Twitter Boosts Engagement For English Students | Eastern North Carolina Now

Twitter boosts engagement for English students

 WASHINGTON, N.C.     Beaufort County Community College students in English Instructor Jamie Johnson's Writing and Inquiry class have an additional component in their participation grade this semester. The class meets in person three times a week, but Johnson and her students are also utilizing Twitter as a way to communicate ideas and discuss topics from class.

 Johnson says she borrowed the idea from a class she took in graduate school. By creating a hashtag for the class, everything the students post for the class can be accessed on one webpage. It can also be accessed via smartphones and tablets using the Twitter application.

 "They can use their personal account or create a new one for the class," says Johnson. "Because there is a limit on the length of each post, it requires them to be concise and use strong verbs."

 This is Johnson's first time using Twitter in class, and she says there was some confusion about it at the beginning of the semester. After reviewing what Twitter is and how to use it, she says, most of the class is doing a good job of participating.

 For a paper the students had to write, Johnson had them tweet their thesis statements.

 "Then we were able to pull them all up in class and talk about which ones were strong and which ones needed work," she says. "It encourages them to take ownership of what they're doing because they can all see it, and they know it might be discussed in class."

 The platform has also given the students access to new resources. After watching a speech by Mary Fisher, they were able to ask her questions — and receive replies — using Twitter.

 "Some of them get very creative with it," Johnson says. "It increases the class content, and also the general community of the class. They have shared some things with each other that might not have come up otherwise in a normal classroom setting. I think it has made them more comfortable with each other."

 As an added bonus, Twitter gives Johnson an additional means of reaching her students in case of inclement weather or other changes to the schedule.

 "I usually get responses faster that way," she says. "They're more likely to check their Twitter before their email. When campus was closed due to the flooding around town, they asked if their homework was still due, and I was able to respond immediately using Twitter."

 Johnson's use of social media as a platform for class communication is just one example of a BCCC instructor using innovative and up-to-date methods to improve the learning experience and boost engagement with her class.


 Beaufort County Community College is a public comprehensive community college committed to accessible and affordable quality education, effective teaching, relevant training, and lifelong learning opportunities for the people served by the College.