Microblogging–The Good and the Bad

Hello Friends! 

This week's topic is on a tool that can be leveraged to impact your teaching. 

Microblogging occurs when an author uses a digital tool to publish a small amount of textual content on a profile page (Hadian & Froese, 2014). 

Photo: Cottonbro, Pexels.com

Educational researchers generally recognize the importance of social networking and interacting in the learning experience and how digital technology can facilitate it (Gao & Li, 2017). Microblogging facilitates the sharing of ideas and exchanging of opinions both synchronously and asynchronously. It can also be used to ask questions, share resources, encourage reflection, and encourage informal learning outside the boundaries of a formal classroom (Hadian & Froese, 2014). Advantages of using microblogging in formal learning environments may include more active learning, self-direction, and greater engagement of timid students. Teachers become facilitators of discovery learning and constructive learning as students experience relevant engagement. Students and teachers can communicate freely with each other without the limitations of time and space of a traditional classroom (Gao & Li, 2017). Integrating microblogging into educational activities can improve learner engagement. Microblogging is not without challenges. According to Kharman Shah et al. (2016), the issue of unfamiliarity regularly was identified. This means potential users may have little or no experience with the technology and could struggle to access and adopt it. For instance, Becker and Bishop (2016) identified an instance where a teacher struggled to help students even set up Twitter accounts. Many of the students could not complete the setup in class due to the school’s internet firewall. The instructor had inaccurately assumed that his students had accounts and were familiar with how to use them. In addition to issues with accessibility and familiarity, microblogging can bring problems for students in the form of distraction, wasting time, and privacy and security risks (Kharman Shah et al., 2016). There are steps educators can take to increase the likelihood of successfully integrating microblogging. Providing training for teachers on guidelines, policies, and benefits of microblogging in educational environments can help (Kharman Shah et al., 2016). Teachers can help students understand how to use social technology without becoming distracted. To help reduce distraction, Gao and Li (2017) recommended incorporating problem-solving into the microblogging experience. Teachers should make activity instructions concise and clear to make the microblogging learning activity more effective (Hadian & Froese, 2014). Such clarity includes details about the organization of the microblog discussion, defining the instructions, the role of the instructor, and selecting the right digital tool.

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Becker, R., & Bishop, P. (2016). “Think bigger about science”: Using Twitter for learning in the middle grades. Middle School Journal, 47(3), 4–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2016.1135097 Gao, F. & Li, L. (2017). Examining a one-hour synchronous chat in a microblogging-based professional development community. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(2), 332–347. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12384 Hadian, S., & Froese, M.-E. (2014). Microblogging best practices. Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on Cognition & Exploratory Learning in Digital Age, 249–252. Kharman Shah, N. A., Shabgahi, S. L., & Cox, A. M. (2016). Uses and risks of microblogging in organisational and educational settings. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(6), 1168–1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12296