On 14 March 2012 my Sport Marketing unit (course code SPM2122) replaced the group discussion aspect of our meeting with a live tweeted conversation on the Twitter website using the hashtag #SPM2122.
In my seminars, we usually have group discussions about contemporary issues in sport management and/or sport marketing to break up the three hour lecture. Today, I decided to host a live tweet to replace the group discussion.
Earlier this week, students were emailed and requested to bring either a laptop or smart phone (if they had these) to class as we’d be using them in an activity. They were not told what the activity was.
Today, students were placed into groups of between four and six (those who were sitting near each other) and given a group number that they used when replying to my questions.
Students were provided with a lecture on netiquette and the following instructions prior to the live tweet:
Go to www.tweetchat.com (I suggested they use this site as it can make following a chat easier)
Login to tweetchat with your twitter account and follow #SPM2122
Activity Questions will be posted there (the questions were not posted anywhere else or even verbally given).
Rules: I’ll moderate the Qs, chime in when you’re ready, refer to the ? In your answer and your group number (ie Q1- A1G3 (indicating Group 3), Q2 – A2G5, etc) and tag your answer with #SPM2122
We were discussing paying for services online (in the sport sectors) so the questions surrounded paywalls.
The questions were:
- Q1:What is a paywall? Define and describe its use.
- Q2: Research sport organisations to find out which ones utilise paywalls?
- Q3: Should sports organisations start to use these more frequently?
- Q3 (Follow Up) What is typically charged? (on the transcript it’s listed as Q3FU
- Q5: Your thoughts on paywalls… Good marketing tool, exploitation of fans, you have carte blanche
*Question 4 was skipped due to time constraints.
- The transcript is available from http://searchhash.com/link.php?q=%23spm2122&s=_spm2122_031323
- The entire exercise lasted around 45 minutes
We will have a tweet chat again as part of the assessment items for SPM2122 on contemporary issues in Sport Marketing on Wednesday of Weeks 5 (28 March) and 10 (25 April) starting at 9:30AM and lasting 90 minutes.
The rationale for this assessment was anecdotal evidence that universities do not adequately teach students how to effectively engage the wider community via social media. Further, it has been suggested that many Generation Y graduates of university degrees are increasingly being put in charge of their company’s social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and others) without having a theoretical understanding about how to successfully use these to foster loyal customers (whether sports fans or loyal Just Jeans purchasers).
Olan Scott 
Finally got to read the blog after seeing the Tweet stream. Great initiative!
Thanks very much. Appreciate your feedback. Next tweetchat is Wednesday 9 May at 9 AM Perth time. Join us.!
If it’s raining, I will! If not, this is where I spend my Wednesdays (http://www.surfingmums.com/) I know you’ll approve.
I’m starting teaching some Masters courses with Dave at SCU – maybe we could do a tweet off?!
For my sake, I hope it rains. For your sake, I hope there’s nothing except sunshine and great waves.
I think starting a more inclusive discussion using social media in academia will foster an increased engagement with a) university lecturers and b) university course materials for students, because they’ll be discussing and working through contemporary problems with peers from all over. To sum up: I’m in.
I’ve got it in my calendar as a recurring appointment. I’ll tweet you if it rains.
Further chat via Sport Management Hub.