Dan Brown: “If institutional education refuses to adapt to the landscape of the information age, it WILL die and SHOULD die.”
Responses from Educators:
Responses from Parents:
Responses from Students:
Stats on Twitter
19 03 2010People who are into social media are REALLY into it – especially iPhone people.
Twitter just hit 10 billion Tweets.
For More Information:
1. Mashable: Our Social Media Obsession by the Numbers (based on a Retrevo study)
2. Mashable: The Current State of Twitter by Muhammad Saleem
3. George Weiner in the Huffington Post: Mobile Giving and Why People Are Bad at Poker
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Tags: twitter
Categories : Social Media & Learning
The Psychology of saving Face
18 03 2010
A couple of days ago, members of the Facebook group PSY 3829 SMU received an unexpected message from their professor that basically said “sorry but the man is shutting us down.”
hmmmm…something stinks of censorship.
Now I can’t say I am completely shocked since Shannon, our prof, told us on the first day of class that she wasn’t exactly getting a standing ovation from the university for putting her class content on Facebook. Despite the lackluster show of support from the proverbial “administration”, she still managed to tackle the sensitive subject of “Human Sexual Behaviour” while building a vibrant community of engaged students on Facebook.
I have to admit, I am slightly biased since I have been on “crackbook” for years, but I am curious to know SMU’s position, is this an issue of privacy violation, or is this simply a case of old fashioned fear-of-change?
This is particularly interesting to me in both a personal way and in a work-related way. You see I work at SMU’s Continuing Education office as a Communications Coordinator. Our eLearning Centre handles all of SMU’s online courses, so this kind of stuff matters to me as a student, and as someone who is supposed to be opening up lines of communication, not witnessing them get shut down.
It’s ironic that in 2004, Facebook began as a social networking website created exclusively for post-secondary students. I’ll borrow the history from another controversial site, Wikipedia, which states: “Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes while he was a student at Harvard University. The website’s membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It later expanded further to include (potentially) any university student, then high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The website currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide. The original concept for Facebook was borrowed from a product produced by Zuckerberg’s prep school Phillips Exeter Academy which for decades published and distributed a printed manual of all students and faculty, unofficially called the face book.”
Facebook currently has more than 150 million active users worldwide, and has become one of the main communication tools used by university students to stay in touch with friends, organize events, facilitate online discussion groups, and to connect with other learners. Some universities are even using Facebook to recruit students.
To be fair, there have been a lot of concerns raised over the disclosure of personal information on the site. We should all be concerned about how secure the service is, where the data lives, who owns the content, and how it is being used but not every student is aware of their privacy settings. Which is probably why Shannon allowed her students to preserve their anonymity by making the PSY 3829 SMU content accessible even without a Facebook profile .
Then there is the problem that comes with fragmentation of course information, when SmuPort is supposed to centralize everything for students on one tidy interface. Do student’s mind having to go to another website to access course content? Well, I don’t, to me it is the same as another online course which uses Blackboard, or having to go to the P:Drive to access some of my other courses - “a click click here, a click click there, a click click everywhere a click click…”
So what are other students doing about this little predicament our class is facing? Well one in particular is starting a petition…on facebook!
Shelley Aalders just started her petition Freedom to Post and she already has a growing list of more than 40 signatures and she promises to send a daily updated list to Malcolm Butler, the Dean of Science.
What is Shannon, our prof doing about this? Well I am so happy to say she has agreed to do an interview with me for this blog. And when she is not sending out apology emails to her students and responding to their public outcry, she is probably uploading course content or her students using another great online tool. We like you Shannon!
SO stay tuned for our interview … coming soon to a screen near you.
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Categories : Social Media & Learning
Social Media Sites for University Students
13 03 201085% of students at 4-year universities have Facebook profiles.
However, while populating most of the major sites, many students have not yet embraced the great amount of other social media tools available to them. There are a number of tools that cater specifically to students and new ones are constantly being developed. Here are some sites that will help you network, collaborate, communicate, and make your daily college tasks a bit easier. Better yet, they all offer free services.
Have more to add? Tell us about your recommendations in the comments.
1. Cramster
Whether you’re having trouble with a math problem, need answers to textbook questions, need study help, or are just looking for resources to learn more, Cramster is the site for you.
The Q&A board is pretty extensive, and is full of experts willing to help with any questions you might have 24/7. Users can also gain “karma points” by answering questions, which can be redeemed for prizes. Another awesome feature can be found in the practice section where you can create your own customized quiz (you’ll have to sign up for a free account first). You can customize the subject, topics, amount of questions, and difficulty.
Overall, this site is a great resource and really easy to navigate. You can upgrade to a premium account that enables more features for $9.95 per month. Premium members can ask more questions, get answers quicker and have access to all textbook questions.
Cramster also offers a Facebook app, Courses 2.0, that enables you to enter the courses you’re taking to see which of your Facebook friends will be in your classes, as well as list your books so that you can find people to share with or buy used books once they’re done with them.
Good alternative: FunnelBrain
2.RateMyProfessors.com
RateMyProfessors.com is the Internet’s largest listing of collegiate professor ratings, with more than 6.8 million student-generated ratings of over 1 million professors. Each year, millions of college students use the site to help plan their class schedules and rate current and past professors on attributes such as helpfulness and clarity. Online since 1999, RateMyProfessors.com currently offers ratings on college and university professors from over 6,000 schools across the United States, Canada, England, Scotland and Wales with thousands of new ratings added each day.
3. Box.net
Box.net (
) is a great tool for individual students or for groups and organizations. The site’s interface is very simple and straightforward. Just upload any files that you need and access them from any computer, anywhere.
My fraternity uses box.net to keep an organized database of our files that any member can access. You can invite collaborators to view folders, edit documents (similar to Word or Google Docs (
)), hold discussions, and send messages.
If that’s not enough, you can also add “OpenBox” services, creating more functionality on box.net. Do more with your files by incorporating services like Zoho () for document editing, Facebook () to share files with your friends, picnik () to edit photos, and more.
Good alternatives: Dropbox (
), Drop.io ()
4. Twitter
Twitter (
) allows you to connect with anyone in the world, whether they’re acquaintances, classmates, celebrities or complete strangers with common interests.
You can use Twitter to network with professionals, stay updated on current news, trends and ideas in many different industries, connect with businesses on a “human” level, engage in conversation, and share content – and new uses are constantly emerging. As a student looking for a job in the social media industry, Twitter has been my #1 resource to network and learn about the industry.
Here are some Twitterers I recommend students follow:
@heatherhuhman – Tweets helpful information to those seeking internships and entry level jobs.
@collegebloggers – Connects college students, faculty, and alumni bloggers, sharing relevant content.
@careerealism – Career experts tweet career advice in response to questions sent in by readers.
@sweetcareers – Great tips for college students and job seekers.
@findinternships – Informative resource for those looking for internships.
You can also search these “hashtags”:
#college : The College Blog Network
#jobadvice : General job search advice
#printern : PR internship openings
#entryPR : Tips for PR grads
See also: HOW TO: Find a Job on Twitter
5. Remember the Milk
Keeping track of everything you have to do each day can be pretty tough while you’re in college. Remember the Milk () provides a convenient place to manage your daily tasks.
Using Remember the Milk is very easy. Just click “add task” and you can choose a title, a due date, location, website, tags and task duration. It will also tell you how many times you’ve postponed each task so you can track your procrastination.
Remember the Milk can be synced up with your Google () calendar, Twitter, BlackBerry and a number of other services. If you’re on a computer without Internet access, you can still use Remember the Milk, but you have to install the Google Gears browser plugin.
Good alternatives: hitask, tadalist
6. Gradefund
Wish you could get paid for getting good grades? Welcome to Gradefund, where sponsors donate money to students if they achieve good grades. Just create an account, invite your friends and family to be sponsors, upload your academic transcript at the end of each semester and once Gradefund verifies it, you’ll get paid.
Sponsors can donate to a student, a school or to an educational cause. If donating to a student, you can choose to have the money sent directly to the student, or to be subtracted from their tuition. You also get to choose the rate (as little as $5 per grade).
7. Evernote ()
Evernote is a cool tool that allows you to capture information and access it later, from any computer. You can clip a webpage, a business card, a picture, class notes, quotes from a book, a voice recording or whatever else you might need to find later.
A really helpful tool in Evernote is its ability to recognize words in pictures, even if they’re handwritten. You can then search for words and find the pictures that have that word in it. This is especially helpful to keep records of business cards or to find specific pages in your class notes.
The service also offers a free iPhone app.
8. Zumeo
I’ve seen a lot of job search/online resume sites as I’ve been looking for a job and Zumeo is one of my favorites. Signing up is easy with your email or through Facebook Connect. You then fill out a survey to determine your strengths and interests, which will help find jobs that suit your personality.
The job listing feature is very easy to use and has a number of filters allowing you to search for jobs based on location, your personality type, your education and more. Once you click on a job posting, more info is provided and you can click to view the company’s profile, view it on a map, or go to the actual job posting where you can apply for the job. Users can also browse by company.
Zumeo automatically creates an online resume with a brief description, your objective, experience, skills and education. Users can also upload files to develop a portfolio, showcasing your past projects. If you’re looking to network, Zumeo allows you to connect with other users, join company communities and submit endorsements of other users.
Good Alternatives: Brazen Careerist, Linkedin ()
9. CampusBooks
Okay, I admit – this one’s not very social, but it is essential. At my school, the campus bookstore is overpriced with ridiculous wait times at the beginning of the semester as there aren’t any other options in the area. CampusBooks offers a great alternative, allowing students to buy, sell or donate textbooks.
When you search for books, CampusBooks will find the books you’re looking for on different sites like Amazon (), Biblio and more – new and used, with price listings so you know you’re getting the best deals.
If you still can’t find the price you want, you can set a price alert and you’ll be emailed when they find it…that is, if your professor’s okay with you waiting.
Good Alternatives: Amazon, Phat Campus
Source: Mashable.com
David Spinks is a graduating senior in NY that is utilizing the power of social web communities to pursue a career in social media/marketing. He authors a blog at Davidspinks.com.
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Categories : Social Media & Learning
Facebook Fact Sheet
13 03 2010Facebook fact sheet from website-monitoring.com.
Some highlights:
- 400 million active users
- 50% check in EVERY DAY
- Average user spends 55 MINUTES PER DAY
- 35 million update status every day
- 3 billion photos uploaded each month
- 5 billion pieces of content shared every day
- 70% of users are outside the United Sates
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Tags: facebook
Categories : Social Media & Learning
