Too much of a good thing?
Most of us are already involved in social media to some degree, and it is likely that our students are too. However, I suspect for some students adding a required social media component to a course may be a burden (social media overload, if you will). Recently, I have started using Twitter in my courses simply as an elective part of the class (class reminders, interesting articles, etc).
So, my question is this: how do you go about striking the balance between making use of this great new technology and keeping your students from feeling overwhelmed by all of the social media in our daily lives?
Lindsay
I suspect that we feel more overwhelmed by the world of social media than our students do. We view it as an added component, but I imagine many students view it as a natural component. As long as the interaction taking place in the social media platform has a unique and specific purpose, students will likely enjoy participating. We run into problems if the objective of a certain social media activity is redundant of another activity in our online classroom. In other words, it's dangerous to employ social media just for the sake of doing it. Any social media activity should have its own unique and meaningful purpose.
Todd,
I agree with you. Many of the professional programs such as technology, business, nursing are using LinkedIn. It is important that we teach students that their social media will be viewed and will be the way they network and get jobs. I actually had a student who was asked to give an employer her username and password at a job interview so they could view her Facebook. BTW, she didn't.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
As some of you have mentioned already, using Linkedin could be the "base" of social networking for a classroom setting. Because of the multitude of advantages that it has, it allows them to establish themselves with a SN site that will be a benefit to them in the future. As educators we can stress the importance of Linkedin and then it "should" become a site that they would use anyway, then it is not "just another site" the students would have to log into and check what the teacher has posted.
Todd
Linda,
We also encourage our students to us LinkedIn. Many disciplines are using LinkedIn as a way to develop that networking. I will say that many students are moving to Vine and Twitter as they have more control of what they post and their parents aren't using it!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I'd agree that for many students Facebook is getting "old". My niece has deleted her account and she's only 14! She too have moved on to Pinterest, Instagram and others. I think if she has enough to say, she'd use Twitter. In my department, Career Services, we encourage and connect with our graduates via LinkeIn as a social network. It engages them in a network site that we feel will be beneficial for their career.
Samantha,
I heard that too. I have used texting as a way to get to students. I use remind101.com if that helps.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Lindsay
Great question. I thought about creating a Facebook page for my classes because I figured students would read that over emails that I send. When I surveyed my students, they said "Facebook is old." We use other sites like "Instagram." I do not use this. Maybe it is time for me to learn about the new sites.
Samantha Carlo
Chastity,
Interesting, you are using pretests to place students in courses? We want to build on their prior learning but be efficient in using their prior knowledge. This seems to be a solution. Great Post.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I was just thinking that too much of a good thing may apply to our courses now that we have the intellipath at AIU Online in my courses.
It used to be that we needed to find new and interactive ways learn/teach in the online environment. But, with the new addition of intellipath, which creates a individualized learning path based on how a student does on the pre-test---that could be all we need.
The thing I like so much about intellipath is that I can see the specific area of strength and weakness AND then it suggests online tools that can be utilized to learn more in those areas.
It is the best of both worlds!
Barbara,
FYI, at my institution (my college) we are requiring all of our freshmen to take a professional development session on managing social media. We have so many students that are using it as a way to connect for internships and jobs that we have to now talk about "cleaning" their media. They are taking it more seriously. These are indeed interesting times.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hello Erin,
I think this is a great use of Facebook! I am taking this course so that I can try to better understand the benefit of using Facebook and other social media sites. I am not convinced of the overall value yet but I am intrigued by the idea that it would help me to form the "lifelong connections" you mentioned. Sometimes students seem to disappear and I never know if they have dropped out, graduated, etc. This would be a good way for the students to keep in touch if they want to.
Thank you for posting this.
Barb
Erin,
I agree and it teaches students the importance of networking and this age group doesn't always get that!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hi Dr. Wilkinson,
I agree that many students are moving away from Facebook for exactly that reason. I like the idea of using Facebook as a supplement that is available but not required for the course. This way, if students want to use it, they can, but they don't have to if they have already decided to leave Facebook or simply never joined for their own reasons. However, since I started using it, many of my students have really latched on to the idea and have continued to communicate with me on Facebook long after our course together was over. I think it is a great way to establish lifelong connections!
Erin Schubert
Lindsay,
You bring up an interesting point. I know many young people (students) that are moving out of Facebook because their parents and sometimes grandparents are there. I do think we need to go where the students are to engage. I think you can control the message well in Twitter. it is important that you control it. I am not sure its the students will feel overwhelmed I think it may be us!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
