Web 2.0 Learning: twitter

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Last month, I read with deep interest Time cover story on How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live. In an example, the writer described how twitter's platform lent itself successfully for an open conversation during a conference. This got me thinking how twitter can be used for learning.

Here are some raw ideas at a tactical level:
  • Reminders to complete preassessments. The tweet should have link to the preassessment/prework. It does not matter if the link is behind the firewall. Only authorized users in your organization/clients will be able to access the link.
  • Reminders to complete evaluation questionnaire. Again, the tweet has the survey url.
  • Tip/tool/shortcut of the day.
At a strategic level, twitter can be used to create web2.0 learning, in real terms
  • Attendees define the course content

  1. L&D* creates twitter space for a particular learning program with access restricted to learners
  2. Instructor sends a welcome tweet with a wiki** link to a draft course content
  3. The learners visit the wiki site and collaborate to define the course content for that session
  4. On the specified date, the instructor harvests the inputs to create a customize learning session
  • Attendees seek clarifications
  1. Learners use their restricted learning area on twitter to ask questions
  2. Instructor reviews the question tweets during logical breaks in the course progression. This provides a structure to the question-answer (Q&A) session
  3. Instructor collapses two similar questions, adding further efficiencies to the the Q&A process
  4. Everyone gets a chance to ask a question at any time and when it comes to their mind
  • Attendees complete the course
  1. Instructor sends the wiki location for the next level course (if it exists) content collaboration
  2. Learners tweet for any followup questions
  3. Instructor and learners provide links to white papers and other related content over an extended time period. This provides for more immersive learning
  4. Learners tweet the instructor for any questions while implementing the training solution in real life
  5. Instructor uses the learning space for subsequent sessions and so learners continue to learn from each other, revise the content, and the instructor has wealth of feedback data for enhancing subsequent course structure. Everyone is happy.
These set of ideas should work well for both ILT and virtual learning environment. Think about it!
I liked on this blogpost on the topic:
Twitter: Ephermal Learning Tool - Focussed on K12 but the ideas are very easily transferred to adult learning.
*L&D= Learning and development team, instructor, coordinator, CEO, CTO, janitor, whoever...**wiki= I prefer wikis for the stated purpose since they are more efficient for online collaboration in this particular case. However, twitter could be used as well.

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