Tweet to Learn: Expertise and Centrality in Conference Twitter Networks

As Twitter use at academic conferences becomes the norm, this discussion backchannel provides attendees with the opportunity to learn from others engaged in tweeting information immediately relevant to the conference. This study uses social constructivist and connectivist learning theories to examine the role of more knowledgeable others (MKOs) in learning networks, and asks how the positions they occupy in the social network allow them to share knowledge. To examine their role, social network analyses were conducted on Twitter network data collected from the Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference 2014. Findings indicate that more knowledgeable others occupy highly central positions in the network, and that these positions allow them to effectively provide attendees with access to their expertise and knowledge.