Microblogs in Higher Education
I found this
article on microblogging and its benefits in higher education. The researchers
defined a microblog as a way of communicating online in 140 characters or less.
Caught me off guard because this is exactly what we are doing with Twitter. The
authors state that, “being limited to 140 characters requires competency and
the ability to focus and express oneself clearly and concisely.” The
researchers tout this a great way to interact and support informal learning
processes. Microblogs help support process-oriented learning via a constant
flow of information between students and the teacher. One interesting finding
is that the students participating in this study increased their number of
posts over time without any direction from the instructor or any benefit to
their grade. This research suggests that microblogging can be an excellent tool
for increasing engagement and motivation through collaboration. Some other interesting findings include:
• More than 60% of the posts were
replies
• 2/3rd of the messages were aimed at
communication
• 1/3rd were considered only pure information
• Only 15% of all postings reflected on
the learning and working process of the students
Do you all
feel more engaged in the course materials by posting on your class blog or on
Twitter?
Ebner, M.,
Lienhardt, C., Rohs, M. and Meyer, I. (2010). Microblogs in Higher Education –
A chance to facilitate informal and process-oriented learning?. Computers
& Education, 55(1), pp.92-100.
Awesome post! Reminds me of microlearning which is very similar in teach it's main objective is to teach in short burst. Here's a link to an article about it:
ReplyDeletehttps://elearningindustry.com/why-microlearning-is-huge
I really enjoy this concept of a 140 word blog. I think it is the same reason I like Tweets, that you have to truncate or simplify your message into its' truest parts to convey it swiftly and succinctly.
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