An article from Campus Technology discusses how Purdue University is integrating social networking into the classroom. Recently, developers at the university created a web application called Hotseat that allows students to post feedback and exchange questions and ideas in real-time during class. Professors and teaching assistants can view the comments as they are posted and adjust the course content to improve the learning experience. Students can post the comments to Hotseat via their Facebook and Twitter accounts, by text messaging, or by logging into the Hotseat website.
According to an article from Purdue News, Hotseat is currently being piloted in two classes and 73% of the students in the classes are participating. Both professors and students have expressed positive reactions to the tool. One of the professors involved in the pilot, Sugato Chakravarty, commented, “Hotseat is turning out to be a nice innovation. I'm seeing students interact more with the course and ask relevant questions. The tool allows us to engage students using media they are already familiar with." Some of the students put together a YouTube video to explain why they like Hotseat. It is expected that the tool will be utilized by all students at Purdue by the 2010-11 academic year.
