From the Physical to the Social: Twitter as a Pedagogical Innovation in the Sport Communication and Sport Management Classroom

Abstract

This essay discusses how Twitter can be used as a pedagogical tool for sport communication and sport management courses. Given the prevalence with which Twitter has penetrated the sport industry and the frequency with which college students use social media, Twitter is a complementary and viable classroom component. The essay provides ways in which Twitter can be used for formal assignments in the sport communication and sport management classroom. The essay concludes by discussing some challenges to using Twitter in the classroom, describing strategies for overcoming these barriers, and encouraging sport communication and sport management educators to embrace the culture of convergence that Twitter affords. The appendix offers detailed guidelines for the assignments discussed in the essay.

#ODU2ODU: Testing the Benefits of a Partnership Between Sport Management Classrooms

“…Following this, students were offered an opportunity to complete a qualitative survey about the class assignment. The survey was created to examine the benefit of Twitter hashtag partnerships to learning in the sport communication classroom, specifically the three benefits suggested by Sanderson and Browning (2015). The researchers sought to assess the benefits and drawbacks derived from participation in the mandatory class assignment.…”

“…There was no obligation for students to complete the nine-question survey. The survey, which received IRB approval, was created based on the literature about effective sport and social media pedagogy, particularly to test the assertions in Sanderson and Browning (2015) of the potential SIJ for online partnership creation that traverses distance through Twitter. The questions, which underwent a quality check for validity by two qualitative research experts, are listed in Table 1.…”

“…Given the popularity of Twitter and its correlation with the sport industry, there has been consideration given to its role in the sport communication classroom as a tool (Anderson, Swenson, & Kinsella, 2014;Tyma & Pickering, 2015). Sanderson and Browning (2015) suggested that Twitter can be incorporated into the classroom, through the use of a course hashtag, for live-tweeting exercises and as a tool to analyze sport media conversations.…”

“…Another potential benefit that Sanderson and Browning (2015) ascribe to the use of Twitter in the classroom is the use of the site to develop partnerships that transcend physical barriers. The study notes students can assess an organization's strengths and weaknesses, construct recommendations for how social media can be used, and analyze Twitter data to help with organizational learning.…”

Las representaciones de la familia en Twitter: una panorámica desde la perspectiva de las virtudes sociales [The representations of family in Twitter: an overview from the perspective of social virtues]

“…Es un canal de comunicaci on de inter es para el estudio de la opini on p ublica (Myunggoon, Yoonmo y Han, 2014), la movilizaci on ciudadana (Castells, 2015), la publicidad, el marketing (Jin y Phua, 2014; Castell o Mart ınez, Del Pino Romero y Ramos Soler, 2014), en la educaci on por las posibilidades que tiene de fomentar la comunicaci on (Sanderson y Browning, 2015;Bista, 2015). Un espacio de inter es para los profesionales de la comunicaci on y sus lectores (Lee y Kim, 2014;Kim et al, 2015; Olof Larsson y Moe, 2015; Weiai Wayne y Miao, 2014; Arrabal-S anchez y De-Aguilera-Moyano, 2016).…”