Microblogging - 7 things you should know

7 Things You Should Know about Microblogging

Article downloaded from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7051.pdf

Microblogging is the process of posting small pieces of digital content on the Web. Twitter is the best known of these sites. This article provides an example of an instructor in Paris with a group of undergraduate students logging their experiences using Twitter. Graduate students then use these "tweets" to create a documentary. The article then answers the following seven questions about microblogging:

1. What is it?
2. Who is doing it?
3. How does it work?
4. Why is it significant?
5. What are the downsides?
6. Where is it going?
7. What are the implications for teaching and learning?

Educause posts articles on new technologies and how they can be used in higher education. While aimed at higher education, the articles are well written and would be of interest to other educators. The articles are short (exactly two pages). The articles address the new technologies in light of the questions listed above. With the rapid change in technologies, it is helpful to have a concise article explaining the technology from an educators standpoint. These are not technical articles, but education articles that explain the technology and help demonstrate how the technology might be used by an educator.