R. Junco, G. Heiberger, E. Loken (2011) The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Volume: 27, Issue: 2, Pages: 119-132
Despite the widespread use of social media by students and its increased use by instructors, very little empirical evidence is available concerning the impact of social media use on student learning and engagement. 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. The 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.
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Comments on: "What is the effect of Twitter on student engagement and grades?" (1)
Thanks for this. I have wondered whether or not Twitter and Facebook is worth the risk.
http://topicalteaching.com/2011/12/19/how-badly-do-teachers-need-twitter-and-facebook/