LAST Assignment: Part 2 of 4

Social Media Collaboration II: in the classroom

Of all the social media tools, I really enjoyed the Twitter concept the most in this class! Although I admit that I, along with many other students, was quite skeptical of creating a Twitter account just for a classroom and sharing my thoughts on the Web - I actually found this super useful! Tweeting throughout the week kept me interacting with the issues at hand during class. If I ever read an article that I felt would be relevant to the class, I made sure to not only Tweet about it but this also got me thinking a bit deeper about the article. As I mentioned in my previous Youtube video, this allowed the ideas discussed in class to linger on in my mind.

In addition, I really enjoyed using Twitter during class! It really kept lecture interactive in a way that did not interrupt the lecture. I realized I was a much more proactive listener when there was the need to Tweet about interesting ideas and quotes during class. I actually think I was a much more active listener when I did this as opposed to taking notes! In addition, I would sometimes browse the #BerkeleyCETIEOR hashtag that we were supposed to use with out Tweets and found super interesting Tweets. Looking at others' thoughts brought about new dimensions to the lecture that I had not thought about or made me realize that other students' thinking very much aligned with mine. The interactive tools of "favorite-ing" or re-tweeting other students' posts helped all the students interact with each other.

As to how other professors can include learning through social media -- I think bringing Twitter into lectures is a great option! Although blogs and Youtube videos are great ways to solidify understanding, they may not be as relevant for a class (depending on the content of the class). However, Twitter is a very easy addition and does not require too much work on the students' part — which is a great plus for a class that already may have problem sets or projects for the course.