US
History Course Website | Monica
Rankin’s Homepage
The Great Twitter Experiment
HIST 1302, Sec. 002
Spring 2009
Class username: ushistoryII
Twitter is a free internet-based microblog service that allows you to follow other users and
share short comments of 140 characters or less.
We will experiment with using twitter this semester in our weekly
discussion/participation days. We will
project a screen with near-real-time comments that students input through
twitter as group discussions are taking place.
All of you will be able to see and respond to the comments that other
students make on the class material. You
can also log on to twitter outside of class to add comments and respond to your
classmates after the formal discussions have concluded. I have organized each week’s materials
through a twitter resource (hashtags) that will allow
us to keep all comments for each week consolidated and stored together. You can go back to those comments and use
them as a set of notes as you study for exams.
Please be sure to use the appropriate hashtags
to enter your comments each week.
Using twitter is optional in this class,
but I hope that most of you will opt to use it.
It will allow you one more way to participate in the class and to engage
with the readings.
There is no cost to set up an account or
to use the web-based version of twitter from your computer. You can also access twitter from your mobile
phone through compatible applications and through text messaging. Each twitter message is consider a text
message, so please be aware of the cost of your texting plan before you use
this option.
Please view the brief video by clicking
the link below. You can also follow the
instructions listed below to set up a twitter account and to follow our
class.
NOTE: the username for our class is ushistoryII.
Please do not confuse this account with my personal twitter page. You are welcome to follow my personal twitter
page at username monicarankin. But please know that the class posts will be
through the class twitter. If you have questions at any time, can contact me through twitter
or via email.
Introductory Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz_W6vmrjmI
Instructional Video – Set up a twitter account
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV-W-oBnG6U
SET UP A TWITTER ACCOUNT:
·
Go to www.twitter.com
·
Click the GET STARTED-JOIN icon
·
Follow the on-screen prompts to enter your name, username, password, and
email
·
Twitter will ask you if you want to enable you mobile phone
·
Enter your telephone number, preceded by a +1 for U.S. numbers
·
Twitter will text
you a code. Follow the instructions and
text the code back to confirm you phone setup.
·
If you want to “follow” the class on your phone, text “FOLLOW ushistoryII” to the twitter text # (40404)
·
Please be aware that if you follow the class on your phone, you will
receive a text message every time one of your classmates posts a comment. It is fine to do this, but on a busy Friday
discussion, you could be receiving many texts.
Again, please be aware of your text messaging package through your
mobile provider.
·
You can post comments any time by sending a class text to 40404. Please follow the instructions for using the hashtags listed below.
FOLLOW THE U.S. HISTORY CLASS:
·
To follow our class, go to http://twitter.com/ushistoryII
·
Click the box that says FOLLOW under the profile box
·
Twitter will automatically send me your name and username so I will see
who is following the class
·
Any updates posted on the ushistoryII twitter
page will post to your account
IMPORTANT: USE HASHTAGS TO POST COMMENTS:
·
On the ushistoryII page, you will notice hashtags have been created for each week of the semester
·
The hashtag for week 2 (the first discussion
week) is #h1302w02
·
When posting comments for the class, please enter the appropriate hashtag for that week
·
For a list of weekly hashtags, click
here
·
Enter comments as “updates” instead of “direct messages” from your computer
·
Or post comments by texting to 40404
USE TWITTER TO STUDY FROM HOME:
·
To view the week’s posts from your twitter account, click the search
button at the bottom of the screen
·
Enter the week’s hashtag
·
You will be able to view all posts for a that week to facilitate studying
from home
·
To view the instructor’s “favorite” comments, go to the ushistoryII twitter site: http://twitter.com/ushistoryII
·
Click on “favorites”
·
A list of favorite comments will appear
USE TWEETDECK (OPTIONAL) TO FOLLOW POSTS ON YOUR COMPUTER:
·
Go to www.tweetdeck.com
·
Scroll down to the appropriate download instructions for your computer
system