Facebook, Twitter & Physical Activity Dr. Matthew Cummiskey West Chester University, PA

Getting Ahead of the Curve My experience – summer camp Number of participants who would finish and then go straight to their computer to check their facebook account and spend HOURS there! During free time throughout the day they would send and receive texts and tweets. Think of these mediums as ways to promote physical activity.

Facebook Facebook is a social networking tool ideal for forming communities and maintaining those connections. Uses of facebook to promote physical activity: Build profiles for rec, adventure, or physical education programs Example: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Langston- Expeditions-Adventure- Program/284832048852?ref=search&sid=605599223.2996275 932..1

Uses of facebook to promote physical activity: Seek and stay connected with parents and volunteers Examples: 1, 2, 3 My favorite Schedule volunteers with doodle.com, an online public calendar where individuals can reserve blocks of time.

Uses of facebook to promote physical activity: Build profiles for individual teachers Examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Uses of facebook to promote physical activity: Calendar of events Picture collage My profile

Uses of facebook to promote physical activity: Profiles for student led clubs (mentored by teachers) Walking club, fitness club, intramural club ( can be ones for specific teams or overall program; 1, 2, 3, 4) Jump rope for heart

Twitter Twitter is ideal for communicating the immediacy of an event or feedback from it. People write short updates, often called "tweets"  of 140 characters or fewer.  These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search. Creating contacts Ask students for their email or mobile phone number. Students will become your “followers”. You can set up a preference for each follower of email or phone.

Sending tweets - from the web in the update box (“what’s happening”), from your phone via text messaging (must be setup, SMS), or from your mobile web browser using m.twitter.com. A “retweet” is a message from someone else you are forwarding (kindof like FWD in email)

Uses of Twitter to promote physical activity: Reminder of days events, this can include impromptu events Examples: after-school athletics, blood drives, intramural contests, weight room time change, etc.

Uses of Twitter to promote physical activity: Feedback from students (afterwards; like surveyanywhere.com)

Uses of Twitter to promote physical activity: Anonymous discussion (#topic designation); aka “hashtags” or “trending topics” Examples: #hendersonDB “What did you learning about yourself by completing the high ropes course? #hendersonDB”

Uses of Twitter to promote physical activity: Widget – can install a widget that will automatically update your facebook profile with Twitter tweets! Wow. Acts much like a blog BTW – if you go in a long hike, “run” a triathalon, or go to the Olympics, you could create a tweet blog instead of registering at a blog specific website.

Rules of the Road Collecting student information Pictures on public domains Privacy – facebook recently improved their privacy settings. The default for Twitter is “public”, meaning anyone can view information. You may change this.

Individual or Group Work Begin creating a Facebook application or explore how to send tweets via Twitter Additional topics: No break music CD Editing digital video Website creation

Thanks for attending Contact information: Matthew Cummiskey mcummiskey@wcupa.edu http://thenewPE.com Enjoy the rest of the conference!!!