Presentation created for Teachers College, Columbia University faculty in early 2011.

1. February 2011 – Teachers College, Columbia University
Social Media Opportunities in
Higher Education
Ana Tellez

2. Agenda
Social Media Trends & Characteristics
1. Who’s participating in social media and how often?
2. Sampling of specific platforms we can use
Rising to the Challenge: Opportunities!
1. Using Pressible in the Classroom
2. Using Wordpress in the Classroom
3. Using Twitter for Outreach
4. Using Facebook and LinkedIn for Outreach
Assessing Feasibility: Where should we start?
Questions / Open Discussion

3. Overview of
Social Media Trends &
Characteristics

4. Interconnected

5. Do you read blogs?

6. Blogging Trends
One in three internet users read blogs.
14% of online adults write a blog.
79% of bloggers have a college degree

7. What is Wordpress
Wordpress is the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the
world.
Wordpress is an open source project. It's free and people
all over the world contribute to its continual improvement.
TC offers wordpress as a resource for programs and faculty
to build more collaborative websites including blogs,
newsletters, etc.
Contact the Web Office at TC to get started.

8. Do you use wikis?
What are other ways you
collaborate online?

9. Characteristics of Online
Communities
They are continuous, not temporal - there is a core
membership that interacts together over a longer period of
time.
Communities gather around a concept or a specific goal.
Communities take on various conversations and activities,
led by different members over time.
People within communities get to know each other and
interact regularly without centralized facilitation.

10. What is Pressible
Pressible is a free, online publishing service supported by
EdLab at Teachers College, Columbia University.
You can create personal or multi-author sites.
Sites can be used for a range of purposes, including
personal blogging, group blogging, and other kinds of
outreach.
Every site is part of the Pressible network
To get started, go to pressible.org and create a site. In-
person support is available at the Gottesman Libraries.

11. Do you have a Facebook
account? LinkedIn? Other?

12. Social Networking Site (SNS)
Trends
46% of online adults in the U.S. have a
profile on a social networking site (up
from 8% in 2005)
Social network or blog sites are visited by
¾ of global consumers who go online.
91% of mobile phone users go online to
socialize

13. Facebook Trends
Facebook has over 500 million active users
Facebook is the most popular online social network
for adults in the U.S. (73% of adult SNS users have
a Facebook account).
40% of users have gone to college
50% of active users log on to Facebook in any
given day

14. LinkedIn Trends
LinkedIn has over 66 million users worldwide
Over 5 million of its users work in Education
Over 4 million of its users work in Government
48% of users have gone to college
34% of users visit the site more than once a
month

15. Do you tweet?

16. Twitter Trends
Twitter has over 100 million users
In a survey of 1,400 higher education
professionals, 35% use Twitter
Most use it to share information with peers and/or as
a real-time news source
38% of users have gone to college
Twitter attracts 190 million visitors per month
(unlike Facebook and LinkedIn, users don’t have to be registered to
view content)

17. Rising to the challenge:
Strategy Recommendations

18. Social Media Platforms allow learners to...
create
collaborate
connect
share
participate in a learning community

19. 6 characteristics that make social
media strategies successful
Plan ahead for content: content knowledge and availability are important;
create a monthly content schedule
Conduct initial outreach to stakeholders: Introduce the group to
relevant stakeholders on each platform
Be personable and interactive: This means being responsive to inquiries
and comments as well as keeping your finger on the pulse of the discourse
you are a part of (e.g., education leadership)
Share resources beyond TC: Engage users by sharing helpful resources
outside your own content
Understand web etiquette: Each platform is a bit different, so get to know
your web environment
Evaluate your work: Find ways to measure success and adjust your

20. Pressible Approach
Suggestion: Create a Pressible site for a program within Education Leadership
so that students and faculty across the program can interact online and share
news and other information with each other.
Main objectives: To create an online community in Education Leadership
Frequency of scheduled posts: Ongoing (as needed)
Content focus: Field news and research, events, etc.

21. Presssible Example #1

22. Blogging Approach
Suggestion: Create a class blog that doubles as a syllabus for the course so
students can access the syllabus electronically and additional relevant
resources can be posted throughout the semester by faculty and students, e.g.,
links to articles, videos, etc.
Main objectives: To provide students with a continually evolving set of
resources for a course and to build their media literacy so they can apply online
collaboration skills in their future research and work.
Frequency of blog updates: As needed (ideally on a weekly basis)
Content focus: Syllabus content and space for students to comment on
weekly discussions

23. A Different Classroom Blogging Example

24. A TC Wordpress Use Example

25. Higher Education Blog Example #1

26. Higher Education Blog Example #2

27. Twitter Approach
Recommendation: Collaborate with @TeachersCollege account that’s already
on Twitter to provide them with content
Main objectives: Publicize news & publications by program faculty, attract
prospective students, direct alumni to LinkedIn group
Frequency of scheduled posts: As needed**
Content focus:
Send periodic reminders about upcoming application deadlines
Send alerts about upcoming events & new publications
** Having our own Twitter account would require planning for daily tweets and keeping up
an ongoing content schedule. We don’t have the necessary staffing for this level of
http://commoncraft.com/twitter-search

28. Twitter Example #1: Teachers
College

29. Twitter Example #2: Education
Sector

30. Facebook Approach
Recommendation: Create Facebook Group “Education Leadership at
TC”
Main objective: Recruit prospective students and gather alumni
Frequency of scheduled posts: Once a week
Content focus:
Send periodic reminders about upcoming deadlines
Send alerts about upcoming events
Encourage inquiries so prospective students can learn more about
program offerings
Share news relating to education leadership (as a whole, not just
Columbia-related)

31. Facebook Example #1: Connected
Principals

32. Facebook Example #2: Boston
Public Schools

33. LinkedIn Approach
Recommendation: Create Subgroup “Education Leadership Alumni”
within Teachers College Organization & Leadership Alumni Group**
Main objectives: 1) Gather alumni so they can share information and
resources; 2) encourage alumni to help recruit prospective students
Frequency of scheduled posts: As needed
Content focus:
Job opportunities
Industry-related news (e.g., new standards or publications)
Encouraging alumni to share relevant articles, job opportunities,
etc.

34. LinkedIn Example #1:
TC Organization & Leadership Alumni
Group

35. LinkedIn Example
#2: Georgetown

36. Assessing Feasibility:
Where can we start?

37. If you have questions about my
presentation, you can contact me here:
ait2108@tc.columbia.edu