Computer Science Educators’ Use of Twitter for Conference Engagements: A Grounded Theory Analysis

This study explored how computer science education community used Twitter as a conference backchannel. Using Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology, four themes and ten categories emerged. These themes are: Promote Scholarship; Connect, Promote and Extend the Research Community; Engage in Professional Learning; Humanise the Conference Space. Participants using the conference backchannel contributed to the scholarly discourse, extended the reach of the conferences they attended. They benefitted from various discourses, gained publicity, engaged in networking opportunities, enhanced their own professional learning while extending care for other participants. The findings of this study have implications for the computer science education research community. The study provides insights to organisers on how to extend and enhance conference experiences. For researchers, attendees and users of research output, the study demonstrates tangible benefits of connecting, networking and professional learning. For those responsible for assessing researchers’ contribution to scholarship, this study highlights researchers’ engagement in public scholarship. Opportunities for future research are identified

Using Twitter to Support Reflective Learning in an Asynchronous Online Course

The purpose of this study was to further our understanding of the use of Twitter for promoting reflective learning. Specifically, this study investigated how students participate in Twitter-supported activities, what type of knowledge are manifested when Twitter is used to reflect on the course readings, and how students perceive the Twitter-supported activities. The data showed that Twitter was successful in keeping the learners engaged in the reflective discussion activities for a prolonged period compared to Blackboard. Students overall had a positive perception towards the integration of Twitter to support reflection and discussion along with active participation. Twitter was effective in increasing perceived learner-content and learner-learner interactivity along with engagement. We also provide recommendations for educational practitioners and direction for future research

Exploring higher education professionals' use of Twitter for learning

This study draws on the responses of seven higher education professionals working in various roles in higher education in Ireland. Individual case studies illustrate participants’ use of the social networking service, Twitter, for professional learning. Cross-case analysis is used to highlight similarities and differences among cases. There are increasing pressures in higher education to professionalise teaching to provide excellent teaching to students. Opportunities for formal learning exist for those who teach and support teaching but recently online social networks have emerged as ways of accessing informal professional learning opportunities through sharing and discussing practice online. However this study calls into question the widely accepted notion that Twitter inherently enables social learning and thus enables professional learning. Wenger’s (1998) community of practice model, which proposes that learning occurs in relationships between people and that mutually negotiated activities contribute to identity construction, was used to problematise how professionals used Twitter for learning. White and Le Cornu’s (2011) Visitor and Resident typology helped identify online engagement of participants on Twitter and highlighted differences in social presence and participation. While all participants recognised Twitter as valuable for informal learning, what was most interesting about findings was that Visitor participants experienced barriers inhibiting them from establishing social presence and participating in social activities on Twitter. These factors included the capacity to participate in social networking activities, issues of confidence and vulnerability, and absence of belonging in online spaces. These findings have implications for those who advocate online social networks for learning and professional development and this study argues that support is needed for higher education professionals in using public online social spaces, such as Twitter. Such support should include critical thinking and dialogue about the complexity of online social spaces coupled with identity development work, while building digital capabilities of professionals

Applying a Modified Technology Acceptance Model to Qualitatively Analyse the Factors Affecting Microblogging Integration

The purpose of this research is to examine factors affecting students’ perception and engagement of microblogging integration using a qualitative approach. We employed a qualitative case study design to explore potential factors affecting microblogging integration in a hybrid course. Using the technology acceptance model (TAM) model as an umbrella framework, we examined through in-depth interviews with 18 participants the impact of microblogging integration into instruction that affected students’ reported use and perceptions of their microblogging-supported learning experiences. We found that individual differences, system characteristics, social influence and facilitating conditions all have impact on student participation and engagement in microblogging integration to varying degrees. We identified more granular factors within each of the four dimensions. Additionally, we proposed a Twitter user taxonomy based on perceived usefulness and usage behaviour and discussed its broad implications in higher education learning environments. Finally, we identified several pedagogical implications pertaining to strategies of microblogging integration under the context of a hybrid course and offered pertinent recommendations for future research

Using games to disrupt the conference Twittersphere

Social media tools are changing practices in many industries, including academia, and the Twitter platform is widely recognised as the ‘tool of choice’ for microblogging. Academic conferences often use social media to provide conference ‘backchannels’. This article describes a conference game using toys as alter egos, driven through Twitter. We found that the soft toy game format was participated in by a majority of the attendees, with early posts in advance of the conference a good signal of engagement. We look at what the organisers learnt from the game and how such games, including Twitter elements, could support wider networks beyond the conference itself

Online Learning Communities in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Learning Network Analysis of Twitter During the Shutdown

This paper presents a social learning network analysis of Twitter during the 2020 global shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Research concerning online learning environments is focused on the reproduction of conventional teaching arrangements, whereas social media technologies afford new channels for the dissemination of information and sharing of knowledge and expertise. We examine Twitter feed around the hashtags online learning and online teaching during the global shutdown to examine the spontaneous development of online learning communities. We find relatively small and ephemeral communities on the two topics. Most users make spontaneous contributions to the discussion but do not maintain a presence in the Twitter discourse. Optimizing the social learning network, we find many potential efficiencies to be gained through more proactive efforts to connect knowledge seekers and knowledge disseminators. Considerations and prospects for supporting online informal social learning networks are discussed

Urban Planning Academics: Tweets and Citations

This article discusses the relationship between Twitter usage and scholarly citations by urban planning academics in the U.S. and Canada. Social media and academic publications may be considered separate activities by some, but over the past decade there has been a convergence of the two. Social media and scholarship can be complementary not only when social media is used to communicate about new publications, but also to gather research ideas and build research networks. The analysis presented here explores this relationship for urban planning faculty using data for faculty who had active Twitter accounts between March 2007 and April 2019. Measures of Twitter activity were combined with Google Scholar citation data for 322 faculty with Twitter accounts. As expected, the results highlight that there are different patterns of Twitter activity between junior faculty and senior faculty both in terms of proportions of each rank using Twitter as well as activity levels on the social media platform. The results also suggest that Twitter activity does not have a statistically significant relationship with overall scholarly productivity as measured by citation levels

Microblogging as a Facilitator of Online Community in Graduate Education

Part-time and distance-learning students can experience a sense of isolation from their peers and the university. Concern about this isolation and resulting student attrition has increased in the midst of explosive growth in online course enrollments. One possible solution: building a stronger sense of community within the online graduate classroom using microblogging technology such as Twitter. Unfortunately, scholars across disciplines define community in different ways with some rejecting the concept altogether in favor of other theoretical constructs. And, few scholars have examined the notion of online classroom community from an English Studies perspective exploring the rhetorical exigencies that underpin this concept. Scholars often write about online community in aspirational terms and fail to demonstrate its existence empirically (Kling and Courtright, 2003). Through the application of two existing pedagogical theories (Rovai\u27s (2002) concept of classroom community and the well-established Community of Inquiry framework) this dissertation empirically documents the existence of online classroom community in two cases studies of graduate distance-learning summer sessions. This mixed-methods research study then demonstrates that microblogging technology is capable of both supporting and facilitating the growth of that sense of online classroom community. Because it stands at the convergence of a student\u27s academic and personal interests, social media software such as Twitter—whether used as a front- or backchannel to the course—is uniquely positioned to serve both as a virtual third place and as a venue for exercising Brooke\u27s (1999) writing underlife activities and extending Mueller\u27s (2009) notions of where and how these activities can be played out in a digital context. Finally, this dissertation also offers a five-part alternative definition of online classroom community that strongly links the digital space itself with the affective/emotional concerns addressed in some other theoretical constructions of community

Examining Collaborative Knowledge Construction in Microblogging-Based Learning Environments

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of the study is to provide foundational research to exemplify how knowledge construction takes place in microblogging-based learning environments, to understand learner interaction representing the knowledge construction process, and to analyze learner perception, thereby suggesting a model of delivery for microblogging. Background: Up-and-coming digital native learners crave the real-time, multimedia, global-interconnectedness of microblogging, yet there has been limited research that specifically proposes a working model of Twitter\u27s classroom integration for designers and practitioners without bundling it in with other social media tools. Methodology: This semester-long study utilized a case-study research design via a multi-dimensional approach in a hybrid classroom with both face-to-face and online environments. Tweets were collected from four types of activities and coded based on content within their contextual setting. Twenty-four college students participated in the study. Contribution: The findings shed light on the process of knowledge construction in microblogging and reveal key types of knowledge manifested during learning activities. The study also proposes a model for delivering microblogging to formal learning environments applicable to various contexts for designers and practitioners. Findings: There are distinct learner interaction patterns representing the process of knowledge construction in microblogging activities ranging from low-order to high-order cognitive tasks. Students generally were in favor of the Twitter integration in this study. Recommendations for Practitioners: The three central activities (exploring hashtags, discussion topics, and participating in live chats) along with the backchannel activity formulate a working model that represents the sequential process of Twitter integration into classrooms. Impact on Society: Microblogging allows learners omnichannel access while hashtags can filter the global noise down to meaningful bytes of information to target formal and informal learning. When shared amongst global users for participatory communication, it gives access to collaborative knowledge. This study gives practitioners and designers a working model to leverage microblogging and connect to their tech-savvy learners for more connected learning. Future Research: Future research may include experiments of this proposed model for delivering microblogging in: prolonged studies; compared to other microblogging methodologies; in non-hybrid delivery models such as asynchronous-only; in other academic or professional disciplines; or in other educational age ranges

Yhteisöllinen tiedonrakentelu ja verkottunut asiantuntijuus Twitter-palvelussa : Case #okfest

Aims. This qualitative study explored a phenomenon of epistemic communality around a Twitter hashtag. The primary aim of the study was to explore communal epistemic production on the Twitter platform, especially in the context of a mutually shared hashtag. The study explored the peer-production of knowledge and epistemic structures in the context of a specialist domain collaborating in the open Web. The secondary aim was to explore how Twitter functions as a platform for networked expertise and as a public agora for practitioners' expert discourse. This nascent mode of cultural production leads to the development of expert cultures on Twitter and in the open Web. This creates new contexts for informal collaborative learning and cultral production potentially answering some of the competence challenges presented by the 21st century. Methods. The hashtag #okfest was launched for the 'Open Knowledge Festival' conference held in Helsinki, Finland (17–22.9.2012). The participants of the study were open knowledge practitioners who participated in the hashtag discourse of #okfest on Twitter. All public tweets containing the string '#okfest' were collected as data. Tweets were analyzed with qualitative thematic analysis exploring the epistemic contributions either included in the tweets or as hyperlinked attachments. Results and conclusions. The analysis indicated how the hashtag was appropriated to serve as a node of communal knowledge sharing beyond mere reporting from the conference. The analysis observed six themes of communal knowledge building in the hashtag space. The communal epistemic activities in #okfest were likened to the properties of a community of practice (Wenger, 1998). A network of practitioners engaging in a mutual domain creates a dynamic 'social learning system' combining social interaction with the production and dissemination of knowledge. The study yielded a novel theoretical concept of 'expert microblogging', recognized as a significant genre of cultural production in a specialist domain on Twitter and in the open Web. Finally the Twitter platform was ascertained as a site for the manifestation of cultures of networked expertise.Tavoitteet. Tämä laadullinen tutkielma tutki episteemistä yhteisöllisyyttä Twitter-palvelussa hashtag-aihetunnisteen ympärillä. Hashtag #okfest lanseerattiin Helsingissä pidetyn 'Open Knowledge Festival' –konferenssin taustakanavaksi 17–22.9.2012. Tutkielman pääasiallinen tavoite oli tutkia yhteisöllistä tiedonrakentelua Twitter-palvelussa erityisesti hashtagien ympärillä. Tutkimus kohdistui tietyn toimialan tiedolliseen vertaistuotantoon Twitterissä ja avoimessa Internetissä. Laajempi tavoite oli tutkia miten Twitter toimii alustana verkottuneelle asiantuntijuudelle ja julkisten asiantuntijayhteisöjen vuorovaikutukselle. Tämä uusi kulttuurisen tuotannon konteksti mahdollistaa verkottuneiden asiantuntijakulttuurien kehittymisen Twitterissä ja avoimessa Internetissä. Tämä luo uusia tilaisuuksia informaalille yhteisölliselle oppimiselle ja kulttuuriselle tuotannolle mahdollisesti vastaten nykyajan vaativiin osaamishaasteisiin. Menetelmät. Tutkimuksen osallistujat olivat avoimen datan ammattilaisia, jotka osallistuivat Twitterissä #okfest keskusteluun konferenssin aikana. Kaikki julkiset Twitter-viestit #okfest aihetunnisteella kerättiin aineistoksi. Viestejä analysoitiin laadullisella temaattisella analyysillä koskien niiden tiedollisia kontribuutioita joko viestiin sisältyen tai linkitettynä. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat että hashtag-aihetunnisteen ympärille syntyi yhteisöllisen tiedonrakentelun ilmiö, joka oli enemmän kuin pelkkää raportointia tapahtumapaikalta. Analyysissä löytyi kuusi yhteisöllisen tiedonrakentelun teemaa jotka ilmenivät hashtag-tilassa. Yhteisöllinen tiedonrakentelu muistutti käytäntöyhteisöjen teoriaperinteen (Wenger, 1998) vuorovaikutuksen piirteitä. Asiantuntijoiden yhteisöllinen vuorovaikutus synnytti "sosiaalisen oppimisen systeemin" jossa tiedonrakentelu yhdistyi vuorovaikutukseen. Tutkimustuloksista nousi uusi käsitteellistys, asiantuntijoiden alakohtainen tiedollinen tuotanto (eng. expert microblogging). Twitter-alustalle paikantui verkottuneiden asiantuntijakulttuurien kehittyminen avoimessa verkossa