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ILS – SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES FOR
LEARNING AND TEACHING – FOR STAFF AND STUDENTS
Social media guidelines for learning and teaching
Information and Learning Services
April 2014
U n i v e r s i t y o f W o r c e s t e r 2 0 1 4 P a g e | 2
Copyright
The University of Worcester, Social Media Guide for Learning and Teaching is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike .Licence
Acknowledgements
This work was created by Tim Johnson (Adviser in Digital Literacy, Information and Learning
Services) with support from Dr John Peters (Academic Development and Practice). The
Guidelines were influenced by the work of:
Queensland University of Technology http://www.els.qut.edu.au/docs/SocialMediaGuidelines.pdf
University of Westminster Students Unionhttp://uwsu.com/files/ict_charter_final.pdf
London School of Economics Public Policy Grouphttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/files/2011/11/Published-
Twitter_Guide_Sept_2011.pdf
University of Western Sydneyhttp://policies.uws.edu.au/download.php?id=470
University of Tasmaniahttp://www.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/82843/Social-Media-Guidelines.pdf
University of Melbournehttp://socialmedia.unimelb.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/UoM-Social-Media-
Guidelines.pdf
University of Michiganhttp://voices.umich.edu/docs/Social-Media-Guidelines.pdf
University College Londonhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/social-media/guidelines
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ContentsIntroduction..............................................................................................................................4
An Important Note................................................................................................................5
Scope...................................................................................................................................5
1. Guidelines for good practice................................................................................................7
1.1 Considering the use of social media..............................................................................9
1.1.1 The issue of choice..................................................................................................9
1.1.2 Piloting and evaluation..........................................................................................13
1.1.3 Identifying with the University................................................................................14
1.1.4 Technical support..................................................................................................14
1.1.5 Support in choosing the appropriate tool, and in preparing for use.......................16
1.2 Utilising social media....................................................................................................16
1.2.1 Considerations for engaging..................................................................................17
1.1.3 Photographs and other images.............................................................................19
1.1.4 Clarity of role.........................................................................................................20
1.3 Sustaining and managing the use of social media.......................................................20
1.3.1 Maintaining, updating and archiving......................................................................20
1.3.2 If things go wrong..................................................................................................21
2 Examples of Use.................................................................................................................22
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Social media guidelines for learning and teaching
Introduction
The University of Worcester recognises the important role social media technologies play in
enabling people not only to communicate and collaborate with each other, but also to create,
share and consume content. The uptake of social media has opened up new ways of
learning and teaching, creating new practices and requiring the development of new skills for
educational communities. The rapid growth in Web 2.0 tools and other emerging
technologies, often located outside university managed environments, has occurred
alongside the steady growth in blended learning in Higher Education, with students
becoming increasingly active communicators, collaborators and creators of content in a
virtual community.
Learning and teaching activities now take place both in physical and virtual spaces with a
range of tools, including learning management systems, other university supported
applications and tools, and, increasingly, a variety of public domain social media (Facebook,
Twitter, blogs, wikis, virtual worlds, mash-ups, video-sharing sites, etc.).
These Social Media Guidelines aim to provide guidance to all staff and students in the use of
social media that add value to the educational experience. The guidelines are intended to
provide advice which will help staff and students to successfully engage in social media to
promote effective learning. For those concerned about protect themselves from any
unexpected or undesirable outcomes as a result of their engagement with social media, the
Guidelines also provide advice. The guidelines are intended to enable and encourage the
use of social media tools for everyone who currently uses social media and for those who
have yet to engage with them.
These Guidelines are divided into two parts:
Guidelines for Good Practice
Suggestions for Use
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An Important Note
Any discussion of the use of social media in learning and teaching needs to acknowledge
that:
There is a natural tension between the more open and networked design and practice
that characterises social media, and some of the more formal characteristics currently
evident in most Higher Education Institutions.
Considerable cultural change is happening as a result of the use of new technologies
for communication, for some this cultural change is exciting, for some it is frightening
At the same time, social media are increasingly becoming important communication
and collaboration tools used not only by students but also in industry and commerce.
Universities not only provide the means to learn about a particular discipline they also
provide the means to learn how to successfully engage in everyday life and
employment which includes the safe, sensible and secure use of social media.
There is an increasing body of knowledge that demonstrates the positive effect the
use of social media can have on effective learning
Learning issues, that are hidden in contemporary education practice, are often
highlighted by the use of social media enabling them to be addressed as part of the
curriculum
It is recognised by National and European bodies that Digital Literacy (including the
effective use of social media) are important graduate skills that need to be embedded
in the curriculum
These issues, which are at the heart of the debate around social media use in formal
education, should be considered when using this document.
Scope
Although it is acknowledged there is often considerable overlap between some teaching and
marketing activities these guidelines attempt to address these as separate issues.
These guidelines apply to the use of social media in University of Worcester learning and
teaching activities. As such these guidelines are intended to encourage the use of social
U n i v e r s i t y o f W o r c e s t e r 2 0 1 4 P a g e | 6
media and place these technologies firmly within the academic values of intellectual
freedom, rigour, honesty and openness.
Official use of social media for marketing and communication (as opposed to learning and
teaching) purposes for University of Worcester are covered by the Communication and
Development Department.
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1. Guidelines for good practice
Incorporating social media into learning and teaching practice should be a decision
made when planning first starts, right at the beginning of the curricula creation or
(re)development for a module or course. In defining the use of social media in module
or course documents staff should bear in mind the constantly changing nature of this
milieu and, therefore, no particular social media should be stated in these documents.
The purpose for the use of social media and how that is supported by research should
be sufficient for the main course or module document. You might find this video from
University of Oxford helpful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPiveb47UUw .
Social media should be chosen for the potential they have for being most effective in
ensuring the desired learning outcomes are achieved (whether the outcomes are
Intended, Desired, Unintended or Learner Created). As a general principle, use of
social media should be embedded into the curriculum rather than being an added tool
(or activity) to University of Worcester supported learning technologies (many of the
programmes used in the University are “unsupported technologies” and include such
common things as SPSS, Invivo and social media). Current practice indicates that
social media are utilised most effectively (Wankel, 2010):
• if a particular requirement is not easily met within supported tools (i.e.
the central learning tools such as Blackboard)
• as a strategy to enhance communication or engagement
• as an alternative way of exploring a concept or experience
• as a means to improve the agility of the curriculum
This guide provides advice on procedure under three headings:
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1.1 Considering the use of social media
1.2 Utilising social media
1.3 Sustaining and managing social media.
Future iterations of this document will consider the rapidly changing role and place of
social media in learning and teaching and provide guidelines accordingly.
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1.1 Considering the use of social media
This section mainly applies to University staff but education students keen to use social
media in their courses and students planning a presentation that includes social media
might find this information useful too.
People planning to use social media in their teaching should focus on the desired
learning and teaching outcomes — at a course and module level — first, decide on the
strategies most likely to achieve the learning outcomes, and then consider the
appropriate tools or platforms that might enable those strategies to be met.
1.1.1 The issue of choice
The first thing you want to think about of course is, what do I want to achieve. We tend
to lump all social media together and, at first, they all seem to do more or less the same
thing. In one sense they do, they all help people to network but they all do it in slightly
different ways and with slightly different results. You need to think about what you want
the end result to be, do you want:
something that students can return to at any time after the event
to display results of student’s activities such as photographs or videos
a long conversation, a critical discussion or immediate reactions
students to create a social media site in groups or individually
the work in the social media to be mandatory or voluntary
to encourage the engagement of people from outside the University such as
employers or work placement mentors
students to collaborate with other universities and/or leaders in your discipline
At this point you need to marry your knowledge of learning theories to the type of
learning technology and the activity you wish to pursue.
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You will also need to think about how you will get people to engage with the activities
you are planning. For most people this will be something new. People might have used
the social media tool before but they might not have used it in an education setting
before. This can be very confusing for some people as, even today, social media are
often thought of as “entertainment” rather than as something you use for work. You
need to think about how you will present the activity and what you will tell people about
it to encourage them to engage with it in a meaningful way.
Some staff and students may initially be uncomfortable in certain social media
environments. This is not unexpected; as mentioned in the Important Note on page 4,
social media in Higher Education is comparatively new and, therefore, can create
conflicting feelings. These conflicts are usually related to teaching and learning styles
and inexperience with social media; they are not related to age or social background
(Jones and Hafner 2012). These are some of the concerns that people mention:
concern about “loss of control” of the teaching environment
fears about the “safety” of social media
feelings of inadequacy in relation to skills in modern technologies
concern about students being asked to learn skills apparently in addition to the
“content” of the course or module
concern about students being excluded as a result of lack of access to certain
technologies
concern about the time it will take for staff and students to become comfortable
with using social media
It is important to expect some or all of these questions to arise and to deal with them
before people become over anxious about them. Provide information and training in
the tools and platforms people will be using. The training is assimilated better if it is
interspersed with discussions with people who have previous experience of using
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social media in teaching. People’s concerns and anxieties should not be brushed
aside, there should be opportunities for issues to be freely and openly discussed.
Those who are almost blindly enthusiastic and those who are almost phobic about
social media need to find the middle ground, it does exist (Jones and Hafner 2012).
Good areas of learning theory to explore for research evidence on the support of
social media in education are: social learning, constructivism, connectivist learning
theory, experiential learning and communities of practice. You might find such sites
as ESCalate (http://escelearn.wordpress.com/) from University of Leeds and
Web2practice by JISCNetskills
http://www.netskills.ac.uk/content/projects/2008/JISC-web2practice/index.html
helpful in your discussions. Some documents such as Researchers of Tomorrow by
JISC and the British Library
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/reports/2012/researchers-of--
tomorrow.pdf and Developing Digital Literacies by JISC
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/briefingpaper/2012/
Developing_Digital_Literacies.pdf can also be very useful for stimulating discussion.
There are also plenty of documents on research into the efficacy of social media in
learning. Here are a few you might like to look at:
The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades (2011)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00387.x/full
Using microblogging to facilitate Community of Enquiry : an Australian tertiary
experience (2011)
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/hobart11/downloads/papers/Sinnappan-
full.pdf (You can search papers from all other ascilite conferences too:
http://www.ascilite.org.au/index.php?p=conference )
Learning by Tweeting: using Twitter as a pedagogical tool (2011)
http://jmd.sagepub.com/content/33/2/193.short
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The use of online social networking for higher education from an activity theory
perspective (2010)
http://people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/sherahk/Papers/2010/PACIS_2010.pdf
Educational use of social networking technology in higher education (2010)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562517.2010.507307
Microblogs in higher education – a chance to facilitate informal and process-
orientated learning (2010)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131509003418
A web 2.0 based collaborative annotation system for enhancing knowledge sharing
in collaborative learning environments (2010)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131510000886
Once a course of action for the module or course is agreed there must be no
opportunity for opting out of using social media. No one opts out of lectures; where
disabilities cause problems, ways are found to accommodate the member of staff or the
student to overcome this problem without disrupting the other students, module or
curriculum. It must be understood that the same process must be followed with social
media; the problem must be overcome without disrupting either students, module or
curriculum.
Where social media are an integral part of the assessment and/or the creation of a
social media account is a requirement of the module, this must be clearly articulated in
the Course Handbook and the module outline. Students are thus made aware early in
their studies of how important it is to access any training in modern media that the
University or their Module Leader provides for them.
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1.1.2 Piloting and evaluation
Although it is not possible to carry out a full research project into the learning
experience of using a particular social media every time, there are some times when a
short assessment and evaluation of the media prove useful. When deciding which
social media might be most useful to a group, it is recommended to conduct a trial with
a smaller group first before finally deciding on using the tool. Where possible the small
group should represent the range of technical skills such classes usually exhibit. The
piloting of the social media is about the ease of use of the media, therefore, students
should be asked to compare and contrast their experiences in using two different social
media in the trial. Those in the pilot should concentrate on the ease (or otherwise) of the
use of the human-computer interface and the advantages and disadvantages, in
communicating with others, using the different media. Asking students whether they
“liked” the media is insufficient. Besides helping you to decide which media you will
use, all the information you obtain from this exercise will be helpful in planning training
exercises and leaflets for people.
When using social media in a module or course it is important to constantly review and
evaluate the effectiveness of the media. The evaluation should include not just the
ease of use of the media but also its suitability for the learning experience. That is not
to say that people should exhibit knee jerk reactions to every positive or negative
experience or comment. However, it should be possible to review changes in
technologies and student behaviour in relation to those changes over a period of time.
For this type of review and evaluation the method and period of data collection and
analysis must be decided during the planning of the course or module, well in advance
of any data collection. This allows for an accurate evaluation of the effect of the media
on student learning.
1.1.3 Identifying with the University
Many people are unaware of exactly what is provided by the University, this is
particularly the case where social media are used. Social media are provided and
controlled by organisations outside the University but utilised in modules at the
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University’s behest. Everyone should be aware that, owing to the wide range and rapid
change of these media, support for these resources is beyond the remit of the
University. Some guidance in the use of social media is provided by the Adviser in
Digital Literacy and, where they exist, communities of practice provide support within
the University. It is also important that everyone should be aware that, where they are
provided, the use of these resources is an integral part of their module or course. For
these reasons it is expected that, in the first instance, students will access the social
media from a link within Blackboard. This provision also allows for those who are less
technically able to find a link to the resource.
Some social media provide the opportunity for you to use your own colours and/or
images. The University provides guidance on what colours, logos and fonts to use. If
there is little or no marketing element to the activity it is often unnecessary to ask for
guidance from the Communication and Development Department but you might find the
University of Worcester Identity Guidelines helpful and you should read the Social
Media Policy (Responsible Use of). If you intend to use the University logo or pictures
you should ask for advice from Communication and Development on how to use these
on your site.
1.1.4 Technical support
Many programmes and technologies that people use in the University are considered,
“unsupported” by the University. This does not mean that people cannot use these
programmes or technologies, it just means that the University does not provide a
designated expert person or group who provides training or technical support for them.
When planning to use any non-University provided or unsupported technologies,
including social media, people need to consider that they will not be able to call on the
IT Helpdesk if they have difficulties using the tool of choice. Part of the remit of the
Adviser in Digital Literacy, however, is to try to find ways of providing support for these
“unsupported” technologies. You will find an increasing number of alternative methods
of support available and it is hoped that one of these will be communities of practice
based around the different technologies.
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It is not unusual for staff and students to provide one another with support when using
new or unfamiliar technologies; the same courtesies will, no doubt, be extended in
respect of social media. Staff and students may need to be prepared to assist less
technically able colleagues and friends in their use of the tool, or be able to point them
to support resources offered by the social media provider in question. Some are
identified below (these are links, urls are in the References section) but you will often
also find a “community help” blog or forum on most social media sites.
Facebook Data Use Policy
Facebook Help Centre
Twitter Privacy Policy (https://twitter.com/privacy)
Getting Started with Twitter
Troubleshooting Twitter
YouTube Help
Wordpress Forums
Flickr Help
SlideShare Forums
If properly prepared, people should have nothing to fear from the learning demands of
new technologies. As in any other situation relating to a course or module, it is the
responsibility of the module or course leader to ensure that lecturers and people
teaching on modules have acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in order to use
the media in the module.
As the safe and responsible use of social media is an employability issue, some
responsibility for learning to use social media rests with the learner (see Developing
Digital Literacies JISC, 2012). There are various support resources available and
people are encouraged to avail themselves of these resources right from the beginning
of their academic career. For students this could apply to periods both before attending
University and during Induction Week. The Students’ Union is just one place that has
many knowledgeable and able helpers.
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1.1.5 Support in choosing the appropriate tool, and in preparing for use
It is advisable to create a support network right from the start of planning the course,
module or session. You should seek information from
peers who have experience of using social media,
LTTU (Learning and Teaching Technology Unit
http://www.worc.ac.uk/elearning/), on the affordances of University supported
media
The Adviser in Digital Literacy ([email protected]) for a range of social
media for which Communities of Practice within the University might be available.
Education Development Unit http://www.worc.ac.uk/adpu/) for advice on Learning
and Teaching practicalities
You can also find links to more help on SAM
(http://socialaccessiblemobile.wordpress.com/ ) and the UW, Calling All Lecturers
Scoop.it site (http://www.scoop.it/t/calling-all-lecturers ), do use the comment option on
the Scoop.it items. If you want to find out how to use a new technology you might find a
video on QuileR (http://quiler.omeka.net/ ), the searchable database of quick learning
resources.
1.2 Utilising social media
Just as in any class discussion or activity, the use of social media is best supported
by a previously agreed contract of accepted behaviour with all those engaged in the
activity. It is the responsibility of everyone in the contract to ensure it is adhered to.
For example everyone should be asked to agree:
To what extent they will engage in the interaction
Clearly and unambiguously, how frequently and in what way they will engage in
the social medium
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To act quickly and appropriately if an emergency arises e.g. if an argument gets
out of hand or if someone feels they have been wronged in some way
To keep to the path of enquiry
To correct the misconceptions of others with, no more and no less than,
appropriate evidence when necessary
To be supportive and non-confrontational
There are specific techniques for moderating in an online environment (Salmon, 2011);
effectively used, they will add value to the educational experience. Salmon (2011)
provides a good background on how to get students started in an online environment
and how to maintain their interaction there.
It is important that some behaviours are explained to students and modelled by
academic staff members. Below we provide a list of some of the most important.
1.2.1 Considerations for engaging
There are a number of simple issues that should be explained to people before they
engage in social media. These are simple skills students need to develop as part of the
employability agenda.
Two dimensions of normal conversation are lost in many social media and online
engagements (voice and body-language) and have to be compensated for. This
is achieved by:
o Choosing words carefully before posting
o Using emoticons
o Using verbs instead of body-language e.g. Bob waves to Jane
o Using adjectives to describe behaviours e.g. Tom laughs ironically
Capital letters are reserved for indicating strong emotion such as anger or shock.
If this strong emotion is intended to convey self-mockery or humour it should be
followed by a “smiley”.
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Whilst typographical errors, short-forms and minor errors in spelling are
accepted, it is only up to the point where the message becomes unintelligible to
the average user
Rudeness and unkindness are never acceptable
Statements made in a social media environment are often public and best
considered permanent
People should be discouraged from writing their contributions in Word then
copying and pasting to the site as it stilts the natural flow of the conversation and
students will soon find they cannot keep up – people with dyslexia might find this
TechDis ( http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/techdis/resources/atincomputer ) page
helpful. There are also far more text-to-speech and speech-to-text programmes
available for smartphones, PCs and Macs which can be used with such things as
Twitter and Facebook.
It is unlikely but unauthorised people might gain access to the group in an
attempt to ‘phish’, or gain control of it. People should learn to recognise the
written “voices” of their fellows to be able to quickly deal with this sort of problem.
Normally when engaging in social media it is important to only speak
authoritatively on issues you have some substantial understanding of. In
academic circles much debate revolves around opinion and conjecture therefore
these are expected in such discussions. When engaging in social media, you
must be sure to identify when you are talking authoritatively and when you are
just offering your opinion or conjecture. A simple acronym such as IMHO (“in my
humble opinion”) is often enough to indicate you are not talking authoritatively.
As social media should be considered as open to the public, confidentiality must
be maintained at all times. You must not talk about or gossip about things that
are private, sensitive or form part of someone’s research.
You must not denigrate someone’s beliefs, culture or opinions.
Social media is about communication not broadcasting. In other words write in a
way that will encourage people to write back to you. Write in an informal way,
use speech patterns not literary patterns when writing, be genuine and honest,
use open ended questions, be modest (up to a point), do not denigrate people or
U n i v e r s i t y o f W o r c e s t e r 2 0 1 4 P a g e | 19
their ideas, if you must disagree do so politely, be helpful to people, provide links
to interesting blogs and web pages, reply to requests for help, always answer
genuine contact attempts.
Although you must be honest you must also think about your personal safety in
social media. Do not tell any casual acquaintance in the medium about:
o Who you are (use your avatar name, keep your identity in social and
business social media spaces separate)
o What you are doing at this moment (you might say you are at a
conference but use text for more personal information)
o Where you are at this moment
o When you are going to be in a particular place
and
o Do not use your full face image as your avatar, use a three-quarter or
wear something that partially hides your face. From an employability point
of view it is better to use your face but if this makes you anxious just use a
picture of a flower, an animal or something inanimate. Do not just use the
default image.
o Do not automatically “follow” someone who “follows” you
o Always report spam or unacceptable behaviour and remove the offending
item from your discussion
1.1.3 Photographs and other images
The use of images and photographs requires special consideration, both in terms of
protecting University staff and students’ intellectual property, and in respecting the
copyright of others. You are strongly advised to consult the guidance provided by ILS in
the documents below, which you can find on SAM under Guidelines
http://socialaccessiblemobile.wordpress.com/guidelines/ :
Copyright FAQ
Creative Commons,
U n i v e r s i t y o f W o r c e s t e r 2 0 1 4 P a g e | 20
Staff will need to consider carefully who will be allowed to ‘follow’ or ‘friend’ a social
media site, and who will be allowed to post comments (particularly if this extends
beyond the student group). There are quite simple procedures that can prevent most
annoying or dangerous behaviour. Most social media sites have a range of security
settings you can use to safeguard your environment. What you usually have to be
careful of is making the environment so “safe” that no students or assistants can get in.
Using very restricted social media is probably more important to schools than
universities but there are times when minors are within the university setting.
1.1.4 Clarity of role
If staff or students are using social media in their personal life and identify themselves
as a staff member or student of UW they must indicate their views are not those of the
Institution. If they are specifically acting in their role as a student or member of staff of
UW the person must act according to the standards laid down by the University which
can be found at http://www.worc.ac.uk/personnel/842.htm
1.3 Sustaining and managing the use of social media
1.3.1 Maintaining, updating and archiving
Where feasible, staff should archive the content after each iteration (for example, after
each semester) and ensure that essential student work is stored within the unit site for
the required time. For example it might be necessary to have an archive accessible for
an external examiner, or by inspection by governing or quality bodies in particular
disciplines. It is essential to have a Policy to deactivate or delete sites once the
teaching period is over and the site is no longer used. In some social media it is not
possible to delete a site but you should make it clear that the site is out of use.
Responsible teaching areas should also have a business continuity plan to cover any
staff changes or absences to ensure that social media sites are maintained and
archived as necessary.
Where material is archived for potential future use you must ensure that students have
signed the General Informed Consent form before you start. You can find a link to the
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Informed Consent form on Policies in SAM
http://socialaccessiblemobile.wordpress.com/policies/ .
Included in the maintenance of a site must be a written plan of when and how items are
taken down from the site. This information should be provided to everyone who is
involved in the activity and should be easily available to anyone who wishes to read it.
If the strategies planned at the beginning become untenable or redundant, those people
responsible for the activity should alert users of any change in status or intention on the
Blackboard site, as well as through the selected medium.
1.3.2 If things go wrong
Sometimes material may need to be taken down due to a mistake, misuse, someone
else’s misuse or — at worst — a breach of law.
The most important things to remember when things go wrong:
Take action immediately Immediately remove the offending material/comment (but keep a copy)
Immediately apologise to the person who has complained
Immediately inform your manager or module leader
Usually when people complain or when something has gone wrong, what people most
want is an apology and reassurance that something like this incident will not happen
again either to themselves or to someone else.
For information relating to Copyright please see the documents mentioned on page 19.
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2 Examples of Use
Social media are not just a gimmick to keep people entertained or to meet demands for
maintaining an innovative module. Social media can contribute to achieving learning
and teaching objectives, by adding learner-focused features to a learning environment
that provides ‘real-world’ experiences and the chance to learn authentic employability
skills.
The examples that follow are just a few of the ways Social media can be used.
Digital Literacy
If you are finding it difficult to include certain Digital Literacy skills in your sessions try
using social media as a vehicle for your subject. Many of these modern skills are learnt
by students as part of the process of using social media.
An example can be found at St Edward’s University, Social Media Class
http://academic.stedwards.edu/socialmedia/blog/2012/04/16/teaching-students-to-
become-curators-of-ideas-the-curation-project-3/
Blended Learning
Are you trying to find a way to provide students with access to a rare resource and also
help them to find other information that will widen their understanding of that resource?
Take a look at the JISC funded, Scarlet Project at Manchester University
http://www.m-libraries.info/community/groups/library-content/docs/scarlet-case-study
Are you thinking of using Facebook with your students? This link will take you to a
paper about the use of Facebook with College students. Even though it is not about
University students the same advantages and disadvantages exist, making this a very
interesting read. Do download the slides, it is impossible to read otherwise.
http://slidesha.re/Oc1TQx
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Employability
One of the things module and course leaders become very concerned about is ensuring
students gain employability skills. Take a look at what University of Birmingham, have
been doing with Panopto for employability skills development,
http://demo.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer/Default.aspx?id=369d0d56-
772a-4022-8778-a474204e2a38
Feedback
There are some very simple and effective ways of giving feedback to students. One I
particularly like is this example shared on the ALT (Association of Learning
Technologists) mail list on February 1st this 2012. [email protected] Feb 1st ALT list
http://wallwisher.com/wall/FdAEYJan2010 Wallwisher has now been updated and
changed to Padlet http://padlet.com/
Assessment
Use of social media for assessment needs to be carefully considered, particularly
around such issues as reliability, accessibility, privacy, equity and other obligations to
students (see the UW Learning and Teaching Assessment Strategy). JISC ran some
projects on e-assessment and feedback, you might like to watch the short video they
produced about the projects
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/assessment/digiassess/
assessresource.aspx You will also find the new Jisc site, Design Studio, helpful on this
subject http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/33596916/Effective-Assessment-in-
a-Digital-Age-Workshops
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Reference
Facebook (ndg) Data Use Policy http://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/
Accessed 2012.07.31
Facebook (ndg) Help Centre http://www.facebook.com/help/
Accessed 2012.07.31
Flickr (ndg) Help http://www.flickr.com/help/
Accessed 2012.07.31
JISC (2012) Developing Digital Literacies
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/briefingpaper/2012/
Developing_Digital_Literacies.pdf
Accessed 2012.07.17
Jones R.H. and Hafner C.A. (2012) Understanding Digital Literacies: A practical
introduction, Routledge, Abingdon
Salmon, G (2011) E-Moderating: The key to online teaching and learning, Routledge,
Abingdon
Slideshare (ndg) Forums http://help.slideshare.com/forums
Accessed 2012.07.31
Twitter (ndg) Help Centre https://support.twitter.com/
Accessed 2012.07.31
Twitter (ndg) Privacy Policy https://twitter.com/privacy
Accessed 2012.07.31
Wankel, C. (2010) Cutting-edge Social Media Approaches to Business Education
Teaching with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Second Life and Blogs, Information Age
Publishing Inc, Charlotte, North Carolina
U n i v e r s i t y o f W o r c e s t e r 2 0 1 4 P a g e | 25
Weller, M. (2011) The Digital Scholar: How Technology is Transforming Scholarly
Practice, Bloomsbury Academic, London
Wordpress (ndg) Forums http://wordpress.org/support/
Accessed 2012.07.31
YouTube (ndg) Help http://support.google.com/youtube/?hl=en-GB
Accessed 2012.07.31
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