Thread by @andrewjtagg, After looking at some learning theory and a little look at if [...]

After looking at some learning theory and a little look at if Twitter is any good for the learner it is time to take a look at what it can (or cannot do) for the teacher

Looking through the lens of connectivism where knowledge is a product of the intersectional nodes created online you might wonder what is the point of a teacher?

In the 'traditional' pedagogy the teacher is the gatekeeper of knowledge, passing out morsels of knowledge to those they deem worthy

In a connectivist Twittersphere, the teacher is the guide showing the learners the way

The teacher can point to trusted, up-to-date and relevant sources of information and push them to the mobiles of the students (MacArthur & @kbconway1 2012)

Who do YOU trust?

http://bit.ly/MacArthurBC

The teacher is not limited to pushing a single quantum of knowledge (Big G would have you think that it is known as a knol, but I'm not buying it) and can thread many ideas into a single thread....

Though some have tried the even more adventurous 'choose your own adventure'. The master of this is @ChrisCarrollMD. https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2017/09/gamification-medical-education-choose-medventure.html

Gamification of medical education: Choose Your Own Medventure

The Choose Your Own Adventure style scenarios have been fun to make, fun to use and easily adaptable for a variety of medical scenarios.

https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2017/09/gamification-medical-education-choose-medventure.html

Though you can see these threads and adventures can take time to produce it is a step too far for many (Vogelsang et al. 2018)

http://bit.ly/Vogelsang2018

Other barriers to using Twitter included lack of technical chops and lack of institutional support (?) -

Moving the personal learning environment into the digital space allows for an asynchronous increase in the cognitive, social and teacher presence (Lombard & Ditton 1997). There is always someone online to encourage and motivate http://bit.ly/Lombard1997

At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence

Abstract. A number of emerging technologies including virtual reality, simulation rides, video conferencing, home theater, and high definition television are d

http://bit.ly/Lombard1997

Educators getting on Twitter also allows for the formation of their own virtual Communities of Practice to provide support and expertise that may not be available locally (Yarris et al 2019)

*everyone should have their handles in their byline btw
http://bit.ly/Yarris

Enjoyment and satisfaction are all well and good but what about what really matters - the grades?

@reyjunco et al. 2012 found that students exposed to a Twitter-centred program had better end of semester results

http://bit.ly/Junco2012

Scheduled tweets prompting guided reading have also improved in-service training exam scores (Lamb et al 2017) - so perhaps those reminders help prime those little grey cells http://bit.ly/LLamb2017

Gamified Twitter Microblogging to Support Resident Preparation for the American Board of Surgery...

Microblogging via Twitter with gamification is a feasible strategy to facilitate improving performance on the ABSITE, especially in a geographically distributed residency.

http://bit.ly/LLamb2017

As well as a tool for summative assessment Twitter has also been used for more formative assessments as questions are tweeted out for the class to answer in real-time with the responses displayed in a Twitter wall (Kim et al. 2015)

http://bit.ly/KimSmart2015

So for the teacher, there are costs to being on Twitter, and not many evidence-benefits, so why do you do it?

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