12027

12027

General Session - Conference Presentation and Interactive Activity Only (40 minutes, no formal paper)

Melissa Venable, OnlineCollege.org, Miami, Florida, USA, melissa@onlinecollege.org Milligan Laura, OnlineCollege.org, Houston, Texas, USA, lmilligan@cmn.com
 * Social Media In Online Higher Education: Conducting Live Twitter Chat Sessions**

Since June 2011, the presenters have facilitated a weekly live chat via Twitter focused on topics related to online learning. During this time they have tried a lot of approaches, resources, and techniques – some have worked well and others weren't so successful. While much of the existing online advice about Twitter chats is directed at social media professionals and marketers, this tool offers a new way for educators to engage in and reshape traditional online discussions with their students. Twitter can be used for both synchronous and asynchronous communication and is gaining popularity with educators in both higher education and K-12 communities. The goals of this session include providing participants with:

• an introduction to the Twitter chat format, • a description of the logistics and components required for facilitating a live event, • examples of the multiple ways in which Twitter chats are currently being used by educators, • recommendations from the presenters based on their lessons learned, and • the opportunity to participate in a live Twitter chat feed during the conference session.

Participants will leave the session with a checklist of the information and tools required to set up their own live chat sessions via Twitter.

//Interactivity// The presenters will demonstrate a live Twitter chat during the presentation and ask participants to join in, using a session-specific hashtag and two facilitated discussion questions focused on the general use of social media in higher education. Backchannel communication and sharing throughout the session will also be encouraged.

All Audiences social online discussion elearning Twitter synchronous microblogging faculty