Twitterfall

=Twitterfall= [] [|Twitter] client, website application Launched January 2009

Introduction
"Welcome to Twitterfall! Looks like it might be your first time here. You can select a trending topic from the left to see what people are talking about on [|Twitter], or add your own custom search below that. You can also open the geolocation panel and type in an address to see what people are talking about in that area. Or, you can login to Twitter to interact with tweets and view your timeline, mentions, or direct messages!" This is your introduction to Twitterfall, the website that allows you to access your Twitter account and interact with the Twitter timeline of microblog messages with140 characters or less.

**A little about Twitter**
People can post messages to Twitter using a number of different websites, desktop applications, or by texting SMS messages to 40404. There are a number of other sites like [|Twitpic],[|Tweetdeck], [|Digsby], and [|UberTwitter] that access the Twitter website to post images, audio, video, and links to other content. Many of these websites can be accessed on mobile phones or have specific applications designed to run them on devices like the iPhone or the Blackberry. The site can be searched and is organized by keywords or trending topics that are identified with a # (pound sign or hash tag). Users create accounts and are identified by an @username. The @ sign identifies another person on twitter who you can follow to see what sorts of messages or Tweets they are posting.

**Features of Twitterfall**
Twitterfall has some unique features that allow the user to sort through what has been estimated at more than 6 million tweets per day [|(A Daily Tweet Tracker]). The main feature is the ability to display a falling stream of tweets that can be searched and presented using a number of different criteria. At the top right of the Twitterfall window there is a list of the top 10 most popular trending topics on Twitter. These can be selected and displayed at variable speed along with your own #trendingtopic or @johndoe. If you sign in with a Twitter account you can post a new Tweet and interact with the twitter timeline. You can follow someone, you can reply, you can direct message someone who you follow and who follows you, you can re-twitter or RT something that someone else said that you like, you can mark as a favorite Tweet and check it out again later. There is also a Forget my Settings function if you want to reset the search functions of Twitterfall.

Geolocation: allows the user to examine only those messages that originate from a certain geograpical location. This is accomplished by using IP addresses and GPS information to tag messages coming into the Twitter timeline. This information could be used to follow real time news reports from people on location who are using the Twitter service to communicate.  [|wolfmanbearpig] [|http://www.twitterfall.com] will show your tweets no matter what service you use to tweet them. This one came from twitterfall [|**#Malt12**] [|about 8 hours ago] from [|Twitterfall]  [|wolfmanbearpig] Mobile tweet [|**#malt12**] text questions or comments via SMS and watch the conversation on twitterfall. Like you didn't know. [|about 11 hours ago] from [|txt]

Possible Educational Uses:
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 * Backchannel for classroom or conference presentations (projected on a screen or wall to track questions or comments from audience via SMS)
 * Twitter a story idea and let students add to it via tweets and watch the story develop on twitterfall.
 * Tracking news via Twitter
 * Geolocation tracking of Tweets for social science inquiry (primary source material)
 * i.e. 2009 protests in Iran
 * Students can post questions using trending topics #course

 **[|Musique1]** @[|JMel211] Tweet their thoughts on art pieces as they go through Impressionistic museum or whatever. Then the class views all tweets ltr 

 **[|Musique1]** @[|JMel211] At a presentation/conference people can tweet their thoughts as they observe. Also ... Next tweet...  **[|iLearnNow]** [|#Malt12] As a teacher, I tweet files to my students. no more copies. save the trees

I particularly enjoyed getting others thoughts on using twitter and twitterfall for education. There are some interesting options from using twitter to deliver content or reminders to students, as well as using twitterfall to replay the conversation happening on the twitter timeline. I think we have just scratched the surface and I am looking forward to using this tool more. Here is a great slideshow about 25 Interesting "Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom" (CC BY NC SA) by @[|tombarrett] []

Here is what some of Fabiola's students had to say about using Twitter for education:

 * jewellleyba **#malt12** I really liked using twitter because not only did it help me save on both paper and ink, it also helped me organize my assignments! about 8 hours ago from web
 * BiJJi3B0NG **#malt12** great way to keep up with the assignments and documents. I always had something to fall back on because of different internet ways 2 days ago from web

[[image:http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:aQEKxhCt-FyKNM:http://static.twitter.com/images/whale.png width="137" height="100" caption="Fail Whale"]] Some Problems:

 * Twitterfall works with Twitter and sometimes the site(s) can get overloaded and shut down for some time.
 * Links embeded in tweets can open websites that contain viruses, or malware that can corrupt the users computer system.
 * The Twitter service can be abused by users who are allowed to post whatever they desire, factual or not, so information literacy is important.
 * The danger of sharing personal information in your profile or in your Twitter posts exists. Identity theft could be a problem if you do not protect your passwords and personal information online.
 * Danger of location tracking via GPS geolocation search options. This could be used for good or for bad, but has tremendous implications on the right to privacy.
 * Advertisers can spam accounts with unsolicited material.
 * Children might be exposed to some unsolicited pornographic and adult material and cyber-bullying is also a possibility as people use the service to communicate more frequently with one another.
 * I have noticed that I have some 'followers' that seem to be spam accounts created to advertise adult websites. These accounts often include profile images that are not appropriate for children. There is a way to block users, but if someone was targeting a specific account this could become a much larger issue.
 * [[image:http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/315011183/IMG_1331_normal.JPG width="48" height="48" caption="Img_1331_normal"]] [|JMel211] [|@wolfmanbearpig] I have theories about inherently "social" technologies being mandatory for classes. Unless people keep sep accts [|**#malt12**] [|about 1 hour ago] from [|UberTwitter]

(From Fabi) I enjoyed trying out this tool with my learning circle and with many members of C12. It was very interesting to see the conversations flow using the Twitterfall service and the #Malt12 tag. It was great to have so many people participating in this learning design project, and it really inspired me to think about how this tool can be used in an education setting. I have to thank my Cadre mates for the inspiration and for sharing ideas.

I also realized that the use of tags can help reading through tweets especially if they are related to a particular course. This makes Twitter more usable in the classroom. i know I am going to experiment with Twitterfall in pop quizes in class. This will help me take roll and see who is doing the readings. For example: Suppose I ask the question, Who was the President of the United States during the Mexican American War and what senator opposed the war? #cs1. Students would then be asked to tweet their answer using their phone or the desktop. I would give them 1 minute. If they did the reading, they would know the answer and tweet it using the #cs1 tag. If they didn't rread, then I can ask them to tweet "I don't know" with the tag. Using Twitterfall in the classroom, I can project the answers on the wall or wait until I get home. I can take roll and assess the students. Those who do not know, I would then send them a DIRECT MESSAGE on Twitterfall reminding them of their responsibilities. Those who got the answer correct, I can also DIRECT MESSAGE them on Twitterfall and provide them positive reinforcement.

This is no different from asking students to raise their hands in class. But this tool keeps students accountable. No student can hide in the back of the class or pretend they are doing something else to avoid being picked. The students that read, I know will raise their hands. But then I would have to pick one person from the answer. Twitterfall enables me to hear the answer from many students at once and they all would get credit.

I love this! I realized so many "here and now" assessments can be done and documented using Twitterfall. I can't wait to use it this semester,

Additional reading:
Wikipedia entry on Twitterfall []

“Twitter Literacy” by Howard Rheingold []

**[|mcleod]** The journalist's guide to Twitter. VERY interesting... []


 * [|jayrosen_nyu]** What you would see if you subscribed to the 100 most popular users on Twitter [] A @[|davewiner] production.


 * [|hrheingold]** IMO, ppl quit Twitter and perceive it as a fad because they don't make the effort to learn how to use it productively []


 * [|hrheingold]** RT @[|OERCommons] 22 Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom (CC BY NC SA) by @[|tombarrett] []


 * [|wired]** Sent from my iBrain: A Brain-to-Twitter interface drives @[|uwbci]. Here's how it works: []