Social Networking in Higher Education

SOCIAL NETWORKING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Leanne Cameron and Miriam [email protected] | [email protected]

Australian Catholic University

Contents

• Introduction: what is social networking?• Practical: exploring – Twitter– Social bookmarking – FaceBook fan page– Edmodo

• Investigate: Social networking in higher education

• Evaluate: moral, ethical and legal implications

What is social networking?

• Social media - various avenues through which people share information, public or private, with a select group of people.

• Social networking - the act of exchanging information, personal or public, through various forms of technology, such as the Internet, mobile phones, and other services.

Source: http://ashleyanderson.suite101.com/what-is-social-networking-a235550#ixzz1dvmvA5MM

TWITTER

Twitter• Personal Learning Network (PLN) or Community of

Practice • Increasing your connections with others• Benefits:– exposure to new ideas– resources– Collaboration– reflection – evaluation – broaden our perspectives, beyond the local, into

a more global, world-view

Twitter

• NOT Facebook status• 140 character broadcast• following (@shirleyleitch, @thesiswhisperer)• followers• @• # • Reply• RT (retweet)

Assessment Reflective Microblog

As a means of establishing a reflective microblog, each of you will create a twitter account. Your twitter account will enable you to engage deeply with the lecture and tutorial content by encouraging you to pose questions, add content or pursue points presented. Your account will also enable you to undertake professional conversations with other educators, it will also be used to keep your peers informed of your school experiences, allow them to offer support and advice and to promote the sharing of educational resources and other tweets that may be of relevance.

- All tweets must end with the following hashtag #ACUedu_s- Original tweets must be made on a weekly (minimum) basis- Re-tweets must also be made on a weekly (minimum) basis- Internet etiquette must be adhered to at all times

Assessment Reflective Microblog

As a means of establishing a reflective microblog, each of you will create a twitter account. Your twitter account will enable you to engage deeply with the lecture and tutorial content by encouraging you to pose questions, add content or pursue points presented. Your account will also enable you to undertake professional conversations with other educators, it will also be used to keep your peers informed of your school experiences, allow them to offer support and advice and to promote the sharing of educational resources and other tweets that may be of relevance.

- All tweets must end with the following hashtag #ACUedu_s- Original tweets must be made on a weekly (minimum) basis- Re-tweets must also be made on a weekly (minimum) basis- Internet etiquette must be adhered to at all times

Assessment You will be assessed on both quantity and quality of your online participation/contributions. By quantity, you are expected to make broadcasts to twitter each week. For quality, you should try to engage in critical thinking and analysis. To initiate a discussion, your broadcast should show analyses, insights, observations and reflections. To respond to your peers' postings, your reply should advance the discussion by making references to other sources, readings or other broadcasts. Tactics for you to achieve this include asking for clarifications, posing questions, and offering different perspectives. As a general rule, you should keep your postings brief, encourage others to comment and respond; and respect others perspectives. The reflective microblog must include: - Discussion and evaluation of your personal contribution: you are required to submit three of your best twitter broadcasts (screen shots or other forms of evidence) and a paragraph on each explaining why you think these are your best contributions (supported by theories/principles read/discussed in this unit) - Reflection on the process: reflect on the experience of having a Personal Learning Network and discuss the knowledge, skills and expertise you have developed through this process.

SOCIAL BOOKMARKING

Social bookmarking sites

• Digg• Delicious• Diigo• Pageflakes

EDMODOvs

FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

Literature: Social networking

Alexander, B. (2008) Social Networking in Higher Education. The Tower and the Cloud: Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing. EDUCAUSE: USA http://lcc.lipscomb.edu/uploads/24663.pdf#page=219

Alderton, E. Brunsell, E. Bariexca, D. (2011). The End Of Isolation. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 7(3). http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no3/alderton_0911.pdf

Casey, G. & Evans, T (2011). Designing for Learning: Online Social Networks as a Classroom Environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(7). http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1011/2021

M.D. Roblyer, McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., Vince J., Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking sites, The Internet and Higher Education, 13(3) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096751610000278)

Ensuring safe and efficient learning environment

• Concerns about social networking in educational settings

• The ‘systemic’ view of social networking in educational settings

• Ethical dilemmas

Concerns of teachers

• Many teachers shy away from using Social Media in their classrooms because of safety or classroom management concerns.

• However, if its use is not accompanied by a structured task, students can lose focus and become inefficient learners.

Main areas of teacher concern:

• Sharing of personal details and photographs;• Copyright infringement;• Defamation; and• Bullying, harassment and offensive material.

AACE research, 2011

CEO defines social networking

Schools differentiate between online community sites and personal social networking sites:

• Online community sites such as nings, wikis and some educational blogs are used primarily for collaboration and shared knowledge construction.

• Personal social networking sites are centered on an individual rather than a group and include Facebook, MySpace and other related sites. Such sites are used primarily for sharing personal information such as photos and updates.

CEO Staff are required to educate students using social media of any kind to:

• Respect themselves and others when publishing or communicating online;

• Keep communication channels transparent and supervised by adults;

• Create a sensible/ plain username or identity;• Set social network sites to the “private” security

setting;• Keep personal information private;• Not share usernames and passwords with anyone;• Report any attacks or inappropriate content

directed at them. http://www.ceosyd.catholic.edu.au/Parents/Curriculum/Documents/pol-socialmedia-staff.pdf

From the DEC, NSW Australia

“Conversations in social media are a dialogue, an opportunity to listen, share, collaborate and respond to our colleagues and communities. We recognise the importance of participating in these conversations. Because the social media space is relatively new, and comments may be public and potentially permanent, we’ve developed these guidelines to support staff as they engage in any conversations or interactions using digital media for official, professional and personal use.”

https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/technology/communication/socmed_guide.pdf

Australian Council for Computers in Education(ACCE)

• ACCE firmly supports the potential educational affordances of online communication, including social media.

• Teachers at all levels are demonstrating innovative and educationally rewarding uses.

• The adoption of an approach based on appropriately managing risks, not inhibiting use

• Educating students about the dangers

• Unilateral policies regarding removal, or blocking, social networking sites, do not recognise the potentially valuable outcomes they may afford.

Lessons to be learnt from the studies:

Ethical dilemmas

• You decide …