Colleges and universities indubitably benefit from utilizing social media tools, and in most departments, the reasons are obvious: broad exposure and information transfer for admissions, game promotion for athletics, and über-connectivity for alumni relations. Some institutions are also allowing social media to creep into the classroom—and for good reason.
“Social media tools, like Facebook, Twitter and blogs, are key to communicating with this generation of students,” stated Joyce Smith, CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. “While still no substitute for face-to-face interaction, social media have opened lines of communication and inquiry for both students and institutions that were inconceivable only a decade ago.”
From YouTube and iTunes to Facebook and Twitter, social media has created a new attitude towards teaching and towards the learning experience in general.
YouTube, for example, recently expanded to allow colleges and universities to create their own “channels” on YouTube EDU. Faculty and staff use these personal pages to post lectures, guest speakers, events, etc. For many participating professors, speaking to an unseen audience on camera prompts them to strive for a more engaging, interesting lecture. On the same note, iTunes also has a brilliant new outlet for colleges and universities called iTunes U. It provides free lectures, audiobooks, etc. all downloadable to your Mp3 player, mobile phone, or computer, and over 70 academic institutions are already participating!
Another development in the audio/video world is a little gem called Livestream, which delivers live content in real-time to client computers. Universities are using this platform not only to satiate information-hungry alumni with live lectures and readings, but also as an option with which to base assignments.
Some colleges and universities are also utilizing Twitter and Facebook as a new way to communicate out of the classroom. One Illinois State University technology instructor even required his students to “friend him” on Facebook. While some feel that required “friending” crosses the line, it’s hard to deny its usefulness. Students can post questions on their professors’ walls; professors can post assignments on their own profiles, or even to their students’; and if online at the same time as the professor, students can chat live about assignments.
How would you feel about a professor contacting you via Facebook? Do you think that utilizing YouTube EDU, iTunes U, or Livestream for assignments, lectures, readings, etc. is a good idea?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
While I agree that social media is a great resource for the Y generation to keep in touch, I feel that Facebook and Twitter should not be used to communicate about coursework assignments with university professors. I feel that questions and comments between students and professors in higher learning institutions should be discussed face to face. The Y Generation is already too comfortable with hiding behind computer screens, and I’m afraid that if students continue this trend they may lose their ability to communicate effectively with their superiors in the classroom and their future employees. Social media is a useful tool, but too much of it, like anything else, might be a bad thing.
Thank you for the intelligent and thoughtful response. I understand your concern for face-to-face interaction between students and professors; to me, this will always remain the best form of communication. However, when I think back to my homework nights at The University of Iowa, in-person interaction was not always available when I needed it the most—specifically, the night before the test/paper was due. Sure, I took full advantage of clarifying and asking questions in class, but it seemed that when I actually sat down to write or study was when my most crucial questions emerged.
I’m not promoting procrastination, but some people do their best work under pressure, aka, last minute. I would have loved to have the option to contact my professors with questions the night before via live Facebook chat or messages on Facebook/Twitter. It sure beats the awkward phone call or message to their work email that they never check at night anyway.
What must one have thought upon the invention of the typewriter, telephone, facsimile machine?
I grew up in during the 90’s along with the internet. I remember in 1992, my 4th grade teacher telling us about this new technology where we’d be able to to play video games and communicate with other students in far off lands like Japan. In 1995, 8th grade, I remember our school’s first CD-ROM computer with an internet connection. I lived in rural Iowa at the time and perhaps we were behind the times, but these were big events. In 1996, my freshman year of high school, our family bought our first PC and signed up to AOL. Many a night were wasted Instant Messaging with friends. It was the coolest. Chat rooms, email, instant messaging, web-casts, video conferencing, social media. These are all advancements in our ability to communicate with one another.
My days of staying up past my bedtime instant messaging are long gone. I have yet to sign up for a Twitter account, mostly because I fear the unknown, and addiction. But, I now spend my days building relationships in a corporate environment. While I agree with the 2 posts above, face to face human interaction and communication is always the highest quality of communication, virtual communication is still better than no communication. The fact is, techonology shrinks the world. Corporations are constantly looking for “easier ways to do business”. In today’s tough economic environment, it is especially tough to accomplish this face to face communication. While I could spend $500 to fly to New York, hold a 2 hour meeting, and fly back…I could accomplish just about everything I need to accomplish via Video Conferencing.
So, to the extent that academic institutions are starting to use social media as another way to reach and communicate with their students, I think it’s important to embrace technology and learn how to use it best. Those already using such technologies such as Facebook or Twitter are staying with the curve (they’re not even ahead of it). Those that are not, will struggle to keep up with the demands of students. Which, at the end of the day, even an education is a consumer driven industry.
It doesn’t matter how fearful I am of Twitter. If students want Facebook and Twitter, they will get Facebook and Twitter eventually. And if using these technologies is another option for learning, then I say LEARN ON!
PS – Professors should not require their students to be “friends” with them. That’s just weird and creepy…and sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.