You might remember various Technology in Higher Education posts exploring:
“Creepy Treehouse”? Friending Your Professors or Students
New Technology and Academic Research
Who do you trust? Google and information gathering
What Tools Do You Use?
Should we not leave Twitter out as a tool for a new generation of academic conversation? A brief piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on how Ed Techie, an education blogger, finds On Twitter, Academic Debates Fall Short. Note: Comments on the The Chronicle of Higher Education post, include suggestions for sharpening the use of Twitter for such excercises. Read all about it (and more) on Ed Techie’s blog.
What do you think of Twitter as a tool for educational conversation AND creating virality in education? Something you’d be interested in trying w/ESN?
About the author:
Tom enjoys daily conversations regarding living out the Biblical Story with his wife Theresa and their four girls, around the block, at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (where he teaches adult electives and co-leads a small group), among healthcare professionals as the Northeast Regional Director for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), and in higher ed as a volunteer with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). For a number of years, the Christian Medical Society / CMDA at Penn State College of Medicine was the hub of his ministry with CMDA. Note: Tom served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA for 20+ years, including 6+ years as the Associate Director of ESN. He has written for the ESN blog from its launch in August 2008. He has studied Biology (B.S.), Higher Education (M.A.), Spiritual Direction (Certificate), Spiritual Formation (M.A.R.), Ministry to Emerging Generations (D.Min.). To God be the glory!
I must admit that I can’t see any valuable purpose for Twitter, academic or otherwise, but I’m becoming a grouchy old man, so what do I know.
In all seriousness though, Twitter is too limited by length of comments; real dialog needs complete arguments. I think it is a (sad) sign of the times that people want information only in bite-size bits. A good argument cannot be made out of bite-size bits.