The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: Using social media tools to enhance student support

Dr. Stella Porto & Allison Kipta, MDE Master of Distance Education Customer Trainer Staff Graduate School of Management & Technology Lockheed Martin IS&GS University of Maryland University College

Agenda

•  Focus of this presentation •  Introduction

  Student support in distance education   Context & background   Social media in distance education

•  The Social Media experience in the MDE   The tools   Projects and goals   Lessons learned   Synergy and future

•  Final remarks

Focus of this presentation

“As distance education has evolved from a teacher-centric to a much more learner-centric model, the roles and activities instructors and other learner support providers have changed to being more proactive than reactive” (Brindley et al., 2004, p.9)

The lack of campus life imposes difficulty in keeping students and graduates connected beyond the ties of the online classroom. Using social media to provide further student support in a sustainable way is the focus of this presentation.

Introduction: Student Support in Distance Education

•  Necessary shift from a campus based perspective   Needs go beyond those addressed in individual courses

•  Focus on the needs of this specific target audience   Part-time   Full-time employment   Family duties   Long time away from school   Diverse academic and professional background

Introduction: Context & Background – MDE is a partnership

Introduction: Context & Background MDE is a partnership

University of Maryland University College

University of Oldenburg

Introduction: Context & background: the program

•  Core competencies   Managing the DE system   Planning, budgeting, development,

delivery, and support

•  Target Audience   Potential managers of the distance

education enterprise in:   Educational organizations

  Corporate / Business   Government & Military

  Non-profit and associations

•  Entirely online for part-time working adults

•  International •  Collaborative

Faculty Support

Instruction Design & Support

Leaders & Managers

Higher Education

Media & technology

Corporate Training & Learning

Distance Education

Introduction: Institutional Student support

•  Enrollment management / Registrar   Admissions   Financial aid   Registration   Advising   Graduation

•  Portal with self-services •  Academic specialist within the

department •  Program director •  Library •  Office of disabilities

Social media: what it can do for us BEYOND instruction

•  Virtual communities: cultivate a blend of challenge and support   Sharing beyond virtual classroom   Social network   Peer support   Tools: any social network tool or online group tools

•  Sandbox for experiments, especially useful for distance educators   Learning with technology   Learning through technology   Acquiring skills   Developing technological competencies   Tools: ALL

Social media: what it can do for us BEYOND instruction

•  Individual and collaborative means for producing and sharing content   Generation of user content   Building collective knowledge   Tools: blogs, wikis, collaborative documents, etc.

•  Information diffusion and immediate feedback   Immediate communication with stakeholders   Collective feedback and appreciation   Tools: blogs, social networking, wikis, …

•  Expanding knowledge in field of interest   Sharing new information and utilizing new media   Program-wide projects   Tools: audio, video, and image tools, blogs, social networking, …

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite

BLOGS

VIDEOS

SOCIAL NETWORKING

WIKIS

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE Hub

The MDE Hub • The one-stop-shop for ALL MDE related information • Extremely flexible platform

Tool: http://www.weebly.com

URL: http://mdeprogram.weebly.com

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE Blog

The MDE Blog • Initially was the one-stop-shop for all MDE information • Now, works exclusively as a blog • One-way communication - no interaction

Tool: http://www.blogger.com

URL: http://mdeblog.blogspot.com

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE Lounge

The MDE-lounge • Real interaction • Privacy, listserv mode, discussion board, simple and not-invasive

Tool: http://groups.google.com

URL: http://groups.google.com/group/MDE-lounge

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE Faculty Forum

The Faculty-forum • Management effectiveness • Privacy, listserv mode, discussion board, simple and not-invasive

Tool: http://groups.google.com

URL: http://groups.google.com/group/MDE-faculty

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE wiki

The MDE wiki on new technologies • Knowledge-base • Information sharing • Meta-learning

Tool: http://www.wetpaint.com

URL: http://mdewiki.wetpaint.com

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE capstone wiki

The MDE capstone wiki • Support for final capstone: e-portfolio & research project • Information sharing • Direct relationship with instruction

Tool: http://www.pbwiki.com

URL: http://capstone.pbworks.com

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The capstone tutorial

The MDE tutorial • Support for e-portfolio • Precursor of the MDE capstone wiki • Direct relationship with instruction

Tool: webpage on server

URL: http://www.c3l.uni-oldenburg.de/christinewalti/tutorial/index.htm

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: MDE Orientation

The MDE orientation • Workshop with direct instructor-led support • Information sharing • Direct support to instruction

Tool: WebTycho – UMUC’s proprietary LMS

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE internship program

The MDE internship program • Getting your feet wet as a distance educator • Supporting the program • Engaging in action research

Tool: http://sites.google.com

URL: http://sites.google.com/site/mdeinternships/

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE Buddy Program

The MDE buddy-system • Peer-support • Student initiative • Action research project

Tool: http://www.weebly.com

URL: http://mdebuddyprogram.weebly.com

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: Social Networking

Presence in social networks • Connections with graduates and prospective students • Marketing

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE Itinerant Video

The MDE Itinerant video project • Graduate initiative • Celebration of the 10th anniversary • Community involvement

Tool: http://www.tumblr.com

Tool: http://www.vimeo.com

URL: http://mdevideo.tumblr.com/

URL: http://www.vimeo.com/mdevideoproject

Tools and more tools: Allison’s toolbox

URL: http://mdetools.wikispaces.com/

Tool: http://www.wikispaces.com/

Lessons learned

 There is a need for an active leadership role in all initiatives  Continuously invite community

 Reach out to new students  Most participants are lurkers  Coupling blog posts to listserv  Students want to get involved, but they need a HAND

 A few active members generate significant impact  Being personal is key  Ongoing projects and activities  Respond to the needs of stakeholders

Synergy and future

 Projects led by graduates  Relationship with other UMUC units  Partnerships in publishing and academic work

 Virtual conference for 10th anniversary celebration  Podcast series  Webinars  Special interest groups

Final remarks

 Thinking beyond the classroom  Enthusiasm is contagious  Experiment, experiment and experiment…  Count on your graduates and students  Networking is essential to everyone for different reasons

Thank you! - Questions?

Presentation can be found at: http://www.slideshare.net/sporto/sloanc-conference09-porto-kipta

Contact: sporto@umuc.edu

allison.kipta@gmail.com