using social media for academic communication

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS FOR ACADEMIC COMMUNICATION

Communicating … in 10 min …

• Social Media landscape in HE

• The study:– Methodology– Summary of findings– Discussions

• Conclusions

Kaplan&Haenlein (2010): „social media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content (UGC)”. Jane Hart(2011): „Social technologies, aka social media, are a new breed of technologies that have emerged over the last few years and have changes the face of the Web.”

image: http://matetrack.webs.com/SOCIAL/SOCIAL.html

There are many definitions of Social Media, and they are evolving in timeBrian Solis (2010), “Defining Social Media: 2006 – 2010”

JESS3 Labs The Geosocial Universe 2.0Comparison between the total amount of registered users with the

percentage of people accessing the sites via mobile http://jess3.com/geosocial-universe-2

Amy Campbell (2010)3 characteristics of social media: the majority of content is user generated, a high degree of participation/interaction between users, and easily integrates with other sites.

Anthony J. Bradley (2010)6 core principles: participation, collective, transparency, independence, persistence and emergence.

??? … Social Media in universities• How faculty members

use Social Media?

• Which are the potential benefits, challenges

and disadvantages?• How the usage can be

extended?• Is there a need

for training the educational actors?

- an online questionnaire - via academic SNS - time: February-March 2012 - 79 respondents

Method

Respondents profile:

WHO ARE THEY?

GENDER 41M (52%) 38F (48%)

AGE 36-45 years (37%) less than 35 years (43%)

Respondents profile:WHAT IS THEIR ROLE IN HE?

ACADEMIC CAREERS •professor 5%• reader 15%• senior lecturer 19%• junior lecturer 14%• researcher 5%• professor doctorate coordinator 1% • academic administrator 4%• Master/PhD students 36%

Respondents profile:WHAT IS THEIR ACADEMIC PROFILE?

• Exact Sciences 43% • Social Sciences 24%• Medicine 13%• Humanity 12 %• Economics 8%

SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE(for)

Documentation %

Post notes/ content %

Not a user%

Blog (66%) 22 44 34Miniblog (20%) 14 6 80Microblog (46%) 19 29 52General Social Networks (78%) 10 68 22

Professional Social Networks (76%) 28 48 24Social Bookmarking (33%) 10 23 67

Video sharing (89%) 46 43 11

Image sharing (78%) 29 49 22

Audio/Podcasting sharing (20%) 10 10 80Presentation sharing (61%) 22 39 39

Docs/Books sharing (88%) 32 56 12

Mindmaps (24%) 6 18 76Screencasting (17%) 4 13 84Livestreaming (15%) 6 9 85Feeds Monitoring (48%) 24 24 52Wiki (78%) 44 34 22Digital storytelling (15%) 0 15 85

Groups (Groups.Google.com, Groups.Yahoo.com, Ning.com, Meetup.com) 71 90

Forums/Spaces for discussions (phpBB.net, Quora.com, Disqus.com) 26 33

Localization (Foursquare.com, Yelp.com, Zvents.com) 8 10

Augmented reality (Layar.com, Wikitude.com, Zooburst.com) 6 8

Virtual worlds/Social Games (Secondlife.com, Playdom.com, OpenSimulator.org) 7 9

IM (YM, GTalk, Jabber, Skype) 53 67

Platforms for Communication & Collaboration & Localization

Yes(%)

Not yet (%)

No(%)

I access social media via mobile 46 27 28I access social media via tablet / ipad 15 48 37I evaluate the activity of my students on social media platforms 30 27 43My institution assesses my activity on social media platforms 15 24 61My institution encourages/supports the usage of social media by teachers / students / pupils 34 30 35My institution has specific policies related to social media usage 15 37 48I became familiar with SM during a course / workshop / project 30 4 66

Statements related to Social Media

DO YOU USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES?

Activities Yes – I have used Not yet, but I’m aware of it No

didactical activities61% 18% 22%

research activities 58% 20% 22%professional development

78% 11% 10%

personal development78% 8% 14%

Levels of communication / collaboration: I work with … Number Percent

Peers from different institutions from Romania 52 66%Collaborators in different institutions from other countries 47 59%Colleagues / peers across my university / institution 49 62%Peers and Doctoral and Master students of my own department / faculty 61 77%

CONTEXTUAL CONDITIONS IN WHICH SCHOLARS USE SOCIAL MEDIA

Activities Number Percent

Searching news, academic content 70 89

Dissemination of own results, articles, projects, presentations 49 62

Inquiring/research (reviewing literature, collecting/analyzing research data)

52 66

Personal / Professional Communication / Collaboration 65 82Networking for professional development 36 46

Building a community of practice 24 30

Building a learning community with students enrolled in formal courses

30 38

Participating / following different scientific events (as a real time news source)

52 66

ADVANTAGES

• accessibility and ease of use • cost reduction • flexibility, transparency and autonomy of applications• educational „recruit ability” • changing teachers’ attitudes • engaging / enriching / empowering students’ interactions and

participation • collaborative characteristics • establishing relationships and conversations • facilitating learning • social interactions

ADVANTAGES

• teaching / learning digital skills • easily-accessible creativity • „use of authentic study materials”• „easy socialization”• a modern approach of educational subjects• feedback • easy monitoring online presence and reputation• collaborative participation• using open education / open educational resources

DISADVANTAGES• content trivialisation • security of data and persons• online information / cognitive overload• equality or e-quality • difficult management of digital identity • anonymity• ethical concerns• institutional norms • time spent on social media sites• emotional barriers• a certain life style and/or an organisational culture • artificial communication• the noise• the activity with / within social media isn’t recognised as academic

a social media education ??

OR social media in education ??

Thank you !

to flicko all owners of photographs

Gabriela GROSSECKDepartment of PsychologyWest University of TimisoaraRomania

blog: grosseck.blogspot.comtwitter: ggrosseck cirip: Gabriela

Carmen HOLOTESCUTimsoft / Politehnica University of TimisoaraRomania

blog: timsoft.ro/blogtwitter: cami13 cirip: cami13

Tune your communication!

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