ADVENTURES IN TWEETING Linnea Johnson | Simmons GSLIS |

Let’s start with a short video 

Questions I ask my students & my staff  What does this mean for libraries?  How should we be evolving, if at all?  How do you isolate the technology fads?  What is here to stay and will make an impact?  How do you ensure that you have a presence where your patrons (users) are spending time online?

GSLIS Technology Group  Mission:  To provide GSLIS students, faculty, and staff access to current and innovative technological applications, resources, and tools via community spaces, training opportunities, and hands-on learning  Emphasis on non-proprietary software and open source options  Being a central part of the GSLIS curriculum and pedagogy by seeking out community feedback

Community Spaces  Tech Lab   Media Lab   Usability Lab 

Hands-on Instruction Opportunities  free workshops for the GSLIS community:  Dreamweaver  Advanced Wiki Gardening  FileMaker Pro  Zotero  Usability Testing  CSS  Debugging  Developing Web Applications  Second Life ….. And more  (online signup)

Setting the scene  Teach two sections of LIS 488, Technology for Information Professionals in Boston & on our South Hadley campus (1 face-to-face & 1 blended)  1 of 5 required core classes that all GSLIS students are required to take  Topics include:  Computer hardware concepts  Networking infrastructure concepts  Internet protocols & underlying structure (political & technical)  Digital content creation  Problem solving with IT  Emerging technologies in libraries

Changes to Syllabus

Evaluation

Twitter Back Channel  You will be monitoring library technology and IT blogs every week, only 1 will be needed for your Current Awareness post in Moodle, but many should be shared.  Tweet any interesting finds with the class using a link shortener ( and use our official LIS hash tag: #lis48801  Bookmark this page to monitor class tweets or simply save it as a search on your Twitter home page -  Following me ( is not mandatory as I do tweet things other than tech content but am happy if you choose to follow me!  I will be monitoring (and replying when I can) to the class Twitter Back Channel, which I am hoping creates a unique community outside the classroom.  Have Fun!

How to Begin  Sign up for a free Twitter account. Choose public or private account.  Start following people, news outlets, fellow LIS students, faculty, or anyone who interests you!  Twitter is a collaborative platform and works best if you participate. Don’t be shy.  News outlets on Twitter:  Politics on Twitter:  Sports Players on Twitter:  Foodies on Twitter:  Check out my Twitter tagged bookmarks on Delicious -

Additional Twitter Resources  Mashable’s Twitter Guide-  YouTube Twitter Tutorials  Twitter 101 – Tips & Tricks  Find your perfect Twitter desktop application  Find your perfect Twitter mobile application  Twitter For Dummies Cheat Sheet - to/content/twitter-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.navId html?print=truehttp:// to/content/twitter-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.navId html?print=true  Linnea! Ask me any Twitter quandaries that you might encounter.

Twitter 101

Put my twitter self out there!

Student Reactions  Mostly positive, especially for existing tweeters  “Am no longer dreading required GSLIS Tech class due to massive Twitter presence.”  All students signed up for a Twitter account (who didn’t have one already) after our first class  Some were reluctant:

But there is some hope…

Community Building Begins

Guest lecture participation

More participation

Blended Class

Concerns  Am not one to force a technology tool on students, so had initial worry about new approach  Twitter works well if you are engaged and involved (not lurking), which should be an organic experience  Would students tweet about quality of class?  How do you handle following/following back?  Twitter policies?  I found that simply trusting my students was huge and so far, it has worked.

Future Course Plans  Survey students in these 2 class beta groups to seek specific feedback on their Twitter experience  Possible take it a few steps further:  Encourage students to tweet during lectures to deepen our back channel  Have class Tweetups outside of normal class time to discuss topics covered in class in a less formal setting  Start discussions myself on Twitter if a nudge is needed  Designate experienced class tweeters to be mentors

Thank You For Listening!  Any Questions?  Slides available here:   Contact Information:   (617)  Office: P-204W 