Get Your Students Hired
When a class is already in an online environment does it confuse students to utilize social media as well? How do we keep them on track with multiple portals?
Eileen,
I love that you mentioned Plain English!!!!!!! I have a paper I submitted about plain English and accounting documents. The penalty for text language is genius.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hi Christi,
I have an IM and text language penalty. THAT gets their attention and it (usually) doesn't happen again.
I also introduce the concept of Plain English, which seems to resonate with most students.
Christi,
I agree with you. Students have to relearn the use of technology professionally and we have to hold students accountable for good message writing. I now have an assignment to teach students conciseness of message using texting. It works !
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hello,
In my experience students are often confused. Because this has become a world of technology, students believe they can use the same terms the use when texting. They tend to abbreviate words and fail to write complete sentences. As instructors, it is important for us to give them feedback and provide examples relative to managing multiple portals and the purpose of those portals.
Christi Monk, MA
Nathan,
You make a great point. I love your term "guardrails". YOu are right, it can complicate an assignment. They do need to know how to be professional in that type of medium.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
If you are going to require students to use social media as part of the class it should be a structured, with clear guardrails and guidelines. Otherwise the lines between the classroom and their social life will blur. I am not a big fan of using these platforms because it invades their social life and that can be uncomfortable and at times inappropriate. If they want to use the platforms to get to know each other better I am all for that. Using it for assignments or as a requirement gets more complicated. Clear instructions with clear outcomes is how I would manage that.
Jaclyn,
You make a great point. I hadn't really thought about the LMS issue but that is true. You really hope students continue a professional connection (network) beyond the classroom. This would be a great way to do that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I agree with the discussants on the forum that students are used to being on several networks in their "real" lives. I also like the use of networks outside of the course - especially blogs as students can "take" that content with them after the course ends. With closed LMSs, the content stays within the course and is often inaccessible once students leave the course.
Lakithia,
I agree with you. We actually now require all of our freshmen to take a workshop on professional use of social media. They have to begin the cleaning process.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Morissa, I feel that it will not confuse students but distract them. I don't think that students would separate their personal social media interactions from the professionals. In today's world everyone is on social media. Grandmothers down to grandchildren have some type of face book or linked in account. It is important for the facilitators to help students draw the line.
Ava,
Great point. Students also need to be thinking of themselves as professionals and that changes what they show and what they say. . . hopefully.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I agree. Most students are already "plugged in " with 2 or 3 electronic connections in the course of any given day. I feel the line of separation from these devices and distractions is an important one to learn as it shows a degree of thoughtfulness and attentiveness.
Morissa,
They do it for most of their lives. They are tweeting, facebooking, and texting. They need to be able to discern when to act professionally and when to act personally. This is an important lesson.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson