Twitter as a Learning Community in Higher Education

Introduction Didactic methods incorporating the new technologies are evolving slowly, which is why teachers should also update their skills to include the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Still, these resources are starting to contribute to the promotion of new forms of learning, forming part of a new emerging paradigm involving the construction and production of knowledge in cyberspace. Access to such knowledge makes vast quantities of information available to people, instantaneously or with a certain time delay, as well as facilitating contact with and knowledge of countless resources and communication platforms in any place at any time (Johnson, Smith, Willis, Levine, & Haywood, 2011; Kop, 2012). The Internet is a valuable resource in higher education, especially as a means of bridging long distances, thereby promoting the feedback process, a key component of learning. Moreover, it promotes the motivation and regulation of students in the training process. Certain authors go even further (Fried, 2008; Hembrooke & Gay, 2003), indicating that ICTs have a negative impact on learning, as they disperse attention and promote the diversification of the type of tasks carried out on an autonomous basis. Although others researchers as Hsu and Ching (2012) indicated that the proliferation of Web 2.0 applications--especially the social media--among people and the ever greater use of mobile devices also contributes to broaden the possibilities of ubiquitous, collaborative learning. Still, the Internet as a source of learning continues to expand and gain ground, as it generates and facilitates communication and the acquisition of a great number and diversity of resources, and provides different ways to apply fundamental principles of learning in higher education (Gernsbacher, 2015). It is also worth noting that it gives rise to knowledge, though most of its content is not directly associated with regulated learning and the physical space of classrooms. On the Internet we can all be consumers, creators and disseminators at the same time. This is one of the premises of the EMIREC model (Cloutier, 1975): any emitter is a receiver and any receiver is also an emitter. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) define social media as the applications that are supported on the Internet and are based on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and allow creating and interacting with contents generated by users by open and free means. In this sense, Khan (2013) outlined that they provide opportunities to users to develop relationships, communication, and collaboration (sharing contents). These social media integrate a large variety of emergent tools and technologies as wikis, blogs, and microblogging, content communities (YouTube, Pinterest, Slideshare), social nets (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), social tagging and folksonomies (Delicious, Addthis, Diigo), online games, collaborative plataforms, and other web 2.0 platforms where users create, exchange, comment, and value their own contents. Today no one questions the great educational potential of Web 2.0 tools, but their integration into learning contexts still has to take off, and one cannot as yet speak of widespread use. Diaz-Gandasegui (2011) holds that social media are one of the main sources of leisure among the younger generations. This helps them to acquire the technical skills required for the use of the new technologies, although it does not ensure a widespread familiarisation or acquisition of skills within this group. It is also worth noting that, owing to the way in which they invade people's lives, social media can be seen either as a potential threat, or alternatively as a great opportunity that can be extended to different facets (Stoughton, Thompson, & Meade, 2015). However, the use of social media as a didactic tool is still at an incipient stage, despite the accessibility made possible by their application, as they are easy to use and available as an open resource on the Internet. …