Use of Twitter across educational settings: a review of the literature

• Published in: International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 1 - 22
• Main Authors: Malik, Aqdas, Heyman-Schrum, Cassandra, Johri, Aditya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 25.09.2019; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Case Studies; Community participation; Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences; Computer Science; Computers and Education; Developing countries; Digital media; Education; Educational Objectives; Educational Technology; Empirical analysis; Higher Education; Humanities; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); Law; LDCs; Learning; Literature reviews; Review Article; Social media; Social networks; Statistics for Social Sciences; Students; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Twitter; Learning; Teachers; Students; Education; Social media; Twitter; Teaching
• ISSN: 2365-9440; 2365-9440
• DOI: 10.1186/s41239-019-0166-x

The use of social media across the educational landscape is on the rise. Subsequently, the body of research on this topic is vibrant and growing. In this article, we present findings from a review of 103 peer-reviewed scientific studies published over the last decade (2007–2017) that address the use of Twitter for educational purposes across formal and informal settings. The majority of the studies reported in the literature are descriptive case studies carried out with students in North American and European higher education settings. Analysis of these studies signals Twitter as a useful tool for communication due to high accessibility, novelty, and real-time format. Students, teachers, and other stakeholders use it as a pedagogical tool to gain information, interact and engage with each other, participate in their respective communities of interests, and share their insights about specific topics. Moreover, Twitter has the potential to enhance students’ learning capabilities as well as improve their motivation and engagement due to its unique features and non-traditional teaching approach. Finally, our analysis advocates for carrying out further empirical studies focusing on digital trace data and inference, particularly in the developing countries.