computer and therefore access to endless amounts of information. This obviously has is benefits and at the same time creates obstacles. Students often go to the first Google search and/or get side tracked with all of the other possibilities. During my CEP810 course I became, lets say, addicted to Twitter. I realized quickly how much great information and resources Twitter offered while providing the ability to narrow the research. What I appreciated most was the ability to ask questions or share information.

This got me thinking about my own classroom and the students that I facilitate. So in the first week I had all of the students make a Twitter account. We then began to use Twitter as a back channel, a source for formative feedback, and a means of sharing student's ideas outside of the classroom. I even started having students look for and follow experts.

It was CEP 812 that got me thinking about using Twitter in a fashion that would connect students with ideas and research that related to their projects. Although the WPP project is done in December, I plan to continue with my research on using Twitter as a research tool. In fact I have been given the opportunity to share at MACUL about using Twitter in the classroom to implement the ISTE NETS for students.

I have found several leads or individuals who are promoting Twitter for research. Martin Paul Eve is a researcher in Sussex. I have tweeted Martin to ask for suggestions. The London School of Economics and Political Science have created a guide to using Twitter for research. There is even a #research that can be followed.

To narrow the focus for the WPP Project I will give a pre-survey to the students regarding their research capabilities. I will then plan to have students do tweet "starts" or "enders" during class four to five times a week; asking them to search the hash-tag of their topic, find experts to follow, and create a post.

I will do a second survey before the 11/30 to gauge students growth, success, and their own thoughts about Twitter. I hope to gather feedback once or twice more before MACUL. Success will rely on the students feedback on surveys, the products that they develop based upon their connections, and the creation of student plns.

WPP Implementation Project Part C

The theory of PBL is that students will be engaged and want to find the answers. As a facilitator I have seen many students frustrated when they realize that we are no longer spoon feeding them. But sometimes this frustration grows to a point where learning no longer takes place. I believe one reason this happens is because the amount of information on the internet can become overwhelming. And reading or gathering information from the Internet is only one way, leaving students with new questions (quite often ones that a teacher may not be able to answer). It is my hope to help students narrow down the amount of information and at the same time provide a means to connect with experts. Twitter's framework is set up to do this. My students have been using Twitter all year, mostly to share out, but now I am asking them use Twitter to receive information and to converse with experts in the field. 

To get started I had the students complete the survey "How Do You Research". Although the survey data speaks volumes it was a student's question about the survey that got me excited, "Do we answer this as we researched before coming to KIH or how we research now?" 

The data suggest that many students are beginning to use Twitter but it also indicates that there is a large area of growth to using Twitter in a way that will create conversations between the student and an expert (and the content).

To encourage 2-way research I used our  Thursday "Tweet Start" to have students find and follow an expert. They did this by searching their topic (with a # in front of it). Students then looked for interesting Tweets, next they checked to see who and how many were following the individual. If it was promising they followed the "expert". 

Students will continue to build their "expert list" as the project moves forward. Using DM (direct message) will be our next step, this will allow students to converse with the expert. Until then they can tweet @<expert>.

By connecting with an expert or experts students will increase their opportunities to ask question and confirm their beliefs or correct their misunderstandings.

Listen to how my MAET Wicked Problem Project is going. Students give their view regarding using Twitter for research.

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