Lecturer to use Twitter to help pupils revise

A lecturer from the School of Social Sciences at Bangor University is planning to use Twitter as a revision resource for sixth form students.

As a programme of work which aims to bridge the gap between schools and studying Sociology at University, Cynog Prys, a Sociologist specialising in the use of Welsh online, will  tweet Welsh medium revision advice from @CymdeithasegUG in the three weeks leading up to A Level exams this summer.

The first tweet will be sent on Thursday, April 24th using the hashtag #cymdeithaseglefelA and following that at least one tweet about Sociology will be sent out every day.

Cynog said: “Research conducted by the School of Social Sciences shows that young Welsh speakers use social media platforms such as Twitter extensively.

“As teachers we are constantly looking for opportunities to enrich the learning experience and to try new things. The concise nature of twitter lends itself well to the process of revision and it can help students and pupils to compile the relevant information to short and memorable points. Most young people use smartphones by now and are very familiar with the technology. This means that they can look at Twitter and revise anywhere (i.e on the bus or in the bath!)

“The hope is to create a stream that will be of assistance to young people studying sociology in Welsh at A Level, and to raise awareness of the possibility of studying the subject through the medium of Welsh at University level.”

Myfanwy Davies, a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at Bangor and a member of staff at the Coleg Cymraeg Cendlaethol under their academic staff scheme, said: “At the moment, there is a shortfall in terms of Welsh medium revision material for A Level. As a result, some teachers fell that they have no choice but to turn to English materials, which can lead to young people losing the ability to discuss the subject in Welsh.

“Twitter is an ideal medium for short and concise messages, it requires you to get to the core of the subject. We hope this will be very useful in terms of A Level notes!

“Every tweet will reiterate what the students have been learning in lessons.”

Publication date: 14 April 2014