Is live tweeting disruptive to the classroom?

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On January 13 Public Relations students, professionals and educators gathered together on twitter to discuss social media in the classroom and the educator’s role. Keeping the topic of "Celebrate the PR Educator" in mind, community members considered the benefits of social media in an academic setting and methods to monitor student activity. Questions such as “Is a backchannel/ live tweeting helpful or disruptive in the classroom?” spurred answers from each end of the spectrum.

Co-founders Deirdre Breakenridge, PR 2.O expert and co-author of Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and Valerie Simon Senior Vice President at BurrellesLuce media monitoring and measurement co-hosted this month’s #PRStudChat.

Special panel of PR educators included Terri Bailey from Florida Gulf Coast University, Suzanne Carbonaro from Rider University, Kalene Elizabeth from Humber College, Mary Ann Ferguson from University of Florida, Melanie James from University of Newcastle, Emily Kinsky from Pepperdine University, Brooke Fisher Liu from University of Maryland, Ellen Mrja from Minnesota State University, Barbara Nixon from Georgia Southern University, Dara Quackenbush from Texas State and Karen Russell from University of Georgia.

#PRStudChat created a stir amongst PR communities on twitter once again with its January-chat. Those who followed the #PRStudChat hashtag discovered great insights given throughout the chat... great not only in quality of information, but also in amount. Please note that these tweets have been edited for easy reading. The entire series will be available here. If you would like to see an unedited version of the full chat, please click here. To learn more about #PRStudChat and those who are participating, please visit the #PRStudChat LinkedIn Group; all public relations students and practitioners are welcome to join and participate!

Is a backchannel/ live tweeting helpful or disruptive in the classroom?

A Backchannel can be helpful:

DavidSpinks If I were a professor, I would encourage it. They certainly can't stop it if students want to do it. What if we made classroom discussions social? Pull in perspectives on twitter and bring in to discussion.

Bleaning Last semester we used live tweeting in the classroom, and I must say it was a huge help. It kept the students quite engaged.

TheKimSchneider It would be great if a professor asked students to tweet 5 things they learned today in class as a way to incorporate Twitter.

ColbyWG I just make sure my professors are following me. They can always check my feed if they think I'm not paying attention.

LindsayNK9 It would be cool to make a hashtag for the class so the students can interact and the professor can answer questions.

barbaranixon My students know I always respond more quickly to a tweet than an e-mail. Forces brevity on both of us, too.

alexiaharris Live tweeting encourages conversation, especially for students who are shy but want to participate. I loved that my professor would substitute being in a class w/ teaching via his blog. It was a different way to learn.

MegVandervort Observing successful twitter accounts on a projector will teach students how to effectively use twitter for business. If there were a way to monitor what students are saying during class, it would deter any distractions

sjhalestorm Live tweeting is how many people take notes at conferences; is it any more disruptive than writing out notes? Imagine a lecture with scrolling class convo on screen - pulling questions from the stream and directing conversation.

KarenRussell I’ve had students live tweet a guest lecture (with consent). It was a good way to practice without disrupting.

A Backchannel can disrupt

KarenRussell I can't multitask well enough to handle it-- for me, it would be disruptive.

krisTK Students have to "get" Twitter before live-tweeting. I found it a distraction in class. Students would tweet two times and text or use facebook the rest of the time.

christakeizer Live tweeting is more appropriate for a conference, not the classroom.

rdfrench Back channels in the class are disruptive and I discourage them. We're there to learn ... not share with friends.

abschoff They do this at the social media club presentations and it's actually kind of distracting. People get off topic.

deanna413 I'd really dislike live-tweeting in the class. I have a firm grasp on it and still think it moves too fast for learning.

ekinsky I think it would be too disruptive for live tweeting during lecture. Likely to be too distracting for students & professors mainly because so many other things can be going on, like shopping online during class.

bexxco More opportunity for distraction. I can promise I wouldn't pay attention if allowed to live-tweet in class.

annebuchanan Though I'm generally a fan, live tweeting can really change the rhythm of a group event. Not always in a positive way.

AngelaHernandez I'm not sure very many of my professors would accept live tweeting from the classroom. I think my professors would confuse it with texting.

It depends on level of understanding, maturity, etc.

ryanzuk Live tweeting maybe to connect with another remote class/ event, otherwise potential classroom distraction. It’s key to respect the professor.

rpulvino Live tweeting definitely has its benefits but can move too fast for people who are just learning about it. Use it on more advance levels.

sjhalestorm At the college level, students need to be held accountable. If shopping is more important ..sorry?

dquack Depends on class size. I teach senior-level classes with less than 20 students. And it’s disruptive. But I would use tweeting in 250+ student class.

dbreakenridge It's important to have a good understanding of twitter for it to be useful in the classroom.

REVOLUTIONpr Need to remember (especially in class) that having an ACTUAL conversation is still something to engage in. People forget how to publicly speak.

melanie_james Live tweeting goes on in classrooms in some cases whether I like it or not!

asr2008 I think it would be more efficient via an assignment outside the classroom; provides opportunity for distractions in class.

Additional resources

This point of view from Corporate Engagement thinks backchannels can be useful http://ow.ly/W3iG

13 Case Studies on live tweeting, streaming seminars, etc. http://bit.ly/yD4pW

suzieprof Technological acceptance is also part of the process one goes through in choosing to use SM (model) http://bit.ly/5HHgVX Faculty and students need to be in the right Mindset to adopt social media http://bit.ly/sIi6W

dmullen PR Pros: A must read from @davefleet: Avoiding Social Media's Own "Ad Value Equivalency Value" http://bit.ly/69Jlzu

alexiaharris Here's a recent post from @mashable that shows how educators are embracing social tech - http://bit.ly/8CCowp

This is the fourth column in a special series written by

Mikinzie Stuart, a senior at Ferris University and author of The PRepguide. Mikinzie served as guest moderator for the January 13th session of #PRStudChat, a twitter chat that brings together public relations students, educators and professionals. The next live #PRStudChat discussion will take place on twitter February 17th. The "Valentine's edition" will focus on relationships!