As a past president and life member for the International Listening Association, I would like to share my notes with you from this year’s convention, held in Albuquerque. The sessions are typically small, intimate and interactive . . . and I am the ONLY one I know of who is using Twitter to provide notes and commentary. As such, it’s really awkward (and potentially rude looking) for me to be typing & tweeting while sessions are going on. So, I decided to use a running Cover It Live session to capture my thoughts AFTER each session is complete. If I see others also using Twitter, I’ll invite them to join me.
Tweetin’ in the Classroom
At the annual convention of the International Listening Association, Chris Bond and I will be presenting a session titled “Twitter as a Tool to Transform Listening and Speaking within the Classroom and Conference Contexts.” Chris’ focus will be on conferences, and as I have used Twitter in my public relations (and first-year experience) classes for nearly two years, I will focus on the classroom.
Here’s a sneak peek at my presentation, where I share how using Twitter in the classroom can be both an advantage (w00t) and a disadvantage (meh). If technology is working as it should, I will create an audio recording of my part of our session on Friday morning and sync it to the Prezi below.
Tweetin’ in the Classroom on Prezi
Additionally, here are 11 tips for using Twitter in the classroom:
- To help students get started using Twitter, use an assignment like One of Week of Twitter.
- Create a Twitter list to make it easy for students to find each other on Twitter.
- Let students know your specific expectations about Twitter usage in classroom.
- Some professors allow (and even encourage) Twitter usage during all class sessions. Others limit it to specific days or times.
- Create several short Twitter breaks during class.
- Stop your lecture or discussion and ask students to synthesize and share what they have learned. Encourage them to respond to others in the class.
- Monitor what they’re tweeting about during class time (once class is over).
- Redirect them if they’re off topic too much or if it appears that Twitter is a distraction.
- Be considerate of those who do not have access to a cellphone or computer during class time.
- Encourage them to take 140-char notes, then tweet via a library computer after class.
- Always use a class hashtag (like #COMM4333) if you want to make it easy for the class to follow the discussion.
- Use WhatTheHashtag to create a transcript of tweets for your class.
- Encourage students to share links to info that’s relevant to the class, along with the class hashtag, during times between classes.
- Let pros in your field know when your class is, and ask them to contribute to the conversation by asking questions via Twitter during class time.
- Consider having students participate in a scheduled chat (like #prstudchat) rather than holding a formal class once or twice during the semester.
What additional tips would YOU recommend?
(PS — When I attended the National Communication Association convention last fall, there was a bit of a kerfuffle about Twitter usage during conference sessions.)
Listening to Volunteers: Best Practices for Leaders
How can a nonprofit organization survive without its volunteers? They can’t. It’s critical that we listen to our volunteers.
At both the International Listening Association and the Southern States Communication Association, I shared several best practices on listening to volunteers. The ILA session was recorded live; the audio from that session accompanies the slides in this slidedeck:
Listening To Volunteers: Best Practices for Leaders
View more presentations from Barbara Nixon.
What additional examples would you add?
Listen Through a Window, Not a Mirror
[Cross-posted from my blog Listening Matters.]
What’s a great way to listen to another person? As Michael Wade notes in his article from a recent US News & World Report:
Look through a window, not a mirror. Don’t assume that the person means what you would have meant under similar circumstances.
Interesting approach, isn’t it? Let’s think about how “listening through a window” might work in practice.
As an educator of students in the Millennial Generation, it’s critical that I listen to my students through a window. For years, if I was planning on meeting someone somewhere, I might say, “We’re going to hook up later.” Now if I was to use the same expression in one of my classes at Georgia Southern University, I’d probably be met with snickers (and not the candy bar) from my students. Why? The term “hook up” has changed over the years. This doesn’t mean that I need to use their language, but I do need to be aware how my choice of words may be interpreted.
Wade contends that there are six ways to be a great listener. Rounding out his list are:
- Listen for a theme.
- Recognize that the speaker might not know the real message.
- Subdue your ego.
- Act as if you are listening.
- Use an old investigator’s trick.
In future postings to Listening Matters, I’ll apply many of Wade’s other tips.
So, how can your life change if you listen through a window instead of a mirror? Please share your thoughts by commenting here at Listening Matters.
Photo Credit: Thanks go to asmundur, who posted this gorgeous photo titled “In the Foyer” to Flickr.
Additional thanks to the International Listening Leaders Institute newsletter. This week’s Listening Leaders Lazer Lessons highlighted Wade’s US News & World Report article.
