Luce De Buitleir Andrews, The Australian National University: Keeping pace with the technological change at the student and staff level

Keeping Pace with Technology:

You, Gadgets and (Anti) Social Media

December 4 2013

Luce De Buitleir Andrews

Director Residential and Campus Communities

Honorary Head of Griffin Hall

Residential & Campus Communities


MOOC Gamification Edware

Cloud BYOD Facebook WeChat

Kik WhatsApp SnapChat

Twitter HootSuite eBuddy

Pinterest Badoo Latitude

Instagram Vine Skype


Rogers 1962 OFCOM 2008 Brandtzæg 2011

Innovators 2.5% Alpha socialisers Sporadics 19%

Early adopters

13.5%

Attention seekers Lurkers 27%

Early majority 34% Followers Intermittent

contributors 30%

Late majority 34% Faithfuls Heavy Contributors

20%

Laggards 16% Functionals

What type of user are you?

What type of user are you?


• Do you know your institution’s policies?

• What drives your interaction with

technology?

• What inspires your use of new technology?

• Different platform – different behaviour

• Progression from information gathering to

social connection

• A new world of addiction type behaviours.

The Technological Wonderland


• Smart boards; Smart phones; Smart trackers

• Asynchronicity providing flexibility in learning and

service delivery

• MOOCs providing choice,challenge…recruiting

• Our documents record how long we took to write

• Our phones facilitate our critical functions

• Our images are constantly recorded…searchable

• We may be entirely trackable …device decisions.


Who are you online?

The Edited Self: Worker

•Presentation of sanctioned or acceptable messages

•A consistency of message/presentation

•Sensitive commentary – not breaching standards

•Possibly limited ‘in the moment’ expression

•Across limited number of platforms

•Tends to be outward facing

•Possibly used to link other corporate media

•Mediation can be critical

•Be careful what may be pushed to your pages

•Networking focus


Who are you online?

The Edited Self: Social

•La ‘Selfie’- controlled images, ‘duckface’

•Multiple platforms with effective feed streams

•Pushed and pulled content very easily shared

•Feedback cycles can dictate use patterns: ‘Like’ wars

•Response shopping / selective view re-enforcement

•Sense of aloneness may increase due to lack of

responses

•Spontaneous commentary very common

•Soft trolling on the rise

•Trends: flurry of activity with very quick die off, followed

by trolling



Student Users

• Frequently live across multiple platforms

• Maintains different communities on different platforms

• Textual base of communication influencing truncated

discussions

• Constant / frequent brief communication re-enforces

sense of connection and social currency

• Asynchronicity used to advantage

• Evacuates a platform as it becomes commonplace

• Multiple tribal memberships

• Prefers to separate formal and informal platforms due

to sense of intrusion and loss of control


Tribalism

• Very large groups being abandoned or used for

reference/information

• Tribal linkages now being re-enforced to feed more

connections based on discrete interests

• Ability to find kindred spirits

• Textual communications significantly different in

thought process, immediacy and levels of expression

• Influence of distance over intimacy

• 2nd Life, World of Warcraft etc as examples of

otherness.


Challenges


• Infrastructure - WiFi, software based redundancy

• Pursuit of modernity – social caché

• Separation/compartmentalisation of selves – reduced

‘real’ life experiences/satiation

• Breaching agreed rules in your current environ

• Data lives! Your shedded bytes may follow you

• Convergence of presented/edited selves

• Selected levels of exposure

• Functional asychronicity agreements.

The Clash of Selves


• Will increased use/reliance produce a drive for

blended presentation?

• Will expectation of authenticity lead to negative

cross referencing?

• Will the feared data mining become a reality?

• Do we need to develop better ways of

authorising material involving us but not created

by us?

• How will workers turn off? Will we turn off?

Benefits/Opportunities


• Exposure of your institution across the market

• Encourages ‘Toe in the water’ trials

• Collaboration: vast opportunities

• Connection and community development

• Enhances staff’s approach orientation

• Promotes modernity – forward focus

• Self directed development for staff

• Utilises existing expertise in more creative ways.

Griffin Hall – Friendship & Wisdom

• Conceived in 2007 – ANUSA fundamental

• Commenced Semester 2 2010: 150 members

• First full year 2011: 250 members

• 2012 & 2013: 350 members

• Desire for a deeper, richer experience

• Online application/payment process

• Multisystem communication strategy

• Common Room Space

• InterHall Sports and Arts members


Virtual Spaces/Communication Tools

• Wattle/Moodle site – internal full function site

– Interface functional but not engaging

• Facebook multiple pages: Main Hall, ‘Grapevine’, study mentors,

floor groups & events

• Tumblr site – members’ request – non pro marketing

• Weekly Community Advisor “group” emails

• Smart Phone App – locator, push notifications, team creator,

calendar etc

• Actively using student preferred platforms including SnapChat,

Do……

• Starrez by Starnet – membership management, purchases,

incidents etc

• YouTube instructionals e.g. ResComm elections


Race to Reality…….

• Virtual environs used for communication

• Members desired physical spaces and

face to face interactions

• Common Room now critical element

• Loneliness not ameliorated by solely

online contact

• Pastoral support critical service

• Provision of academic resources


Gospel According to Nin

“We don’t see things as

they are, we see them as

we are.” Anais Nin


Luce De Buitleir Andrews, The Australian National University: Keeping pace with the technological change at the student and staff level

Education

different communities

social connection

duckface multiple platforms

sense of connection

informal platforms

facebook multiple pages

social currency asynchronicity

limited number of platforms