Social Media and the OU
Dr. Nick Pearce, IET
[email protected]@drnickpearce
http://digitalscholar.wordpress.comwww.slideshare.net/pearcen
Session Outline
• My Talk– OU and new technology– What is Social Media, what makes it different?– What is the OU doing with social media?– Why does this matter?
• Discussion about the issues– Privacy– Security– ?
OU history
• From mission:– the advancement and dissemination of
learning and knowledge …by a diversity of means such as broadcasting and technological devices
• ~180k students
• Technology has always been important and necessary
Broadcast Media
Broadcast media today
What is social media?
• Peer created content– Youtube, Wikipedia etc.
• Low barriers to entry
• Interactive
• Dynamic
• Increasingly through mobile devices
Some more critical thoughts
• Wisdom of the crowds Vs Herd Instinct
• Much read/write web is still read only– Web 1 users in a web 2 world
• Who pays for it?– Sustainability– Time investment for staff
OU’s social media: An ecology of openness
• Youtube
• ItunesU
• Second Life
• OpenLearn
• The OU has 23,500 official fans– Other more informal groups
• 2 ‘apps’– Course Profiles– My OU story
• 5,000 followers– Perhaps less than you’d expect?– Brian Cox has 72,000– Lady Gaga has 4mn
• Sends links to press releases
• OU joined in July 2007
• Several channels– OU View– OU Learn– OU Research
• High quality video
• Total of 2.7mn views
• 6,000 comments
• OU joined in June 2008
• Since then– 17mn downloads– 2mn visitors– 89% outside UK
• Academics are being encouraged to produce content
• Launched 2003– 3D environment– Well studied in education– High barriers to entry
• OU presence since 2006– Virtual campus– Used for some teaching/ conferences
• Access to 100s of hours of contact and learning tools (discussion, quizzes etc.)– Part of OER movement
• Externally funded at the moment
• Pros and cons?
Ecology of Openness
• Platform
• OpenLearn
• Bringing content together in a single portal– Incl. BBC
Benefits
• Individuals– Supports lifelong learning
• OU– Positive PR – Improves content
– increased enrolment
• Society– Social inclusion
Challenges
• Hard to encourage meaningful dialogue
• IPR
• Accessibility and learner support
• Sustainability
Social Media and you
• Are you thinking of using (more) social media?
• How could it help you in your job?
• What are the important issues for you?– Privacy– Security– ?
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