Social Media Education - A thought!

Last week Wednesday we had our first Twitter chat on “Is Education ready to embrace Social Media” and I must confess I was quite amazed with the kind of response that we received. Honestly I was under the impression that this idea would face a lot of inertia and that people from the Academic world would not be willing to accept this change.

But the actual reality was at exact 180degrees. People really want to use Social Media as an easily & readily available Learning Management or a Content Management tool. But then I was stuck on what’s stopping them. Now this was a billion dollar question, and just like any billion dollar question this had a simple logical answer but a complex execution algorithm (talk of complexity of simplicity).

What I learnt during the Twitter Chat (FYI - look for hash-tag #TSP_EduForum, it’s an acronym for TheSocialPeople Education Forum) is that there seems like there is general agreement among social media users/evangelists/consultants that education is crucial. However social media education can be quite vast and can pretty much mean anything. It's like trying to teach someone to be a mechanic in a few days or even a few hours, there's a lot to learn. The challenge is keeping the learning community up-to-date on those latest tools/tactics/strategies.

As you know social media is a very dynamic in nature and what you learn today might change tomorrow. So if we keep seeing new tools/techniques/strategies emerging almost daily, how to we create and administer social media training programs? My answer, focus on the core of social media principles or global best practices. Here are the main topics I would consider (I'm going to leave a few out because I'm more interested in what you have to say):

1. High level Social Media Strategy (This I feel is the most important and vital topic. Wrong strategy and you or your idea is doomed.
2. Identification of the right social media tools/platforms that suites your need
3. How to identify existing social media communities (or create new ones if needed)
4. Social Media measurement or metrics.
5. Understanding how to monitor social media and respond to sentiments shared by users\
6. Benefits/value of social media and risks of social media with effect exit mechanism, just in case.
7. Resources needed to succeed in social media
8. Case studies/examples/results of social media campaigns

So here I have listed 8 high level topics that make up a part of what I consider the Social Media Education core. Instead of focusing social media education efforts on details (that will change quickly) I think it would be much more valuable to focus on applications that are relatively constant to rephrase this more scientifically, strategize and use media that is evolving rather than mutating. I would also strongly advice that the herculean tasks of planning and strategizing details can be left to the experts who are implementing the actual strategy or to the consultants that are advising the company.

Do you agree with me? What other topics would you add to the Social Media Education Core?

For those of you who would like be a part of our Twitter Chat, it happens every Wednesday at 10AM Indian Standard Time. Don't forget to hash-tag - #TSP_EduForum.

Why the Education sector is keen to adopt Social Media?

(Image source: edweek.org)
According to a recent Gartner report, Education seems to be a early adopter of social media. In fact it stands second to only media in the social media adoption. The findings are not surprising considering that most people below the age of 25 are very active on social media.

In the UK many school children are said to discussing their homework assignments on Facebook. Facebook is actually very popular across age groups but sees the highest activity in the 15-30 age group. many educational institutions have taken advantage of this trend and are heavily connecting with prospective students through their pages.

Harvard University for example has more than 1 million likes on their page on Facebook. They also are present on other social networks including You tube, twitter, Google +, Flick, Stumpleupon and Four Square.
One actually take a virtual tour of Harvard through an app which can be used on any smart phone.

In Spain many medical students are using Facebook to discuss medical cases. They have actually formed a closed group in which cases are uploaded along with diagnostic charts and radio graphs and cases discussed. This group is actually helping the students to prepare for examinations like the US MLE.

Many self help channels on You Tube have also been created. One such channel that I subscribe to is the David Lloyd Tennis school. They have excellent videos on important aspects of tennis like Serve and volley and I use them constant to improve aspects of my game.

I would like to hear your views, What else can be achieved through social media? Can the quality of education be improved by using social networks? How can consulting firms help in educators developing their social media blue print? I would like to hear your views on this topic.