Janja Rakovec, Višja strokovna šola, Šolski center Kranj

In a vocational college program, part-time students are directed to experiential learning on their own through cooperation with various organizations. This year we started to use the social network Twitter to follow their work, exchange their experiences and opinions and their comparisons between theory and practice. We have created a joint account, through which students tweet on professional topics related to the study program, post their experiences and present a variety of projects. Each of the students takes over the account for the selected period of time and tweets under our common name, whilst others follow them.

We’ve chosen Twitter because of its simplicity of use and the short, limited message structure, thus promoting concise communication among students which requires reflection and creativity. Well thought-out tweets that are on topic, and know how to reach others, are rewarded by the followers in the form of comments, discussion development, shares and likes. This way, the students get immediate feedback on what they’ve written and what kind of experiences or opinions their classmates have about it. The professor also participates to ensure that the discussion stays focused on the program-related topics. This type of learning is motivational, it allows students to actively participate in choosing the course content and the methods of giving and receiving information, while encouraging peer-to-peer learning and collaboration.