Keywords: Twitter, embed, HTML, dynamic content, RSS, rich site summary, context
What is it?
If you are a Twitter user and want to embed your Twitter 'feed' into your Moodle site, Twitter itself provides a useful 'widget' (mini-application), together with embed code that you can add into a Moodle block or within other activities and resources. RSS feeds can be added via the Moodle RSS block.
Why use it?
Twitter is now widely used by educators to provide live discussion and to distribute links. Twitter can also be used to help students contextualise their learning, by better understanding how it applies in the "real world".
Who can use it?
Staff can add Twitter feeds to their Moodle courses
Before I start...
You will need a Twitter account set up.
Meeting the baseline
The UCL E-Learning Baseline suggests the following for Resources:
- 5.1 Use descriptive titles for all items and consider displaying the item's description on the course homepage, as this helps students understand the purpose of the activity or resource.
- 5.7 Include dynamic content from the wider web, so students can better contextualise their learning and relate it to world events (if appropriate to the course), e.g. Twitter feeds, RSS news feeds.
How do I set one up?
Twitter Feeds
1. Go to https://twitter.com/settings/widgets. Login with your Twitter account and select Create new.
2. Select the timeline source you want. For hashtags you will need to select *Search*.
A user's timeline
Your favourite tweets
A list you subscribe to
Search for a hash tag
A collection you have created
3. Set up with your desired Twitter username, hashtag or keyword. You can also configure the appearance (you can select colours that match your Moodle set up) and dimensions (you can leave the default if you prefer).
You can see what it will look like in the Preview (to the right of the configuration) to see what the colours (but not the sizes) look like.
4. Click Create widget and copy the code it provides.
Back in Moodle, you have to paste the HTML into a suitable location. For example, create a HTML block, and in the Edit mode for the new block click on the <> button and paste the code in. The Twitter widget will then be displayed inside the block.
Further guidance on Adding a Twitter feed to a HTML block is available from moodledocs.
If you find any inaccurate or missing information you can even update this yourself (it's a communal wiki).
If you have a specific question about the tool please contact the Digital Education team.
Caution
There seems to be a quirk when you add the widget and it does not display straight away. You may need to refresh the page to prompt it to display.
Examples and case studies
- None at this time.
Questions & Answers
- None at this time.
Further information
- None at this time.
