How to Use Twitter for Higher Education

How to Use Twitter for Higher Education
(with Case Studies)
W A H I B A C H A I R | S E N I O R S T R A T E G I S T & I N S T R U C T O R | W A H I B A C H A I R . C O M

Hello
I’m a senior strategist in Vancouver, BC. And, I’ve
had the opportunity to teach at top Canadian
universities such as Simon Fraser University and
the University of British Columbia.
This is a summary of what I have learned from
using Twitter in class for the past 6+ years.
Enjoy, and feel free to tweet me @WahibaChair
and let me know how it goes!

Who is this Presentation for?
This presentation is for educators and
students who would like to harness the
power of Twitter to create a more
engaging learning experience.
While Twitter can be used to enhance
both in person and online class
environments, it can become an essential
tool for virtual learning (currently the
default, as per the COVID 19 crisis)
This presentation is standalone with tips
and examples for both students and
educators. You may also share it as a
guide for your students.

Please Note…
This is NOT a general guide for using Twitter and/or
the technical aspects of Twitter.
You may find plenty of such resources online
(I reference a few here.)
This guide assumes some basic familiarity with
Twitter.

Why Twitter for Higher Education?
Twitter is a powerful social
network which allows you to have
real-time conversations, build
relationships and community, in
280 characters or less.
Using a hashtag, you can also
measure results of your class
engagement.

Do You Use Twitter?
When I ask students and fellow faculty members
about Twitter, I often get a “look”…
“No, I don’t have time for Twitter” OR “No, I like
Instagram better” OR “I just don’t get Twitter. What
can I tweet about?” …
But once they start getting interactions and
building momentum, they often become addicted.
Contrary to popular belief, Twitter is easy to learn
and a really fun tool!

For Educators:
How to Use Twitter for your Course

Step 0: Educator Twitter Account
First, if you don’t already have a Twitter
account, you need to create one.
More details here:
https://help.twitter.com/en/using-
twitter/create-twitter-account

Step 1: Course Hashtag
Now, you need to create an original class
hashtag.
For my courses, I generally use the short
name of the university, followed by the
program or course code.
For instance, #UBCDMC stands for UBC’s
Digital Marketing Communications program.

Step 1 (Cont): Hashtag Requirements
The course hashtag needs to be:
Original (I.e. not used before, except by your
class). To know if it’s original, type it in the
search box as shown on right.
Not too long
Easy to remember for students / relevant to
the course

Step 1 (Cont): Course Hashtag Examples
#SFUSocialBC: Social Media Bootcamp at SFU
#UBCDMC: UBC’s Digital Marketing & Communications
#SFUPR250: SFU’s PR 250 class
If you click on any of these links, it will give you an idea on the class
conversations and engagement.

Step 2: Course Twitter List
This is not necessary, but from experience, really
helpful.
You can create a list of your students, and this helps
everyone find each other.
Unlike the hashtag, the class list name needs to be
descriptive but NOT original.
Best to make the list “public” so students can find it.
To create a new list, visit this:
https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-lists

Step 2 (Cont): Add Students to the List
As your students tweet
you/join Twitter, you may add
them to the list.
Everyone can keep track of the
list’s conversations by
subscribing to the list.

Step 3: Motivate Your Students to Use Twitter
I generally incorporate
Twitter as a participation
grade worth at least 5%.
You may find other tactics
which work for you.

Step 3: Guide Students through Twitter Use
In the first class, you need to
walk students through
Twitter/this presentation/why
and how to use it.
Once students set-up their
Twitter accounts (before or in
class), you can have a Twitter
ice breaker activity (next slide)

Step 3: Twitter Ice Breaker Activity Examples
You can ask your students to share one of the
following using the class hashtag:
#MyClassHashtag Why are you taking this class?
#MyClassHashtag Introduce yourself!
#MyClassHashtag, please add me to the class
Twitter list.

Step 3: Twitter Ice Breaker Activity Examples

STEP 4: Throughout the Course
You can post weekly course related questions, articles or videos using the
course hashtag.
Students are expected to respond and engage back with the instructor
and each other.
Each class, to further motivate students, you can take a look at course
conversations, and give a shout out to most creative tweet!
In order to build momentum and continuously motivate students, it’s
important that the instructor responds timely to the students’ tweets.
Students can post before/during/after class!

For Students:
How to Learn Using Twitter

Step 0: Student Twitter Account
First, if you don’t already have a Twitter
account, you need to create one.
Add a photo, and in your bio, consider
adding your @School and interests.
More details here:
https://help.twitter.com/en/using-
twitter/create-twitter-account

STEP 1: Ice Breaker activity
Share your excitement about joining the class!
This can be answering the instructor’s tweet or sharing
something of your own.

STEP 1: Ice Breaker activity (Example)

STEP 2: Start Tweeting
Every week, you can share a tweet about something related to the course; e.g.:
 Something you learned / a takeaway
 An article/video related to something we discussed in class
 Something you look forward to learning
 A reflection on something discussed in class
 Answering the instructor question and / or comment (if applicable)
 Answering classmate tweet

Step 2: Start Tweeting (Cont)
Make sure to include the course hashtag and tag instructor
(if relevant) in all your tweets.
Also consider adding photos, images, and GIFs to make your
tweets more engaging.
To help you compose your tweet, you should first see what
has been said in the course conversation by clicking on the
course hashtag (on Twitter).
In doing so, you should try to not only converse with the
instructor but also your classmates.

More Examples of Twitter Use for
Higher Education

Engaging with Instructor (before class)

Ice Breaker Tweets (Be creative!)

Ice Breaker Tweets (be creative!)

Share … as you learn (reinforces learning)

Share your Group Activities / Results

Field Trips & Workshops – Engage with Industry

Sharing Class Related Articles

Sharing Assignment Related Article

Engaging with / Giving a Shout out to Classmates

Sharing Guest Speaker Insights (Instructor)

Make Memories with Twitter Moments
At the end of the class, consider
curating some of the tweets to
create a Twitter Moment.
See example here:
https://twitter.com/i/events/8508
05335270998016
More about Twitter Moments:
https://buffer.com/library/twitter
-moments

Measure Results
At the end of the course, you can
use a tool like Tweet Reach and
Keyhole (free trial) to measure
hashtag reach and engagement.
See example in next slide.

Measure Results
Over 2 M
potential
impressions.
Source: Twitter Counter
Engagement peaks
during class times!

Final Thoughts
Twitter is a simple tool that can
help to create a more engaging
learning experience.
It’s also a good tool for students
to learn, no matter what their
academic and career aspirations
may be.
These practical tips can be
applied to ANY course, anytime.

Thank You!
WAHIBA CHAIR | SENOR STRATEGIST & INSTRUCTOR
L E A R N M O R E A N D G E T I N T O U C H A T : W A H I B A CHAIR. C O M
@ W A H I B A CHAIR

How to Use Twitter for Higher Education

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