Best practices for teaching with social media (Web 2.0)

Karen NevesW.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library

Dalhousie University

Today’s topics

• What are social media/web 2.0?• How do we teach?• Considerations for using social media in

teaching• Examples of social media teaching in action

Social media briefly defined

• At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues…into dialogues…and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. (Source: Wikipedia.)

How do we teach?

• ClassroomLarge groupSmall group

• One on one• Hands on vs didactic• Single session vs repeated contact•Videoconference, telephone, web conference

Examples of social media

• Facebook/MySpace• Twitter (Find other librarians on Twitter) (Kellogg Library Twitter account)

• Wikis (wiki for this session)

• Blogs (Kellogg Library blog)

• YouTube (University of Florida Libraries YouTube channel)

• Flickr, (CHLA/ABSC 2008 Conference Flickr Pool)

• Digg, Reddit • delicious, StumbleUpon

Rules for teaching with social media

Rule #1: There are no rules

Photo used under creative commons license. Credit.

When might you use them?

• Single session– YouTube/Flickr, wiki, blog

• Repeat contact– Facebook, blog, wiki, delicious, YouTube/Flickr

• Hands on– Twitter, web portal (like LibGuides), wiki

• One on one– Instant message, Twitter, blog, wiki, Facebook

Considerations for you

• Are these media blocked in your organization?• Who is your audience?• How much interaction do you want?• Do you want participants to change or contribute

information?• Do you want synchronous or asynchronous

contact?• How steep is the learning curve?• How much upkeep is required?

For learners…

• Should be as much about learning as teaching• Should make contact easier – for you and your

participants• Should allow for input & dynamic exchange of

ideas• Should be fun• Just because we can doesn’t mean we should

Case study: Facebook fan pageThe good:

Students live on FacebookFreeAllows user input

The bad:Asynchronous interactionSome features require HTML programming skillNeeds to be manually checked

The uglyDifficult to keep regularly updatedRSS feeds won’t work

Why didn’t this work?

• Our goal was not clearly defined• We misunderstood our audience• We misunderstood our medium – we got it

backwards: social tool with educational component

• Interaction is labour intensive• The chosen tool is not flexible enough

Case study: Undergraduate Medicine LibGuide

Kellogg Library home pageMain point of access for users

Undergraduate Medicine LibGuide•Web portal bringing together library resources in support of program.

•Architecture of site based on curriculum units.

•Social media features include feedback boxes that go to librarian, boxes where students can share resources they’ve discovered with each other and an instant message widget to reach librarian.

Why does this work?• Clearly defined goal• We understood our audience• We understood our medium – educational tool

with social component • Interaction is more immediate – with library &

each other• Ease of use – for students & librarian – minimal

upkeep, minimal learning curve• Allows user-generated content• One-stop shopping – confidence in resources

In summary

• Have a clearly defined goal• Know your audience• Choose the appropriate media• Understand the time constraints• Decide which aspects of social media you

want• Have fun!

• No social media were harmed in the making of this presentation.

• They were, however, manipulated mercilessly and used exhaustively.*

• Thank you.

• *Flickr, Creative Commons, Wikipedia, Facebook, LibGuides