Thread by @ProfPaulPoast

If I had to suddenly shift the last part of my undergraduate course from "in-person" to "on-line", what would I do?

I would use a "Twitter Take-home" approach.

For a given topic, the students are to:

- Look
- Read
- Skim
- Watch
- Answer
- Reply

All on Twitter

[THREAD]

I teach a large Introduction to International Relations course, so each "twitter take-home" would focus on an idea related to international politics

Suppose the idea is "Liberal International Order"

LOOK: They would "look" at a side that hits a key point I want them to know

READ: They would "read" a useful article on the topic that builds out that key point.

Here is a @ForeignAffairs piece by @RebeccaLissner & @MiraRappHooper that I really like on the topic and that engages students

foreignaffairs.com/articles/world…

SKIM: They would "skim" a blog post on the topic.

@dhnexon has a nice one on @lefarkins about the relationship between order and hegemony

lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/07/americ…

WATCH: They "watch" a video on the topic (this could also be LISTEN if you have a great pod-cast episode related to the topic)

The video could be a provocative one, like this @prageru video where Brett Stephens lays out his "broken window" theory

https://twitter.com/prageru/status/1177209958493913089

ANSWER: They "answer" a Twitter survey question related to the topic.

Question: After reading about order (and watching the above video), which of the following best captures the idea of the "liberal order"

REPLY: They post a reply to the survey tweet where they explain why they chose A, B, C, or D.

"I chose A, because never clear that the "liberal order" was universal"

Since @Twitter now has the ability to limit who sees Tweets, you could create a class specific account that can only be viewed by your students.

Also, since the content is fully on @Twitter, everyone can access it on their phone.

I would post a few of these week (or even daily)

Make no mistake: I don't consider this a substitute for truly "in person" courses or truly "on line" courses.

But in a bind, this approach could be a useful way to provide students engaging content with minimal investment in resources (and time)

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