Comparison of Twitter and Spoink

I am comparing Twitter and Spoink. I feel like I don't understand enough about each one yet, but so far I like the Spoink FAQ's better than the help I found in Twitter. In Twitter's help area you type in what you are looking for and then hope someone else has asked a similar question. I found that much more frustrating to use than Spoink's FAQ's. I couldn't find out from Twitter how to upload a picture from my cell phone or a file or the web. In Spoink, in the FAQ area, it answered it right there. I also was able to do a Podcast (amazing to me!) in Spoink. I can't figure out how to do that in Twitter. In my opinion, I can see that Twitter would be a good mostly for communication using text. Also in my opinion, Spoink seems to offer more tools, such as podcasting, sending pictures, and videos than Twitter. Twitter may offer those tools also, but they seem hidden to me. I will continue to check out both Twitter and Spoink. I have had a bit of difficulty in Twitter in the "following" and "followers" area. I believe that it is just not crystal clear in my head yet. I can see where each tool would be helpful as an instructor to let students know information right when you needed them to know, such as a class being cancelled or a homework assignment being clarified, or a neat web tool to help with an assignment, or breaking news for a class discussion. Just my two cents...

Microblogging and Education

The article I chose to review about microblogging and education appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, February 29, 2008 issue. The article title is: “Forget E-Mail: New Messaging Service Has Students and Professors Atwitter.” I looked at several articles, but found this one very interesting because it related to the college environment. An assistant professor of emerging media and communication at the University of Texas at Dallas, David Parry, reluctantly tried Twitter and now calls it “the single thing that changed the classroom dynamics more than anything I’ve ever done teaching.” That statement really hit home for me. As educators, we are always trying to find ways to connect with students. For myself, before taking LAI684, I did not realize how much Web 2.0 tools can have a positive, and far reaching effect on students and teachers alike. It seems that it is the kind of connection teachers used to have when the schools were smaller. Using a microblogging tool like Twitter will encourage students to be more accountable and also for teachers to communicate more often with their students. It reaches beyond the classroom walls into the daily life of the teachers and students. That helps make school not so much “out there” so to speak. It is an ongoing, lifelong learning tool. As a librarian, I teach a lot of Information Literacy classes. I am beginning to see and get excited about how I can use a microblogging tool for the classes. Students need answers quickly and it seems as though this kind of tool would be helpful in that aspect.

Young, Jeffrey R. "Forget E-Mail: New Messaging Service Has Students and Professors Atwitter." Chronicle of Higher Education 54.25 (29 Feb. 2008): A15-A15.