In this 1.5 hour workshop, faculty considered new strategies, best practices, pedagogy-first approaches, benefits and challenges, and next steps regarding social media integration within postsecondary educational settings. Examples focused on how social media can improve student engagement and content retention, and strategies discussed manageable ways for faculty of all technology comfort levels to integrate social media. The workshop focused on the mainstream tools (including Twitter and LinkedIn) but also briefly discussed others (like Pinterest, Delicious, and Instagram) and mentioned academic collaboration tools (like Zotero). Potential benefits for faculty and staff who attended include: • learning to meet students where they are–on social media; • examples of tools that support immediate connections with students in and out of class; including tools that give students the opportunity to contribute. • ideas for enlarging the conversation of course topics, beyond the confines of their classrooms—ways to easily bringing in experts or following experts to add to the class discussions and understanding. • strategies for creating a body of work to support ideas, readings, theories, and projects—one that can continue to grow through different semesters;

1. SOCIAL MEDIA GETS COLLEGIATE
Tweeting and Tagging Your Way
to Improved Student Engagement
Office of Professional Development

2. SARAH
GLOVA
Founder &
President of
Reify Media
www.reifymedia.com
Former instructor for online course
Co-author, affiliated international speaker
Business founder and owner, and digital media developer
Board Member
Doctoral candidate

3. The article The Effect of
Twitter on College
Student Engagement
and Grades provided
the first piece of
controlled experimental
evidence that “using
Twitter in educationally
relevant ways can
increase student
engagement and
improve grades, and
thus, that social media
can be used as an
educational tool to help
students reach desired
college outcomes.”
Junco, R., Heiberger, G., & Loken, E. (2011).
The effect of Twitter on college student
engagement and grades. Journal of computer
assisted learning, 27(2), 119-132.
www.reifymedia.com
Why Social Media?
Can it help students engage and learn?

4. How Do Instructors Use Social Media? Common Examples:
www.reifymedia.com
Share relevant
articles,
research
progress
Share
reminders, stay
in touch with
students
Share images of
things relevant
to classroom
topics
Share
background,
connect to
experts

5. On average, faculty
participants
reported working 61
hours per week –
more than 50
percent over the
traditional 40-hour
work week. They
worked 10 hours per
day Monday to
Friday and about
that much on
Saturday and Sunday
combined.
Ziker, J. P., Wintermote, A., Nolin, D., Demps,
K., Genuchi, M., & Meinhardt, K. (2014). Time
distribution of faculty workload at Boise State
University.
www.reifymedia.com
When and How?
Do instructors have time to maintain social accounts?

6. Model for Considering Social Media Integration:
www.reifymedia.com
FACULTY CURATED
Instructor collects and
shares relevant
materials through
social media

7. Model for Considering Social Media Integration:
www.reifymedia.com
FACULTY CURATED
Instructor collects and
shares relevant
materials through
social media
FACULTY CREATED
Instructor creates new
content, sharing
through social media

8. Model for Considering Social Media Integration:
www.reifymedia.com
FACULTY CURATED
Instructor collects and
shares relevant
materials through
social media
STUDENT CURATED
Students collect and
share relevant
materials through
social media
FACULTY CREATED
Instructor creates new
content, sharing
through social media

9. Model for Considering Social Media Integration:
www.reifymedia.com
FACULTY CURATED
Instructor collects and
shares relevant
materials through
social media
STUDENT CURATED
Students collect and
share relevant
materials through
social media
FACULTY CREATED
Instructor creates new
content, sharing
through social media
STUDENT CREATED
Students create new
content, sharing
through social media

10. ACTIVITY: BRAINSTORMING
www.reifymedia.com
FACULTY CURATED
STUDENT CURATED
FACULTY CREATED
STUDENT CREATED
Isa is looking for a way to engage her
undergraduate business students. Her
students are discussing the concept of
administrative leadership in their
Organizational Theory and Behavior course,
and she knows the topic is often discussed in
the public sphere.
Isa thinks she might be able to harness the
power of social media to help her students
better engage with the topic.
TASK: Let’s break into groups and discuss
ways that Isa might engage her students in
this topic using social media.

11. SOCIAL MEDIA GETS COLLEGIATE
Tweeting and Tagging Your Way
to Improved Student Engagement