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Incorporating Social Media into the Classroom

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Florida State College at Jacksonville - Open Campus

This document summarizes a presentation on incorporating social media into the classroom. It defines social media and provides statistics on its use in higher education. Questions and concerns about using social media are addressed, such as whether it costs money or takes extra time. Tools for giving social media a try in classes are described, like using Twitter, Google Docs, Skype, and Elluminate. Real examples of social media paying off in the classroom through backchannel conversations and increased collaboration are provided. Contact information is given for those wanting help getting started with social media.

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A Workshop for onlineand hybrid educatorsIncorporating Social Mediainto the ClassroomAmy Moorehttp://blog.fscj.edu/socialmedia
Original By: Hector Guerra. Remixed under Creative Commons License
Let’s TalkFollow us on Twitter @FSCJOpen and @amylizmooreUse Twitter hash tag: #edsocmedRespond @ FSCJ Open Campus Instructors on Facebook.E-mail: ammoore@fscj.edu
This Presentation at a GlanceWhat? Social Media DefinitionsHow? Some StatisticsWhy? Questions and ConcernsGiving It a Try. Description of Tools and UsesThe Payoff. Classroom ExamplesTalk Back. Conversation
The not-so magical mystery of Social mediaWhat?
What Is Social Media?SharingSocial: refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and their collective co-existence.Media: the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data. InformationOriginal By: Hector Guerra. Remixed under Creative Commons LicenseWikipedia.org
Intro to Social Media ToolsWhat Is Social Media, Really?Social Bookmarking – Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, DeliciousBlogging – FSCJ Blogs, Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr, PosterousTwitter – Social Networking and MicrobloggingLocation-Based Social Networking – Foursquare, GoWalla, Facebook PlacesSocial Profile Networks – Myspace, Ning, Linked In, Facebook
How is higher ed using social media?How?
Culture Shift: A Necessity in Online EducationSome Findings from Pearson’s new survey, “Social Media in Higher Education” (2010)1. Nearly 25% of the 1000 respondents had accounts on four or more social networks;2. A reasonably high number, more than 30%, communicate with students using social networks*.3. Just over half use video, podcasts, blogs and wikis as part of their classes.4. Social media use is higher among faculty in the Humanities and Social Sciences than those in Mathematics, Science, Business and Economics.5. Facebook was the most widely used social media service, with more than 60% of respondents having a Facebook account. However, YouTube was most commonly used for communicating with students*.6. Despite the high take-up, 25% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that social networks are valuable for communicating with students.7. Survey respondents use most social media tools between 10%-50% more often for personal rather than class use.*Portions of survey findings excerpted from Stephen’s Lighthouse.
Ripe for the Picking!Students are almost universally using social media informally, so why not exploit that built-in knowledge to close the gap between personal and educational use, thus improving their learning experiences?Swapna Kumar “The Net Generation’s Informal and Educational Use of New Technologies.” ineducation.ca. 2010.
I’m busy. Why is this worth anything to me?Why?
Social Media in the Classroom:Questions and ConcernsDoes it cost anything?How much extra time will it take for me to do this?Is this just a distraction from what I should be focusing on?Do I need to keep track of student work outside the LMS?How should I grade students on their use of social media?Is social media just a passing fad?Why should I use social media?What are the benefits to students?
Some AnswersA: Most social media platforms are freeA: Your social media efforts only have to take as much time as you prefer. Ideally, it can integrate into your existing time onlineA: This is not a distraction but an effective way of reaching students.A: Think of students’ time outside the LMS in the same way you think about the time they study together in libraries or speak on the telephone. You don’t need to track it, yet you know it’s valuable.A: You don’t grade students on phone calls or social interactions on campus; you encourage those interactions, but only grade on the outcomes they create.A: Social media has already insinuated itself into nearly every aspect of life. If anything, it will grow more pervasive.A: Only you can answer this question.A: The benefits to students are: more communication with you and with one another. More opportunities to learn outside the classroom, to gain context, some degree of integration of academic and personal lives.
Intersection and IntegrationWe have an opportunity to reach students in that rich area between socializing and formal learning – why would we ignore that opportunity for engagement?Image from http://mchabib.com/2006/10/05/digital-library-as-third-place
How to give social media a try in your classes – if you’re so inclinedGiving It a Try
A Caveat:Cart before Horse = BadRather than pursuetechnologies just becausethey’re the new hit in theblogosphere, think in termsof desired outcomes first,and then find technologiesthat can aid in reachingthose outcomes.So – what are some of yourdesired learning outcomes?*
Some Options for Online Instructors(How to Help Students Reach Desired Learning Outcomes)Conduct Office Hours via Skype or ElluminateUse Twitter hash tags to organize weekly discussionsUse Social Bookmarking to Note Important Sites for LearningCreate a Class Group Page on FacebookUse Google Docs for Group Work and CollaborationUse Skype to Bring in a Guest Speaker (and record the talk)Use Foursquare for students to check in at assigned locationsCreate Foursquare educational scavenger huntCreate a college WikiSend Video Messages (via Eyejot) rather than Standard E-MailUse Google Earth or Google Maps to Explore Cities or Regions of the WorldHave students create blogs to journal and display work
What’s This “Twit” Business?From Twitter.com –“Twitter is a real-time information network powered by people all around the world that lets you share and discover what’s happening now.”Visit Twitter.com to create an account. Create a username that is simply your name, or some variation on it.Share your username with students, ask them to follow you, and follow them.Start a conversation – using a prompt of 140 characters or less, with a topical “hashtag.”Watch the conversations collect around that topic!
Google What? Google Docs.Some Features and How to StartUpload and convert Word, rtf, txt, xls, and Open Office docs and spreadsheets, or create from scratch.Edit documents with whomever you choose.Make comments on documents for others to see.Share documents with anyone you choose.Chat in real-time with others as you edit and collaborate on work.Sign up for a free Google account.Visit docs.google.comCreate or upload documents, spreadsheets, or forms, and share!Watch the collaboration in real-time.
Skype and ElluminateThese services are free; why not give them a try for virtual office hours? Online students’ number-one complaint is lack of communication with professors; this is a great solution. Simply commit a couple of hours per week (preferably timed to accommodate those in different time zones) to make yourself available for synchronous chat.Visit skype.com or elluminate.com(Use free “VRoom” option in Elluminate)Create your account.Share your account info with students.Set a schedule of times you’ll be logged in.Offer regular synchronous sessions as a supplement/alternative to regular LMS-constrained communications.
Some Real Examples and OutcomesThe Payoff
Backchannel ConversationUniversity of Texas at Dallas History Professor, Monica Rankin, has foundan interesting way to [engage students] using Twitter in the classroom.Rankin uses a weekly hashtag to organize comments, questionsand feedback posted by students to Twitter during class. Someof the students have downloaded Tweetdeck to their computers,others post by SMS or by writing questions on a piece of paper. Rankinthen projects a giant image of live Tweets in the front of the class fordiscussion and suggests that students refer back to the messages laterwhen studying. ..[while individual levels of engagement are mixed] it isclear that more students are participating in classroom discussions thanthey used to.Marshall Kirkpatrick. “How One Teacher Uses Twitter in the Classroom.” ReadWriteWeb.com. June 1, 2009.
“As Good as Face-to-Face”A Case Study of Ning Implementation “there was a positive shift in student perceptions as evidenced in…end-of-course evaluations.” “the students wrote about the importance of Ning and the social environment” “personalization and knowing others increased their enjoyment, sense of involvement, and the friendliness of the course, all elements typically accorded to the attitudinal domain of learning, particularly motivation and engagement. “ “A few noted that the interactions were as good as face-to-face classes…On the rating of preference for distance learning over classroom learning, two-thirds now rated distance learning as good as or better than F2F, a significant increase from earlier evaluations in classes without Ning.”Ellen Hoffman. “Social Media and Learning Environments: Shifting Perspectives on the Locus of Control.” ineducation.ca. Issue 2. May 2010.
“The Ultra-Collaborative Composition Classroom”A Case Study of GoogleDocs UseJulie Meloni. Washington State University. 2009.
What are your thoughts?How Can we help you get started?Contact Usammoore@fscj.eduwww.twitter.com/amylizmoorewww.twitter.com/fscjopenPlease Feel Free to Download, Use,and Remix this PresentationSocial Media Tutorials Available @ http://www.fscj.edu/tutorials/index.html?webSiteID=fm72vxfLVEqp37iOFomo5g&pageIndex=1Talkback

More Related Content

Incorporating Social Media into the Classroom

  • 1. A Workshop for onlineand hybrid educatorsIncorporating Social Mediainto the ClassroomAmy Moorehttp://blog.fscj.edu/socialmedia
  • 2. Original By: Hector Guerra. Remixed under Creative Commons License
  • 3. Let’s TalkFollow us on Twitter @FSCJOpen and @amylizmooreUse Twitter hash tag: #edsocmedRespond @ FSCJ Open Campus Instructors on Facebook.E-mail: ammoore@fscj.edu
  • 4. This Presentation at a GlanceWhat? Social Media DefinitionsHow? Some StatisticsWhy? Questions and ConcernsGiving It a Try. Description of Tools and UsesThe Payoff. Classroom ExamplesTalk Back. Conversation
  • 5. The not-so magical mystery of Social mediaWhat?
  • 6. What Is Social Media?SharingSocial: refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and their collective co-existence.Media: the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data. InformationOriginal By: Hector Guerra. Remixed under Creative Commons LicenseWikipedia.org
  • 7. Intro to Social Media ToolsWhat Is Social Media, Really?Social Bookmarking – Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, DeliciousBlogging – FSCJ Blogs, Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr, PosterousTwitter – Social Networking and MicrobloggingLocation-Based Social Networking – Foursquare, GoWalla, Facebook PlacesSocial Profile Networks – Myspace, Ning, Linked In, Facebook
  • 8. How is higher ed using social media?How?
  • 9. Culture Shift: A Necessity in Online EducationSome Findings from Pearson’s new survey, “Social Media in Higher Education” (2010)1. Nearly 25% of the 1000 respondents had accounts on four or more social networks;2. A reasonably high number, more than 30%, communicate with students using social networks*.3. Just over half use video, podcasts, blogs and wikis as part of their classes.4. Social media use is higher among faculty in the Humanities and Social Sciences than those in Mathematics, Science, Business and Economics.5. Facebook was the most widely used social media service, with more than 60% of respondents having a Facebook account. However, YouTube was most commonly used for communicating with students*.6. Despite the high take-up, 25% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that social networks are valuable for communicating with students.7. Survey respondents use most social media tools between 10%-50% more often for personal rather than class use.*Portions of survey findings excerpted from Stephen’s Lighthouse.
  • 10. Ripe for the Picking!Students are almost universally using social media informally, so why not exploit that built-in knowledge to close the gap between personal and educational use, thus improving their learning experiences?Swapna Kumar “The Net Generation’s Informal and Educational Use of New Technologies.” ineducation.ca. 2010.
  • 11. I’m busy. Why is this worth anything to me?Why?
  • 12. Social Media in the Classroom:Questions and ConcernsDoes it cost anything?How much extra time will it take for me to do this?Is this just a distraction from what I should be focusing on?Do I need to keep track of student work outside the LMS?How should I grade students on their use of social media?Is social media just a passing fad?Why should I use social media?What are the benefits to students?
  • 13. Some AnswersA: Most social media platforms are freeA: Your social media efforts only have to take as much time as you prefer. Ideally, it can integrate into your existing time onlineA: This is not a distraction but an effective way of reaching students.A: Think of students’ time outside the LMS in the same way you think about the time they study together in libraries or speak on the telephone. You don’t need to track it, yet you know it’s valuable.A: You don’t grade students on phone calls or social interactions on campus; you encourage those interactions, but only grade on the outcomes they create.A: Social media has already insinuated itself into nearly every aspect of life. If anything, it will grow more pervasive.A: Only you can answer this question.A: The benefits to students are: more communication with you and with one another. More opportunities to learn outside the classroom, to gain context, some degree of integration of academic and personal lives.
  • 14. Intersection and IntegrationWe have an opportunity to reach students in that rich area between socializing and formal learning – why would we ignore that opportunity for engagement?Image from http://mchabib.com/2006/10/05/digital-library-as-third-place
  • 15. How to give social media a try in your classes – if you’re so inclinedGiving It a Try
  • 16. A Caveat:Cart before Horse = BadRather than pursuetechnologies just becausethey’re the new hit in theblogosphere, think in termsof desired outcomes first,and then find technologiesthat can aid in reachingthose outcomes.So – what are some of yourdesired learning outcomes?*
  • 17. Some Options for Online Instructors(How to Help Students Reach Desired Learning Outcomes)Conduct Office Hours via Skype or ElluminateUse Twitter hash tags to organize weekly discussionsUse Social Bookmarking to Note Important Sites for LearningCreate a Class Group Page on FacebookUse Google Docs for Group Work and CollaborationUse Skype to Bring in a Guest Speaker (and record the talk)Use Foursquare for students to check in at assigned locationsCreate Foursquare educational scavenger huntCreate a college WikiSend Video Messages (via Eyejot) rather than Standard E-MailUse Google Earth or Google Maps to Explore Cities or Regions of the WorldHave students create blogs to journal and display work
  • 18. What’s This “Twit” Business?From Twitter.com –“Twitter is a real-time information network powered by people all around the world that lets you share and discover what’s happening now.”Visit Twitter.com to create an account. Create a username that is simply your name, or some variation on it.Share your username with students, ask them to follow you, and follow them.Start a conversation – using a prompt of 140 characters or less, with a topical “hashtag.”Watch the conversations collect around that topic!
  • 19. Google What? Google Docs.Some Features and How to StartUpload and convert Word, rtf, txt, xls, and Open Office docs and spreadsheets, or create from scratch.Edit documents with whomever you choose.Make comments on documents for others to see.Share documents with anyone you choose.Chat in real-time with others as you edit and collaborate on work.Sign up for a free Google account.Visit docs.google.comCreate or upload documents, spreadsheets, or forms, and share!Watch the collaboration in real-time.
  • 20. Skype and ElluminateThese services are free; why not give them a try for virtual office hours? Online students’ number-one complaint is lack of communication with professors; this is a great solution. Simply commit a couple of hours per week (preferably timed to accommodate those in different time zones) to make yourself available for synchronous chat.Visit skype.com or elluminate.com(Use free “VRoom” option in Elluminate)Create your account.Share your account info with students.Set a schedule of times you’ll be logged in.Offer regular synchronous sessions as a supplement/alternative to regular LMS-constrained communications.
  • 21. Some Real Examples and OutcomesThe Payoff
  • 22. Backchannel ConversationUniversity of Texas at Dallas History Professor, Monica Rankin, has foundan interesting way to [engage students] using Twitter in the classroom.Rankin uses a weekly hashtag to organize comments, questionsand feedback posted by students to Twitter during class. Someof the students have downloaded Tweetdeck to their computers,others post by SMS or by writing questions on a piece of paper. Rankinthen projects a giant image of live Tweets in the front of the class fordiscussion and suggests that students refer back to the messages laterwhen studying. ..[while individual levels of engagement are mixed] it isclear that more students are participating in classroom discussions thanthey used to.Marshall Kirkpatrick. “How One Teacher Uses Twitter in the Classroom.” ReadWriteWeb.com. June 1, 2009.
  • 23. “As Good as Face-to-Face”A Case Study of Ning Implementation “there was a positive shift in student perceptions as evidenced in…end-of-course evaluations.” “the students wrote about the importance of Ning and the social environment” “personalization and knowing others increased their enjoyment, sense of involvement, and the friendliness of the course, all elements typically accorded to the attitudinal domain of learning, particularly motivation and engagement. “ “A few noted that the interactions were as good as face-to-face classes…On the rating of preference for distance learning over classroom learning, two-thirds now rated distance learning as good as or better than F2F, a significant increase from earlier evaluations in classes without Ning.”Ellen Hoffman. “Social Media and Learning Environments: Shifting Perspectives on the Locus of Control.” ineducation.ca. Issue 2. May 2010.
  • 24. “The Ultra-Collaborative Composition Classroom”A Case Study of GoogleDocs UseJulie Meloni. Washington State University. 2009.
  • 25. What are your thoughts?How Can we help you get started?Contact Usammoore@fscj.eduwww.twitter.com/amylizmoorewww.twitter.com/fscjopenPlease Feel Free to Download, Use,and Remix this PresentationSocial Media Tutorials Available @ http://www.fscj.edu/tutorials/index.html?webSiteID=fm72vxfLVEqp37iOFomo5g&pageIndex=1Talkback

Editor's Notes

  1. In the case of online professors, “walls” could be translated to “LMS’s”
  2. Include “culture shift” presentation video, or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng
  3. http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/05/08/social-media-in-higher-education/http://www.slideshare.net/PearsonLearningSolutions/pearson-socialmediasurvey2010http://www.acuta.org/wcm/acuta/donna2/Handout/SC10/SC10SemerLitReview.pdf
  4. Create matrix of tool-use and correlated learning outcomes.