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Breanna Moore
Prof. Daniel ODonnell
ENG4400
9 December 2015
Twitter in the High School Classroom: An Analysis of Research & Case Studies
Alberta Educations objectives call for High School students to be digitally literate and
obtain the ability to collaborate with others. Digital literacy and collaboration are both required
for popular internet platforms like social media. Current research suggests that the majority
children and youth spend upwards of forty hours a week on social media (Bynum 1). With
Alberta Educations focus on digital literacy and collaboration, popular digital outlets must be
utilized, and one medium is social media. A popular social media application is Twitter with
over three-quarters of teenagers using it (Teens Fact Sheet 2012). Recent surveys amongst
American youth also suggest that students believe education would be more engaging if they
could use social media tools at school (Journell, Ayers, and Beeson 53). Twitter is a real-time
social networking platform where users share information and updates in 140 characters or less.
Users can post links, engage in conversation, and use hashtags (the pound symbol) to connect
with other users discussing the same topic. Each shared message is referred to as a tweet. The
most popular uses of Twitter include daily chatter, conversation, information sharing and news
reporting (Tiernan 675). Information sharing and news reporting can be important objectives in a
classroom. New studies on Twitter are emerging and suggest that it could be used to facilitate a
more free flowing style of interaction among students (Tiernan 675). Many studies focus on the
use of Twitter as a backchannel during lecture, or as a method of quizzing to replace clickers.

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Through a summary and analysis of case studies, this essay aims to prove that Twitter should be
used in the High School classroom because of its ability to connect students in conversation,
enhance student engagement, creates a sense of community, helps with literacy, and it gives
students an opportunity to share their ideas. Additionally, it will bring up the issues associated
with Twitter in the classroom, including privacy, cyberbullying/inappropriate comments, and
technological issues. Subsequently, it will suggest problem prevention as a solution for the issues
associated with Twitter. Consequently, based on case studies, the opinions of professional
educators, and current Alberta Education policies, Twitter will be viewed as an effective
platform for teaching students to be digitally literate and collaborative.
Firstly, Twitter has been shown to be successful in initiating conversation between High
School students. Recent research has shown that students are more likely to participate in schoolrelated and academic discussions if they are held electronically (Larson 162). Students could be
more likely to participate because their announcements are non-verbal and reduce the risk of
embarrassment. One Twitter case study, implemented by Wayne Journell, Cheryl Ayers, and
Melissa Beeson, followed a teacher, Fillmore, and his class while they tweeted about the
presidential election. Students created Twitter accounts and were required to follow Obama and
Mitt Romney while they also got to choose any other third candidate (Journell, Ayers, and
Beeson 53). Politicians frequently tweet links and information about their platforms, so the
students had access to those sources. Using hashtags, students in this study, and anyone else
interested in the election, could connect across the country or even globally: Twitter offers
teachers a way to incorporate current events and real-world perspectives into instruction on a
regular basis (Journell, Ayers, and Beeson 53). The study also required that students use a
hashtag (#chscivics,) and during every event they would provide commentary, an example of a

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comment being: Obamas hitting independent economic patriotism, Romneys going for smallmedium business layoffs #chscivics (Journell, Ayers, and Beeson 53). Students in the study
were also allowed to use other political hashtags. Essentially, it was evident that students were
able to produce diverse viewpoints and inititiate different discussions. Eventually, the students in
the study connected with students at other high schools doing a similar activity (Journell, Ayers,
and Beeson 53). The study in Fillmores classroom proves that students could enter in a national,
even global, collaboration with other students through Twitter. Twitters hashtag function is
useful for network building and instant conversation.
Another study that shows Twitters ability to engage students is a study conducted at a
University by John Paul and Nicholas Ianniti. The use of Twitter in this study was much more
class-centralized and controlled. Twitter was used as a backchannel, and questions during lecture
were shown on a screen while responses were shown on another screen at the front of the room
(Paul and Ianniti 321). Responses were directed to the screen through the use of hashtags (Paul
and Ianniti 321). Despite the simplicity of the study, it appears that the reaction to it was
generally positive. Overall, half of the class contributed, and that when the students were
questioned, they said it made them respond a lot more or they never would have responded
without it (Paul and Ianniti 326). The results of the study are important because they show that
some students who would have never engaged did so solely because of Twitter. Since students
were not allowed to participate outside of class, it could be speculated that some students without
cellphones or laptops may have also responded. Although half of the class does not seem
substantial, according to State of the Global Workplace, only 30% of adults feel engaged in their
studies or their careers (State of the Global Workplace 2013). The study shows an above-average
rate of self-reported student engagement. Although the study was geared towards University

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students, backchannel methods could be applied to High School classrooms. High School
classrooms also show a low-level of class engagement with only 40 percent of students
reporting that they feel engaged on a daily basis (State of the Global Workplace 2013).
Backchannel methods can be applied to High School as over 2.8 million Smartboards have been
placed in k-12 schools globally (Smart Technologies 2015). Since Smartboards are a readily
available technology, using Twitter as a backchannel is possible in at least 2.8 million
classrooms.
A third study shows that the majority of students participate in discussion and are more
engaged using Twitter, as well as see the platform as a way to learn. The study was conducted in
the School of Education Studies at Dublin City University and was based on undergraduates
(Tiernan 677). Twitter was combined with traditional instructional methods. Lectures were
combined with a) Powerpoint presentations, b) minimum of one related video clip with pre and
post questions, c) group work, d) questions and answers, and e) whole class discussion. Each of
these areas was designed to solicit student opinions, feelings, and experiences that could be
discussed out loud or using Twitter via their mobile phone or laptop (Tiernan 677). Student
accounts were encouraged to be separate from their private accounts. Remembering that the
typical adult only feels engaged thirty percent of the time, the findings of the study are
significant. It was reported that fifty six percent of students set up a Twitter account within the
first four weeks, and thirty six percent of students engaged in discussion with one another using
the platform (Tiernan 680). Additionally, thirty four percent of students indicated that they had
an understanding of how Twitter could be used in educational settings: students expressed an
increased awareness of how Twitter can be used for learning, class discussion, and to increase
engagement, instead of just entertainment (Tiernan 680-681). The study conclusively shows

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that over one-third its participants endorse Twitter and understand how they could use it in their
classrooms. Some good news from the study is that the teachers may choose to adopt Twitter in
their future classrooms because of its potential for engagement and learning.
In conjunction with providing outcomes caused by Twitter use during lecture, the Dublin
study outlined why students chose to adopt the platform. Perhaps the most important message
that the study conveys is that students use Twitter because it makes them feel comfortable. Every
single respondent in the study indicated that the contribution of their ideas and experiences to
the lecture, without fear or embarrassment, was pivotal (Tiernan 681). Students suggested that
Twitter allowed them to be involved in a less threatening way, and that writing was easier than
speaking out loud (Tiernan 681-682). It is clear that through a sense of comfort, students are able
to reach successful outcomes with Twitter.
The Dublin studys suggestion that students feel more comfortable online is not a new
one. Various studies conclude that Twitter may create opportunities for more students to
express themselves Using Twitter to allow students to express their thoughts and opinions,
therefore, encourages shy students to communicate (Morgan 75). The enhanced willingness to
communicate reveals another benefit of Twitter for students: enhanced reading and writing skills.
One study performed with children in the first and second grade found that tweeting throughout
the day improved skills in reading and writing (Morgan 75). Kurtz had his students communicate
with family members (because of their age and privacy concerns) via tweets (Morgan 75). Their
fluency improved as they had to effectively communicate with each other. It should be taken into
consideration that while first and second graders are just learning to write, that High School
students may generally be already literate. The implications for enhanced communication can
still be applied to High School, especially in the case of ESL students. Alberta Education states

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that literacy skills have become a priority for all students (Alberta Learning 3). Alberta
Education states that there needs to new ways to implement second language learning into the
curriculum:
In the past, there was often an assumption that students would pick up the language as
they sat in classrooms. And some students, particularly younger ones, did learn English
by the way and go on to participate fully in workplaces and communities throughout
Alberta. However, many studentsnative English speakers as well as those whose home
language was not Englishdropped out of formal schooling before completing senior
high school (ESL Senior High Guide to Implementation).
Evidently, it should be important to educators that ESL students be handled differently in High
School in order to avoid drop-out scenarios. Alberta Education notes that the main purpose of
learning English is communication. Twitter, as a platform that has been shown to enhance
communication, writing, and reading, has the potential to help ESL students improve their
reading and writing skills.
Other case studies have shown positive results directly in the High School classroom. In
one study, it was concluded that Twitter acts as a space for new literacy practices both at home
and outside of the classroom (Aydin 13). If students are able to tweet from their own homes, it
provides an easy yet effective way for students to practice expressing ideas or sharing news on
social media. Twitter has also been used in High School English classrooms, where students
shared ideas and wrote a class essay the study concluded that Twitter fostered collaboration
(Aydin 13). Moreover, a study in 2010 concluded that participants thought that Twitter helped
them form a better sense of community and help with self-reflection (Aydin 13). In the study,
eight participants posted to Twitter from their phones or computers and were required to respond

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to a question asking if microblogging helped them develop self-reflective practices (Aydin 13).
Student answers determined that the identified benefit was a sense of community, that
participants appreciated reading tweets and receiving messages of support when they faced
challenging situations, and that it improved the participants reflective thinking (Aydin 13).
Self-reflection is crucial to High School education, particularly in English. According to Alberta
Education, students throughout grades ten to twelve are required to explore thoughts, ideas,
feelings and experiences, including their own reflections (English Language Arts 15).
Reflective thinking could be implemented through Twitter in the High School classroom to help
meet the required outcome.
Along with a better sense of community among students, some studies suggest that a
better sense of community is formed with teachers through Twitter. A study in 2011, conducted
at the University level, examined whether posting social and scholarly information to Twitter
impacted how the students perceived their instructors (Aydin 13). The results from the study
show that students perceive their instructors more positively if they are skilled with social media:
the results showed that participants who viewed only the social tweets rated the instructor
significantly higher in perceived credibility than did the group that viewed only the scholarly
tweets and that there was an established link between perceived instructor credibility and
positive learning outcome (Aydin 13). There is recent research that suggest that social trust
among teachers, parents, and school leaders improves much of the routine work of schools and is
a key resource for reform as students that reported trusting their teachers improved their grades
when they were studied (Bryk and Shnyder). Teachers being perceived as more credible through
social media interactions could help build trust, and therefore help students.
Unfortunately, the studies had their drawbacks. One major issue of the study in Dublin

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was technical problems (Tiernan 682). Of those who were discouraged from Twitter use, fifty
seven percent were discouraged by technical issues like not being access the Universitys
wireless network or having no laptop or smartphone in class (Tiernan 682). The study shows one
major concern when it comes to applying Twitter to the High School classroom. In any case,
teachers must be cautious of digital divides between students. Differences in socioeconomic
class may mean some students have no points of access to technology. Bynum calls for teachers
to be cautious about the divide in the classroom:
the issue of digital divide, the haves versus the have-nots technologically, must be
addressed in any discussion regarding technology implementation and is likely the
greatest challenge with implementing any type of technology. Some parents and children
will be excluded from participating due to monetary or technological limitations
including not being able to afford the proper equipment or not possessing the proper
skills to utilize internet access on any level (Bynum 2).
The case studies provide for reasons to use Twitter, but Bynums point is valid: technological
exclusion can be an issue with any form of technology. Fortunately, a lot of high schools have
computer laboratories where they can use computers (the issue of privacy and blocked social
media also needs addressing). Despite the technological divide, it is not impossible to envision a
classroom where the majority of students will have access to smartphones: ninety-five percent of
teens are online, and eighty-one percent of teens have smartphones (Teens Fact Sheet 2012). The
statistic of teens owning smartphones accounts for those twelve and older, so there may be some
inaccuracy regarding the amount of older students who own smartphones. Another point of relief
for Twitter use in the classroom is that thirty-six percent of students with a lower socioeconomic
status still have smartphones (Teen Fact Sheet 2012). The teacher would have to see how many

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students in their class have access to Twitter on their smartphones, or they could be asked to
bring in their laptops. If students own neither a smartphone nor a laptop which has been proven
unlikely tweets can be made from home or from the schools computer lab. Overall, while
technological issues do account for some consideration, they are not difficult to overcome.
Using smartphones, laptops, or a schools computer all require using the schools
network which is another roadblock to Twitter use in schools. School networks are still known
to block social media websites because they are considered inappropriate content in schools
(Bynum 51). The problem with ruling out all forms of social media can mean depriving students
of potential educational content. As Alberta Education suggests that students be digitally literate,
and social media is a source for employment and news on current events, policies against social
media access on school networks are outdated. Schools must be willing to adapt to social media
platforms such as Twitter if they truly want students to be digitally literate in the 21st century.
Scholars recognize the problem with not allowing social media platforms such as Twitter into the
classroom:
To draw a clear line by saying, Dont use it at all is certainly not a good policy and
does a disservice to students by not preparing them for the world that they will shape and
in which they will ultimately live in and take charge of someday. Clearly, policies need to
be developed, implemented and integrated that allows, and thus fosters, the use of social
media to further engage students (Bynum 52).
It is clear that students should be able to access social media on school networks, with the
guidance of proper policies. Similar to any sort of technology in the classroom, students may use
Twitter when they are not supposed to, but that does not eliminate the need for it. Many teachers
recognize that students will need social media in the real world after school (Morgan 76).

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Social media needs to be accessible and should not be blocked on the schools internet.
In addition to issues of inappropriate Twitter access are issues with inappropriate
behaviour on Twitter. When using Twitter as a backchannel, challenges confronted the studies.
One common issue was how to efficiently handle multiple real-time responses at once (Paul and
Ianitti 324). Studies described that it was nearly impossible to analyze the appropriateness of
tweets right away (Paul and Ianitti 324). If the teacher is unable to filter out inappropriate tweets
as they appear, then the only method for controlling poor responses is prevention. Fortunately,
Alberta Educations curriculum calls for value to be placed on digital citizenship, so students
could be educated on how to behave on Twitter beforehand (Policy Development Guide 3). The
studies also showed that inappropriate comments were more likely to be made in the case of
controversial topics. In Fillmores study, students occasionally tweeted crass comments such
as how to win votes: bring up car crash victims" during the vice presidential debate (Journell,
Ayers, and Beeson 53). The students in the study did not type rude comments to one another
and/or cyberbully, but the anger from their opinions could have upset students who disagreed
with them. Journell, Ayers, and Beeson argue that the comments from the study show how one
can easily envision the potential for inappropriate comments if teachers used Twitter to discuss
controversial social issues such as abortion, evolution, or gay marriage (Journell, Ayers, and
Beeson 53). Since the studies show that it is difficult to monitor discussions quickly enough to
take down inappropriate comments, and students have been shown to have passionate opinions,
the teacher needs to establish their expectations before the conversation begins. Ultimately, no
students in the studies reported feeling hurt, so the issue with cyberbullying appears to be
speculation only. Despite the fact that issues with cyberbullying were only speculated in the
studies, the concern is valid. In a 2008 University of Toronto study, fifty percent of students

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surveyed stated that they had been cyberbullied (Bewebware.ca). The study also stated that only
one-quarter of students who cyberbully have bullied outside of the internet (Bewebaware.ca).
Since Twitter allows youth to communicate more comfortably, and controversial topics may
arise on social media, the concern of cyberbullying is legitimate. Some scholars believe that
unethical behaviour in students increases over the internet because there is more opportunity and
anonymity on the internet than there is with face-to-face interactions (Bynum 6-7). Concerns
about cyberbullying can be comforted by the fact that Alberta Educations definition of digital
citizenship includes cyberbullying as inappropriate behaviour. Alberta Education demands that
teachers demonstrate digital citizenship to their students to prevent bullying (Policy
Development Guide 71). They give a guide that includes:
Establishing meaningful digital citizenship policies to guide organizational members;
providing digital citizenship curricula to guide student learning; providing professional
development supports to guide teachers in this domain; and ultimatelyproviding
supports for students as they encounter online learning experiences that expect digital
citizenship (Policy Development Guide 71).
Essentially, Alberta Education requires teachers and administrators in schools to take action
against cyberbullying. Therefore, the issue of cyberbullying with Twitter should be dealt with
before it arises, and it is the fault of teachers and administrators for failing to meet Alberta
Educations guidelines, if students abuse Twitter.
Alberta Educations demand that teachers form policies in their classrooms leads to
another issue with Twitter: it requires teachers to understand new technologies and how to use
them. Many scholars recommended that teachers need to be trained in formal and informal
sessions to familiarize themselves with Twitter and blogs (Morgan 76). Many schools in North

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America have professional development conferences that are meant to improve their technology
skills so that they are better equipped (Morgan 76). With practices in place that ensure that
teachers are up-to-date, Twitter should not be challenging for them.
Liability is another issue that teachers may have Twitter. Some teachers repeatedly cite
that the privacy of their students and their classrooms are a major concern to them (Grosseck and
Holotescu). Twitter has the option of locking accounts, and separate accounts can be made for
each student. Twitter also allows its users to lock their accounts to followers unless they receive
permission. Some studies have found that parents are concerned with privacy for their children,
but parents generally agree to social media use if they are kept updated or given access to it as
well (Morgan 76). Extra precautions may include directing forms to parents and keeping parents
access to tweets made in class.
Ultimately, case studies show that Twitter is useful in the classroom. As a popular social
media platform, it can work to help High School students reach Alberta Educations guidelines
for ensuring that students are digitally literate and collaborative. In case studies, student surveys
suggested that students felt a better sense of community, enhanced literacy skills and
engagement, improved their self-reflection, and found their instructors more credible. There are
many concerns and complications with using Twitter in the classroom such as technical issues,
inappropriate behaviour, cyberbullying, privacy, and liability but Alberta Educations policies
can be put in place to prevent issues with the platform. Through the success of case studies with
Twitter, it is clear that Twitter should be in the High School classroom, and Alberta Educations
policies ensure that it should not be problematic.

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Works Cited
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Education 15.1 (2014): 10-21. EBSCO Host. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Bynum, Steven. Utilizing Social Media to Increase Student Engagement: A Study of Kern Public
Schools. Thesis. California State University, 2011. Department of Public Policy and
Administration. Institute of Education Sciences. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
"Cyberbullying." Be Web Aware. Bell, 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Digital Citizenship Policy Development Guide. Edmonton: Alberta Education, 2002. PDF.
English as a Second Language: Senior High Guide to Implementation. Edmonton: Alberta Education,
2002. PDF.
Grosseck, Gabriella, and Carmen Holotescu. "Can We Use Twitter for Educational Activities?" Thesis.
Bucharest, 2008. Research Gate. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Journell, Wayne, Cheryl A. Ayers, and Melissa Walker Beeson. "Tweeting in the Classroom: Twitter
Can Be a Smart Instructional Tool That Links Students with Real-time Information and Connects
Them to Authentic Discussions beyond School Walls." Phi Delta Kappan 95.5 (2014): 53.
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Larson, Bruce E. "Considering the Move to Electronic Discussions." Social Education 69.3 (2005):
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Morgan, Hani. "Enhancing Instruction and Communication With Twitter." Childhood Education 90.1
(2014): 75-76. ProQuest. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Paul, John, and Nicholas Ianniti. "On Beyond Clickers: Twitter as a Classroom Response
System." Journal of Health Administration Education (2012): 319-28. ProQuest. Web. 6 Dec.
2015.

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Programs of Study: English Language Arts. Edmonton: Alberta Education, 2003. PDF.
Schneider, Barbara, and Anthony Bryk. "Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for School
Reform." Educational Leadership 60.6 (2003): 40-45. ACSD. ACSD, 2003. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
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