social @ edu

Exploring strategies for social media in higher education

Archive for the month “June, 2012”

23 Jun 2012
2 Comments

Take Two: Seeds of Possibility in Higher Education

This week, we’re excited to introduce a new feature here on social @ edu, Take Two.  Take Two is a series where Kevin and I will present each of our own perspectives, or takes, on a particular topic at the end of each month. It’s an opportunity for us to not only interact directly with each other on our blog, but also cross-examine something that warrants attention. We hope you enjoy the series and share your own take on the subjects with us.

“Right beneath the surface are seeds of possibility, if conditions are fertile people will flourish and grow.” Sir Ken Robinson, NACE 2012 Keynote Speech

This particular line from the keynote reminded me why I pursued a career in higher education – the possibility to help others flourish and grow.    It is increasingly difficult to accomplish this goal, however, in a time where higher education is faced with significant challenges. Budget cuts, rising tuition prices, a difficult job market for recent graduates, discrepancies in access and academic preparation, a growing college-aged population. These are a few of the issues facing our industry. Social media has the potential to help higher education address them. In fact, it has already in many respects. A few events this week centered on higher education finance drove this point home for me.

1. Higher Education Budget Cuts in Pennslyvania. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett recently said that the state should look at how it funds higher education because it does not make sense. PA needs to consider a voucher system to incorporate a market-based approach. Officials from a handful of public institutions in PA commented in the article. This is an example of where social media can create a more inclusive conversation. Clearly, administrators are discussing this on campus. What about off and between their respective campuses? What do their alumni, current and future students think? They are the most active on social media platforms and whose fate hangs in the balance. Social  media can help fuel the conversations across populations by aggregating comments across platforms through storify, or tracking and collecting important private institutional data through wikis.

2. Student Loan Rate Increases. Student loan rates will double in 9 days and 12 hours, according to a recent Facebook post by Obama.  I came across this in my own Facebook news feed (pictured below) and consider it an example of a great social media strategy. Politics aside, this post was clear, eye-catching and easy to share with my friends. Many of my friends have student loans, myself included. My younger cousins are prospective college students, as well. They are all on Facebook every.day. It is important to follow the latest bills and policies that influence one’s ability to pay for college, or pay back their education.

These are two examples of where conversations about higher education issues have, and can be influenced by social media. At the end of the day, an inclusive and  fluid communication system is at the heart of identifying and implementing resolutions.  Ask their opinion. Tell them the facts.  Listen. Students, faculty, staff and government officials all have opinions and their own facts. I don’t deny that.  Sharing and listening (which is at the foundation of social media) generates buy-in and that is critical to success.

What issues are your institutions facing? How has or can social media contribute to a resolution?

by Shannon

Posted by Shannon Kelly in Take Two
17 Jun 2012
8 Comments

Creativity Resurrected: Social Media in Education

At a recent conference in the desert known as Las Vegas, I was fortunate enough to hear the words of a fantastic mind and brilliant speaker, Sir Ken Robinson. I have to admit, keynote speakers are sometimes my least favorite part of any gathering. As a “Gen Y” I much prefer a dialogue and interactivity over sitting still and listening only. However, Sir Ken had me hooked from moment one. His bio and TED talks should show you why.

During his moments on stage, Sir Ken elaborated beautifully on some of his ideas regarding education in America. No surprise here: he’s concerned that the system is failing.  One of the points during his talk was that education often inadvertently squashes creativity, a critical element of humanity that has helped us survive and reinvent ourselves throughout history. As an educator myself, this was cause for pause.  How can I be a part of education’s shift back to cultivating innovative thinking, doing, and being? Turning inward, I reflected on characteristics of creative climates I have experienced thus far. Two traits emerged: highly collaborative and boundary-less. Thinking as an educator, I added a caveat: needs to operate on a “low to no” budget. So, I need to create opportunities to collaborate, without boundaries, at almost no cost.  Well, it should come as no surprise that my mind went immediately to social media. Let’s break down that sentence and put some social in it.

1.) Opportunities to collaborate…

A brief description of Google+ Hangouts

Google+ Hangouts are a fantastic example of social media providing ways to collaborate.

Where in social media are there such spaces?  Plenty.  Immediately, I think of Google+ Hangouts for synchronous video conversations with screen sharing capabilities, Twitter tweetchats to gather people in a live discussion, LinkedIn & Facebook groups for asynchronous conversations, and even a co-authored blog (this one is fine example if I do say so myself).

2.) … without boundaries…
Social media is famous for being boundary-less.  I can think of numerous examples myself, but here’s a quick story outside of higher ed that I really just love, first for the connection made and second for the topic: Greek culture (and food).  A friend was recently telling me about a Greek Festival she was helping plan locally in New Jersey.  One of her big pushes was to get this festival on social media, namely Twitter.  ”How much could a Greek Festival say about itself on Twitter?” you wonder.  Well, 3 Greek Sisters from Canada found the festival quite interesting, and, with a recently published Greek cookbook they’re hoping to sell in the American market, they found the festival on Twitter and are now flying in for the event to give live cooking demos.  Believe it.

The Twitter bio of the Opa Greek Festival

Here’s the official Twitter bio from the Twitter homepage of the Opa Greek Festival.

The tweets of the 3 Greek Sisters showing they'll be attending the Opa Greek Festival

And here are the tweets from the 3 Greek Sisters talking about their upcoming events, including a stop at the Opa Greek Festival. The connection was made all via Twitter.

3.) …at almost no cost.
Google+ Hangouts?  Free.  LinkedIn groups?  Free.  Facebook groups?  Free.  Twitter tweetchats?  Free.  I could go on, but you’re getting the picture.

To me, it’s clear.  Social media has the power to resurrect creativity in education, higher education, and really everywhere.  How are you harnessing its power in your life and work?  Give us goosebumps and tell us in the comments.

By

Posted by Kevin Grubb in Food for Thought and tagged , , , , , , , ,
09 Jun 2012
1 Comment

Worth A Thousand Words

I returned from vacation yesterday and while I was away I took a lot of photos on my iPhone. This got me thinking about the value of images in social media.  They capture so much, so quickly. And, technology today allows us to take pictures and share them instantly with only one device.  There is a lot of potential for higher education to interact on a visual basis with all of its populations thanks to the ease of photo sharing through social media.

I wrote about this topic recently in the Career Services Professionals Group on LinkedIn, but another example of how interactive images are came across my plate while I scanned Mashable today.  Mashable readers were challenged to send in photos of weather from where they were all over the globe.  Given the global nature of higher education today, with universities like NYU setting up branch campuses in the Middle East, photo submissions from students and alumni of activities around campus or in their lives post-graduation can bring a great sense of community that transcends national borders.  Transcending boundaries and restrictions of traditional communication mediums is one of the best parts about social media.

A fantastic example of a university-wide photo sharing event comes from University of Pennsylvania’s Day in the Life project.

On April 12th, 2012, Penn’s Office of Communications had students, staff and any other willing Penn member take photos from morning until night to document a day in the life.  Penn’s Day in the Life photo project showcased the variety of activities and diverse perspectives that take place on the same campus daily. The photos were collected and added to the university’s Flickr page for all to see.  I think this is a great demonstration of how much an institution can value each and every perspective of their community.  My only criticism is photos were taken largely with professional cameras.  Granted, this ensured quality photos, but it restricted access to those with such cameras.  If they accepted submissions from smartphone holders,  it could increase the diversity of perspectives and add a more spontaneous and interactive element.

Photo sharing has a lot of potential within our social media world.  More platforms today are created with photo sharing in mind. It is important for social media professionals within higher education to leverage this functionality. In a world restricted by character limits, where concise statements are the norm/necessity, a picture is truly worth a thousand words because it let’s us share so much by saying so little.

by Shannon

Posted by Social @ Edu in Food for Thought
02 Jun 2012

Should I Care About Google+?

Full disclosure: I didn’t want to like Google+.  Given Google’s track record of failure in the social media space, I thought my feelings would be a sure thing.  I wasn’t even alone.  Many still say it’s a ghost town.  When I log in to my account, the sparse updates I see would have me agree.  The big thing that’s been keeping me on thus far is Google+ Hangouts (if you have not tried a Hangout yet, join Google+, call 1 friend, tell them to join Google+, get each other in a Circle, and do it - even with all of those steps I promise it’s worth it).  But, some interesting news has come to light on Google+ that I need to share.  It’s making even me reconsider.

Google is rolling out a new feature called “Knowledge Graphs” over the next few days.  These Knowledge Graphs are going to show up on the right-hand side of your search results, in place of paid search ads.  See the screenshot below for a search I just ran on “Lady Gaga”:

Google Search Result for Lady Gaga

Note: I am not signed in to Google+!

There’s the typical search results in the center of the screen and then there on the right side… what’s that?  The Knowledge Graph for Lady Gaga.  Where the paid search ads used to be.  But, I’m not done.  Note 2 very important things about this results page:

  1. I am not logged in to my Google account.  Google is pulling this information on its own for me.
  2. Look at the very bottom of the Knowledge Graph – it’s showing me Lady Gaga’s latest post on Google+

While I can’t be sure where this is all headed, it looks like Google+ is getting deeper and deeper integration into Google results, whether I have an account and use it or not.  Considering Google has dominated the search world as the place to get information about a topic, perhaps I should get myself and my university more active on Google+.

By A Google+ Skeptic 

Posted by Kevin Grubb in Google+ and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

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