In students' eyes, there is nothing unusual about utilising Twitter for learning

Three years ago, I invited James Cunliffe, a photography tutor from the same college I work for, to write a guest post (http://nwhc-librarian.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/facebook-in-fe-tutor-on-pros-and-cons.html) on his use of Facebook for teaching. That was the time of confusion: after consulting with tutors and managers, Facebook was blocked on on-campus PCs and tutors were told they could not communicate to learners on Facebook. Neither awareness campaign, nor training preceded the consultation, so the terrified voices - Facebook is evil! - were the loudest. Photography tutors’ experiment of using Facebook has survived and developed into the best example of utilising social media in our college I am aware of. Three years later, I learnt that something new and equally exciting has appeared – James and his colleagues have adopted Twitter for their practice. Here is what he told me recently:

Twitter can be time consuming. Have you heard about the fear of missing out? There is always something out there, which you want to gather and share. In the beginning I was checking Twitter every day, posting, re-tweeting… I was doing it on the train during my 20-minutes journey. Recently, I’ve deliberately stepped back a bit and take it more casually now.

My colleagues, Andy and Hazel, are helping to look after the NWHC Photography Twitter feed (@nwhcphotography). For now, we don’t have any special arrangements who is going to reply or re-tweet. Perhaps, we will develop a strategy in that respect eventually.

Traditional and emerging media for marketing library

Added on 13.03.2012: I have slightly amended/shortened the notes to the slides on SlideShare and here is my first ever slidecast (Screenr is very easy to use, but I wish it had as much functionality as the MS Power Point's voice-over presentation tool) - http://www.screenr.com/user/iharivanou. And more fun, this time with Hello Slide, an automatic voice-over online generator - http://www.helloslide.com/presentations/1891/marketing-library-ihar-ivanou-12-march-2012 Surreal!

My presentation (which did not take place due to technical problems) for a JISC's webinar on use of technology for promoting library services, 5 March 2012.  Notes to the the slides are available at http://www.slideshare.net/nieszczarda/marketing-fe-library.

Marketing FE Library

View more PowerPoint from nieszczarda

Two articles to share: on importance of digital literacy and Facebook for user engagement

Digital literacy can boost employability and improve student experience - the title of the Guardian sounds dull, but it's full of goodness. How about that:

A recent NUS/Hefce survey found that students were concerned about the ICT competency of academic staff, with 21% thinking that their lecturers needed additional training. Some students also expressed dissatisfaction with perceived outdated technology in use in HE, and a lack of staff engagement with the institution's virtual learning environment.

From now on, digital literacy development must be on FE library menu cards alongside academic skills support.

Study Raises Doubts About Effectiveness of Facebook as Outreach Tool for Academic Libraries - this is a quick review of a piece of research from the United States. A conclusion is clear:

“If we consider how easily students ‘like’ a page, add a group, post personal information, or simply interact with Facebook pages, then we must face the fact that library pages are amongst the least attractive to students.”

After almost two years, my library's Facebook page has acquired about 100 friends. It generates very little of interaction, but functions well as one of the gateways for the library blog where the bulk of all support content is generated.

On marketing the library service

Two years ago my colleague at that time, Peter Barr, and I started a project: to develop marketing of the college library in the way which would embrace both traditional and emerging media; all should have connected and worked together. Before that, the library produced a lot of helpsheets, guides and leaflets; it also had a well developed presence on Moodle and the college website. It was first in the college to set up a Facebook page even though Facebook was banned on the college network PCs. However, our marketing activities were disjoint: content for each media was prepared separately, often – occasionally and by different people.

My thinking was broadly prompted by the Guardian which was the first major newspaper in Britain to move away from publishing online the texts that as the rule had already appeared in the paper edition. Very early the Guardian adopted a multi-platform approach: as soon as the content is ready it is pushed to all available media, edited and re-packaged respectively.

Facebook in FE: a tutor on pros and cons (guest post)

Our College has produced a brilliant example of appropriate and very active use of social networking in education. A photography tutor, James Cunliffe, who initiated the whole project shares his experience and views on benefits and pitfalls of engaging with Facebook for supporting learning.


Advantages

It is a format most students are familiar with and use frequently. Before starting the page I asked how many of my group had a Facebook account and how often they used it. All but one of the 26 of them had an account and every single one of them checked it every night.

It is a private group. Students must request to join or be invited.

All content is private and cannot be viewed by other Facebook users.

Students can add content such as links to websites, create or participate in discussions or simple ask for help on the group’s wall. All of these things create a sense of ownership with the students.

Tutors can also create or add content such as links to TV programmes they should watch, websites they should look at or news articles of specific interest.

The creator can allocate specific members of the group (staff) admin status allowing them the ability to remove any inappropriate content. (For the record I have never had to remove anything posted)

My students use it a great deal in terms of asking for help from each other which is especially important as they only attend college three days a week. A question from one can elicit a response from three or four students offering help and suggestions.

It is a joint first and second year group page and many of the students converse with each other here first despite never having met formally or being in the same year. This develops both friendships and support networks, especially with the second years are more experienced.

All of the members can be messaged quickly and simply should there be any information that needs to be sent to all (or even just one.) It also allows individual students to contact you privately should there be an issue they wish to talk confidentially to you. It appears as a message in your Facebook inbox and feels less formal than an email.

Everything posted can be commented on by any member, often starting impromptu discussions which can be continued in class.

Photographs and videos can be posted. For us, as a creative course this is invaluable but we also post photographs from events such as visiting lecturers and trips.

Educational trips can be posted as an event with the students receiving an invite by email which also promotes a sense of belonging. Links to relevant websites can also be attached.

All member information remains private, i.e. whilst we are all in the same group the students cannot view any of the staff’s Facebook pages nor can we access theirs.

By embracing this social networking it has had the effect of “decriminalising” Facebook and whilst a year ago students’ sneakily looking on Facebook during a class was a problem, this seems to have diminished considerably.

I check the groups’ page most nights however when I have not done so for a few days the notification icon at the top of the page will direct me to any new posts or comments.

Disadvantages

Word documents and PowerPoint’s cannot be posted and only go on Moodle. It is more interactive than Moodle however it has not replaced it. Indeed all of the links posted on the Facebook page are put on to the group’s Moodle page.

Some students initially used it as a place to notify me of their absence however this has now been addressed.

Not all students have a Facebook account due to having no access to the internet or the possible disapproval of their parents.

Tutors may not have an account and may be unfamiliar with the layout and process of managing a page. They may also not have the time to manage the site. (In my experience however it does not take a huge amount of time or effort, especially as it is so democratic with other tutors and students contributing)

Conclusion

Whilst there are a few disadvantages associated with creating and managing a course Facebook page I am without doubt that the benefits far outweigh them. Since creating the page in October 2009 it has provided invaluable support to the majority of my students and has become a forum that they trust, respect and use to a potential I did not expect or even realise was possible.