Comments on: Thoughts from the Twittersphere

By: Why Run a Service? « Cole Camplese: Learning and Innovation

Why Run a Service? « Cole Camplese: Learning and Innovation — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:39:38 +0000

[...] to spend time talking and presenting with Dr. Abdur Chowdhury, Chief Scientist at Twitter … I wrote about it then, but have been thinking about it nearly nonstop. What became incredibly clear to me was that [...]

By: Cole Camplese

Cole Camplese — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:13:51 +0000

@ Jim Next time we get together we can talk about how it all played out in the last class. We didn't require it, we discussed it as a disruptive technology and 3/4 of the class took off with it. Really made the semester work in a way I hadn't seen before. In a lot of ways it made all of us know each other better -- in a strange way. Trust me, when it goes down I'll be writing about it!

By: Cole Camplese

Cole Camplese — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:11:57 +0000

@ RD Huff That is exactly what we are considering ... writing something that can look really closely at the content of the captured tweets and see what kind of sense we can make out of it. Last spring when we taught this course to a collection of graduate students I would watch twitter during class and after about week 4 there was a very powerful backchannel discussion happening. Most of the time it was to ask deeper questions, push links, or engage. The other thing that went on were contributions from outside the class based on the twitter stream ... it stunned Scott and I. And to @david stong point, I agree it may seem a bit invasive, but what we are really considering is pushing the students to do the sense making themselves and let them discover connections that are happening as the learning community (in and out) of the class emerges. Like last time, we'll leave it up to them to contribute to the discussion, but digging in and making sense of the data will be part of the requirements. I'll also say, they twittered plenty of snarky comments. Also, try to keep in mind I try to never wear ties!

By: david stong

david stong — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:01:25 +0000

… let me quickly add that I trust your intentions completely and think your ties are fine.

By: david stong

david stong — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:20:36 +0000

Right after I read, with a bit of disbelief, that there’s a bill in Congress proposing ISPs keep user records for the police, I read your innocent and excited post. You say:
” Imagine how rich the data can be now looking at what happens in class — are students passing twitter notes, digging deeper into the conversation, exchanges resources, etc? This is the first time I’ve been able to create a tangible paper trail of the interactions happening behind the scenes”
Not so sure it’s a good thing for anyone in authority to have the power to eliminate private discussion, and there in, frustrate dissension, civil disobedience, and all the things that are so near and dear to my heart. Where’s the student’s right to laugh behind your back at your tie?
“a site that uses the API to pull out the exact time and content of any given user’s Twitter account” is a powerful, useful, and very scary thing- scary not so much because it exists, but because everybody just thinks it’s cool.

By: RD Huff

RD Huff — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:48:09 +0000

The concept of learning from streaming feedback of a speech or being able to modify lectures based on the behind-the-scenes conversation taking place during a class seems very promising as a teaching aid. It reminds me of the sort of instant polling that is conducted during political events.

Also, what would be really cool is if you were able to extract data from and organize tweets based on similar words or phrases…perhaps even chart them on a timeline. I think this sort of mash-up would provide a fascinating glimpse into the real “pulse” of a group.

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:13:26 +0000

The idea of twitter as a kind of pulse of the web is a pretty powerful one. And the Mumbai example is a very telling one it that regard.

And wow, that Google Calendar/Twitter mashup is amazing, and the implications could be awesome. I’m excited to see what you do with Twitter in your class, because I have still yet to see a compelling example of how it might be imagined as part of a course, rather than an adjunct. This method marries the two beautifully in my mind, very cool stuff.