This paper describes our semester-long experimental study to
determine if using Twitter – the microblogging and social networking platform most
amenable to ongoing, public dialogue – for educationally relevant purposes can
impact college student engagement and grades. Results showed that the
experimental group had a significantly greater increase in engagement than the
control group, as well as higher semester grade point averages. Analyses of
Twitter communications showed that students and faculty were both highly
engaged in the learning process in ways that transcended traditional classroom
activities. This study provides experimental evidence that Twitter can be used
as an educational tool to help engage students and to mobilize faculty into a
more active and participatory role. As there is continuing growth in the use of
social media by college students and faculty, it is hoped that this study will
motivate further controlled studies of Twitter and other social media to
evaluate how emerging technologies can be best used in educational settings and
to tease out the variance between the effects of the actual technology and of
the ‘Web 2.0 mentality.’
Junco, R., Heibergert, G., & Loken, E. (2010). The
effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 27(2),
119-132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00387.x
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