Blog by: Cody Olsen, OrgSync Campus Liaison, Dixie State College

Just like many others, I am fully aware of the recent uprising of the mega-internet platforms now known as social media. Their increase in popularity has brought a new level of communication and interaction to all groups and ages, especially on college and university campuses.

As a full time student I know that social media has become just as effective as e-mail, text messaging, and phone calls because of the instant communication capability. Many times on campus I witness arguments between friends because someone failed to receive an invite to the latest social event. It’s clear that these students have already jumped on the social media train, but what about the rest of the campus population: the faculty and administration?

Untapped Resource for the Classroom
Many educators tend to adhere to the tried and true teaching methods of the past. Unfortunately, students are changing, and those once effective teaching methods are becoming stale. Faculty, and campus administrators, can utilize social media as a tool for creating new ways to engage students by posting relevant articles, research and websites to these social media sites that students are frequenting on a very regular basis; hence, encouraging outside the classroom learning.

Extend Learning Beyond the Classroom
Using these social media tools educators are able to reach students through new communication mediums and provide students with exposure and experience to valuable tools.  Providing their students with the experience of blogging, developing podcasts and building professional networks, equips students with skills they will likely need after college due to the multiple mediums that all outlets are reaching out to with these social media tools. Allowing students to hone these skills inside the classroom, giving appropriate and constructive feedback, plays both into the traditional mode of teaching/learning as well as the know-how of the future tools.

Teach People, Not Lectures
Many of the postings and updates on social media sites are fully searchable and identifiable to a particular user or author. With the proper skills, educators can track and follow the indications of the comprehension and understanding of specific lectures, lessons, writings and assignments of their students over the duration of the class. Using social media posts, along with student interaction in the classroom, educators may now base their teaching on custom plans centered not only on the needs of their students, but the overall student participation level over these various social medium platforms. This bridge is easy to cross for the faculty member by indicating in the course syllabus the specific social media sites that they will be monitoring/tracking/participating in along with their students and then granting a certain percentage-point amount for participation, frequency, cogency, and relevance to the course materials.

These perks are only a small taste of the fresh new style that social media can bring into the world of higher education. In addition, we will see the potential for higher productivity, better student accountability, and increased participation because when faculty members are reaching out to students where they currently are, the internet, it establishes credibility of both the student and the faculty member. With new technology breeds innovation, and with the best and brightest minds utilizing this new medium, the possibilities for overall effectiveness are near infinite. It’s clear that the use of social media can have a great effect on the lives of students and educators alike. It’s time to throw away the stale, and to embrace and create a fresh new environment where education can thrive.

Blog by: Angel Quicksey, OrgSync Campus Liaison, Claremont McKenna College

Today’s world is smaller, flatter, and more connected than ever before. Places and people that once seemed remote are now only a click away and virtually right next-door.  Neighbors that once chatted through a fence are now chatting online through a social network such as Facebook, Twitter or AIM. Young people – students, especially – use the internet to stay connected, as it’s easier than ever to reach out to the classmate across campus, parents back home, or even the friend made while studying abroad.

Yet, students can use such technologies to reach out in a different way. Young people on campuses around the world already promote social justice and create change. Clubs raise money for relief actions in war-torn countries, they prod politicians and their fellows to take action on environmental issues, they support campaigns for AIDS relief, clean water, and health care. But if one club on one campus can raise a few thousand dollars for Darfur or Burma or the environment, imagine what could be accomplished if those students came together to accomplish something even greater. This is where social media comes in. Recall what students can do without our new technology:

•    The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s – the group, begun at Shaw University, staged many of the sit-ins and freedom rides of the civil rights movement and had a leading role in the1963 march on Washington.
•    The students of the 1970s and ‘80s who protested apartheid in South Africa – beginning with students of Stanford University in 1974, these young people divestment from companies involved in South Africa during apartheid. By 1988, 155 universities had partially or fully divested funds from the country.

These students saw a need for change and combined their efforts across the nation to guarantee civil rights in America and abroad.

Today, students have even more tools available to them to create social change. Through the internet, particularly social media sites, students can easily spread information by broadcasting videos, photos and headlining news.

The power of these sites has become especially apparent in recent weeks as students and opposition leaders in Iran used Facebook and Twitter to spread their message and capture images, like the death of Neda Agha-Soltan.

While perhaps not facing the same immediate strife as the people of Iran, many college and university students tackle other important issues at home and abroad. Yet, most campus organizations seem to work independently, though they may be working toward a similar goal.  Why not take advantage of this new age of social networking and connect with others at your college, in your area, or in a similar branch of your club? Then, once these connections are established using social media, you can create larger events, campaigns and movements that will greatly impact your campus, your nation and even the world.

Blog by: Daniel Ware, OrgSync Campus Liaison, University of Alabama

As many know friendships that are made in college tend to be friendships that last years even after college. Now many colleges and universities are jumping on the bandwagon to make on campus living mandatory for freshmen. Many freshmen are being put into dorms with large amounts of students, and it is up to the freshmen and their Resident Assistants (RA’s) to build a community among themselves.

When asked what he believed helps build a strong community, James Wright, an RA at Paty Hall at the University of Alabama, said:

“Communication between residents and RA’s is absolutely crucial to building a strong and functional community. In halls such as Paty, where constant exposure leads to understanding and frequent communication by word of mouth, flyers, and Facebook, the foundation of good community is easily laid. However, in halls like Riverside, where the most communication a resident can expect is a note; community is not as strong.”

Residence halls usually use flyers to pass on information to students, but unfortunately they are often thrown away and sometimes not even read.  In addition, they can amount to a huge waste of paper, and many schools are beginning to support going green. Word of mouth sometimes can be a good tool for communication in small residence halls but are less affective for larger dorms. Also, the main message tends to get distorted as people relay the message to other people; kind of like the elementary school game, telephone.

Facebook, email, and other on-line tools are usually the best line of communication for college residents and their RA’s.  Most students use social media outlets such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter and usually check them often.  The tools are online and so are the students, so residence halls can easily keep students updated on involvement opportunities and build a community around residence hall life.

Tweet.

Tweet.

Tweet.

The sound of birds chirping or the sound of people talking?

These days, no matter what I’m watching or reading, Twitter seems to be a major topic.  But what exactly is twitter?

Twitter is similar to a lot of things, but unlike anything.  It is like blogging, but there is a 140 character limit.  It is like the Facebook status, but is not limited to just friends.  It is like instant messaging, but all your followers can read it. Simply put, it is a universal status message answering the question “What are you doing?”

Twitter has a strange name and a stranger vernacular surrounding it. People use words and phrases like: “twitterati,” “tweple,” or “I just tweeted.”  Before I decided to try Twitter, I was warned that initially it would seem completely stupid, and as a newbie, it did seem stupid.  I did not and could not see the point of the hype of it; however, now, it is my most used social network.

I first realized the power of Twitter and the power of an online community when a US Airways plane landed in the Hudson River.  Instantaneously, this message was tweeted with a photo of the plane in the Hudson.  It was then forwarded (or in Twitter terms, “retweeted”) throughout the twittersphere before traditional media outlets even heard about the event. 

Nielsen Online reported that at the end of 2008, social networking surpassed the popularity of email. For those of you still trying to communicate with listserves , there is still time.  If you want to effectively communicate with an audience then go to the audience.

Twitter’s capabilities are infinite!  I have a constant twitter search for OrgSync, so I always know what people are saying about us. Comcast and Dell, creatively use Twitter for customer service request.  At conferences, speakers take questions through Twitter and participants are then able to engage in discussion during the session.  Twitter enables you to send notifications, updates, and reminders out instantly.

What are other ways you are using Twitter on your campus?

If you have specific questions please leave a comment and we would love to address them.  It will help guide us in future posts.

Ann White

Today’s guest blogger, Ann White, works as the Web Content Coordinator at Oklahoma Christian University. She manages the content, navigation, and editing of the university’s public website, but in the past year her role has expanded to also manage the university’s social media presence.

I have been a follower of Ann and OCU on twitter for awhile, and I think she does a fabulous job of interacting with their community online.

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Institutional tweeting- now there’s a phrase the old school marketers never saw coming.  But now it’s a reality.

The beauty of this moment is that although you may be unsure in how to go about it, the fact is we all are. This is uncharted territory and we are all learning new lessons day by day.

Although there really is no one who can tell you exactly what to do, there are some fundamental guidelines that I believe will give you the framework to make your own way.

Here are my basic principles, a bit more fleshed out below:

• Have fun
• But don’t be annoying
• Interact
• Use it or lose it
• Make it up as you go along
• Be true to your school

Have fun

I work at a university I love, and because I am here 40+ hours a week, I see many of the stories and events that make this place great. Twitter gives me an outlet to share those little tidbits with others, so they can see the school through my eyes.

For example, whether it’s a video from an alumna of adorable Zambian babies wearing university apparel or a bizarre bathroom fixture that won a toilet contest, I can quickly and easily show people the little pictures that shape my point of view.

If you’re enthusiastic and sincere, it will come across and spread quickly.

Don’t be annoying

Ah yes, the annoying tweeters. Don’t be that guy (or gal).

Unless you explicitly state that you are a news source, don’t run an RSS feed through your Twitter account.

Don’t send mass or auto-direct messages.

Don’t spam tweets- multiple tweets in a row.

Don’t belabor calls to action.

Don’t re-tweet yourself word for word, multiple times in a day.

Don’t ignore basic customer service moments including replies and inquiries.

Twitter makes it very easy to dump you, and people can be fickle enough without you giving them a reason to bail.

Interact

I get a lot of great content from following those who follow the school. As a general principle, I re-follow the following categories.

1.      Real people (Sounds silly, but it’s obvious when they’re not)

2.      Other academic institutions (Great for seeing what other schools are doing)

3.      Local businesses (Good to build ties and relationships with them)

It’s always fun to re-tweet those who write about us, because it is a credible testimony to your school’s value and also is flattering to the person you re-tweet. It shows them that their opinion is important to you, and you build a positive bond.

Use it or lose it

I think this is a key difference in institutional tweeting and personal tweeting.

If you are putting time and energy (university resources) into creating quality tweets, you have to use them somewhere besides Twitter, or they will be by and large lost within an hour because of the volume of tweets.

Thankfully Twitter gives you the RSS feed, so you can run your feed through another website. Whereas a tweet may only last a short while with limited views in a follower’s tweet stream, it could last for days if run through another location.

Make it up as you go along

When I started tweeting for our university, I looked to other schools for ideas. However, there weren’t many doing it in a way that I felt would be authentically transferable to our university, so I had to improvise.

Granted, I started off rocky with infrequent tweets, boring content, little interaction. But once I decided to just dive in and try new things, the response has been great.

One example of this is OC Oldies. I have a lot of great, vintage photos from our university at my disposal, so I have started Twitpic-ing them with the hashtag #OColdies. People seem to get a kick out of it.

Don’t be afraid to try new things! Everything is a new thing right now. Embrace the freedom of it!

Be true to your school

This is the key point where Twitter is not just a hobby but becomes another outlet for your brand’s platform.

Your school has a personality, and Twitter is a place to let it shine.

Are you a large research institution? Then share stories of innovation and accomplishment.

Are you a business school? Then highlight your moguls who are rocking their industries and taking over the world.

Our school is a close knit community equipping people to serve the world in creative and powerful ways, and social media has given me a great platform to breathe live into our mission.

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Hopefully this will inspire you to take some chances and go try something new. Help us all figure out what works and what doesn’t, and share what you learn!

In today’s society, a college education is more important than ever, and there is no shortage of institutions for students to choose from. So, how do prospective students make up their mind? What draws them to one institution over another? More than anything else, they look for a place they can call home. They consider what the University has to offer them. Student involvement in the campus community is vital to a successful college life. Prospective students don’t want to attend an institution where they will be isolated, and have nothing to do but study. While it’s true that students are looking for a good education, without a comfortable environment, learning won’t be possible.

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE Studies) shows that student success is directly linked to student involvement. NSSE measures student involvement in academic and co-curricular programs and activities, and the effect they have on students. According to NSSE, the more involved students are in an institution, the more invested they will be. The higher the student involvement level the higher their grades are and the more likely they are to re-enroll for the next semester. Highly-engaged students are more likely to re-enroll than less-engaged students. An institution that offers inviting options for student involvement is also creating free, word-of-mouth marketing. The more a student likes an institution the more likely they are to promote and recommend it to others. Among institutions that scored appropriately in the NSSE student involvement and engagement study 93 percent of students reported having a favorable image of their college.

Because student involvement is so important, it is vital for an institution to create a culture, not just a campus. When students are involved and engaged, they feel like they are a part of something. This sense of belonging fosters loyalty and pride in their institution, as well as academic achievement, and community involvement. There are five benchmarks laid out by NSSE to gauge a successful student involvement environment.

These benchmarks are:
1. Sufficient level of academic challenge
2. Favorable amount of active and collaborative learning options
3. Quality faculty and student interaction
4. Abundant amount of enriching community interaction
5. Existence of a supportive campus environment.

Students who are involved devote more time and energy to academics, spend more time on campus, while participating actively in student organizations, and having more positive interactions with faculty and staff. All of this leads to a more productive educational environment that benefits every part of the institution. On the other hand, uninvolved students neglect their studies, abstain from extracurricular activities, spend little time on campus, and rarely contact faculty and staff. This lack of interest leads to a lack-luster college experience.

Students are not the only ones to benefit from an engaged environment. Student involvement is often the catalyst for other institutional and community improvements. Faculty, staff, and the surrounding community all benefit from student involvement. From volunteering, to relaxed and free flowing conversation, the benefits are endless. But, meaningful and worthwhile student involvement does not just happen overnight, it’s an investment process that takes time, effort, and money. But this is an investment that has been proven to be worth the effort. Student involvement on campus is one of the quickest ways for students to become part of an institution’s community and create a personalized college experience.

Kate Klingensmith

Today’s guest blogger, Kate Klingensmith, is Director of Research for Inigral, a San Francisco-based education startup company.  With a degree in Cognitive Science and four years experience with teaching high school biology and physics, Kate has a strong interest in college matriculation, technology integration in the classroom, and student engagement.  Her blog, Once a Teacher, is a record of her quest to research and collaborate with others to find ways of incorporating web 2.0 tools into both education and administration.

What is a PLN?

If I had to define what a ‘Personal Learning Network’ is, I would keep it simple and broad:

n. – the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online.

Personal Learning Networks, or PLNs, have been around forever. Originally, they were your family and friends, maybe people you worked with, but as the internet and web 2.0 tools have become nearly ubiquitous, PLNs can include tons of different communities – social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, social bookmarking tools, LinkedIn, and so many more. Basically, anyone that you interact with is apart of your PLN, whether they are social contacts, professional peers, or experts in their field. Most of the ‘learning’ takes place on-line now, because it is simple to find and connect with others with similar interests from around the world.

PLNs have immense value!

So, why bother thinking about your PLN? Whether you’re a full-time mom, a full-time administrator, or a full-time student, your PLN can be extremely interesting and helpful. The beauty of people communicating online is the ease of finding and sharing information and – if you ask for it – the group feedback that you get on ideas and projects.

Here are some ways that people are using their PLNs:
- Professional development – learn from experts in your field
- Locate free resources, such as websites and software
- Get event and marketing ideas
- Learn about new technology and how to integrate it into your role
- Find collaborative solutions
- Find interesting links to higher ed news

When you have a large group of people combing through vast amounts of information and collectively identifying the most useful, entertaining, or valuable parts, it makes a lot of sense to tap into this collective knowledge!

Build Your Own PLN

If you’re interested in expanding your PLN, here’s a directory of some of the best web 2.0 tools:

What to Expect – Stages of PLN Adoption

There are certain stages that most people seem to go through when building their PLN before settling into a comfortable niche. It may take a little time, but you’ll eventually find that a rich PLN can elevate both your personal and professional life to new heights.

If you’d like to connect with me, click here.

The OrgSync team is dedicated to educating the higher education community about experiential learning, co-curricular management, leadership development and other important issues challenging higher education professionals and student leaders. Our series of educational webinars is developed for both higher education professionals and student leaders to learn, teach and collaborate with one another to better the higher education community as a whole.

Higher Education and Social Media

Friday May 8 2:00 pm (PST)

More info & Register

Case Study in Launching a Campus

May 28  10:00 AM (PST)

More info & Register

(This webinar is focused to current and potential community members)

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos at SXSW

This past March, the SXSWi opening keynote speech, presented by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, highlighted the importance of developing a strong company culture and explained his company’s revolutionary vision of customer service.

As I listened to Tony’s presentation, I found myself inspired by the fact that Zappos’ adherence to company culture and core values helped land them on Forbes list of Top 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2009.

Zappos’ philosophy of success is similar to that of OrgSync’s in many ways. Above all, we believe strongly in adhering to company culture and core values. At OrgSync, our success is driven by three core values: 1) Giving the customer the largest stake in the future of the OrgSync platform, 2) Empowering organizational leaders through technology, and 3) Making positive contributions to our communities.

First, as a hosted solution, we believe that development of a premiere product is best accomplished by giving our clients the largest stake. Every month, we encourage our clients to meet with our in-house development team to discuss new product ideas and trends. Through this method of communication, our development team is able to quickly design and implement new features for the entire client base to use. Moreover, OrgSync recently released an Application Programming Interface (API) that will provide campus IT departments the flexibility to create automated processes based on the needs and requirements determined by the school or organization. OrgSync also has a 24/7 customer support line that clients are encouraged to call whenever they need a question answered.

Eric and Jeff at NCLC

Second, OrgSync seeks to empower organizational leaders through technology. The OrgSync team has a strong background in higher education, and involvement in campus organizations. In fact, the very idea to create the OrgSync solution was generated from our co-founders’ experiences in running multiple student organizations at The University of Texas at Austin. Members of the OrgSync team are also regular attendees of the International Leadership Association Global Conference, the National Collegiate Leadership Conference, which is hosted on OrgSync, and the Lone Star Ruby Conference. OrgSync’s involvement in these conferences expresses commitment to innovation and leadership that will best serve OrgSync’s client base.

Lastly, OrgSync aspires to make positive contributions to the Austin tech community, and the communities of its clients. In February, OrgSync sponsored the Austin Twestival hosted by media maven Michelle Greer. Also, earlier this year, our company organized a daylong social media campaign on Twitter to raise over $1500 for Clean Water, whose objective is to provide sanitary water to natives of Africa.

OrgSync’s Cayce Stone uses the phrase “Everybody wins!” to summarize the OrgSync philosophy. By adhering strongly to these core values, OrgSync to provides a solution that makes management of your organization more efficient.

That following Monday morning, I received an email from Tony detailing where I could find more information about Zappos culture. He informed me that a copy of the Zappos Culture book I had requested would be arriving at my doorstep soon, and also extended an offer to visit the Zappos headquarters next time I am in Las Vegas. Thanks again Tony for being an excellent role model!

YouTube, the social media phenomenon that allows you to “broadcast yourself” has mainstreamed video sharing across the world! Currently we take video sharing for granted, but prior to YouTube streaming video was expensive, timely, and difficult to do. Now there are multiple platforms available to broadcast videos and create personal channels including YouTube, Viddler and Vimeo, to name a few. For purposes of this post I will stick with YouTube.

It was not until recently I realized the power behind the YouTube Phenomenon. For example, Soulja Boy was discovered in March 2007 from a rap video called “Crank That” which he made in his home studio and uploaded to YouTube . You can find 100′s of videos of people emulating the Souljah Boy dance including one of MIT professors and another of Prisoners in the Philippines. By May 2007 he had a record deal with his song reaching #4 on the Billboard charts and a Grammy Nomination. Another recent discovery on YouTube was Arnel Pineda, who had posted videos on YouTube oh himself singing Journey cover songs. Journeys talent agent came across Pinedas videos and quickly asked him to join the band as the new lead singer!

So what does this mean for Higher Education? Dr. Mike Wesch teaches a class at Kansas State University that requires students to interact with YouTube. His presentation at the Library of Congress is a must watch, and of course is broadcasted on YouTube.  It is an Anthropological look at  YouTube that explores the connectedness, culture, and power of this medium. If you have  spent limited time on YouTube you will quickly discover how everyone can have a voice and be heard by the world.

Many departments across campus could benefit from video technology such as YouTube. Admissions Offices can actively attract prospective students and provide a better snapshot of their campus experience by posting videos of student life, campus tours and student testimonials. Campus administrators can also use YouTube to broadcast weekly or monthly addresses to the campus. How many campuses feel there are communication problems from administration to staff, or staff to students? This is an easy (and free) method of increasing communication on campus.

Create a video year book and document sporting event, guest speakers, concerts, and other memories you want to capture and share for the year. Kudos to the Universities that have created their own YouTube Channel and started putting content on there, but this is just the beginning.

What are additional ways YouTube can be used in the classroom or on campus? How do you Use it now?