Twitter, a web 2.0, microblogging tool, is now being used as an educational and instructional tool. The CU Online Handbook, published by the University of Colorado at Denver, offers some instances when Twitter can be used as an educational tool. In a 2008 study, students were asked to participate in an experiment where instructors used Twitter as an educational tool. The following two scenarios played out as a result of using Twitter: "A student is reading something in the textbook and has a question about the chapter on multi-modal learning. She immediately tweets her question to the Twitter community, and gets three responses within ten minutes - two responses from classmates, and one from her professor.""A student sends a private tweet her professor regarding a difficult situation with a project team member. While in the middle of a meeting, Joni immediately tweets back, arranging a time to talk with the student outside of Twitter."
According to the researchers, by using a tool that enables just-in-time communication with the local and global community (Twitter), they were able to engage in sharing, collaboration, brain-storming, problem solving, and creating within the context of the moment-to-moment experiences.
For more information, check out the Mobile Libraries blog at http://mobile-libraries.blogspot.com. To read more about The CU Online Handbook on the Mobile Libraries blog, check out http://mobile-libraries.blogspot.com/2009/12/book-chapter-instructional-uses-of.html.
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