Notes
This Adobe Spark is an output of a collaborative interactive social media workshop delivered at the #SocMedHE19 Social Media in Higher Education Conference. (Sum, Beckingham, Faulkner and Baff 2020) Details of the Conference programme and all abstracts can be found here. It accompanies a journal article in Volume 1 of The Journal of Social Media for Learning (2020).
Abstract :
Mobile technologies have become embedded into our everyday life with individuals depending on such tools to engage, communicate and complete tasks. However, technologies have also become ingrained into the Higher Education environment as they support and stimulate innovative ways of learning and teaching. The use of social media such as Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Flipgrid are just a few examples of the possible social media tools to develop and enhance teaching and or research experiences as well as professional skills. The efficacy of using social media in Higher Education requires investigation to explore the way in which staff and students communicate on these platforms. Staff-student partnerships are evolving and becoming an effective method for staff and students to share knowledge and practices; an example and opportunity to develop new approaches using social media to enhance learning and teaching. Through a #SocMedHE19 conference workshop, the aim was to provide a supportive and open way to discuss the use of social media and to explore any concerns or barriers raised; as well as to gain insights into their professional use of different social media in learning and teaching. A generic overview of Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Flipgrid were given, drawing on examples of our own learning, teaching and sharing practices in our local institutions. We then wanted to engage the delegates (staff and students) to explore these specific tools themselves and consider how they could be utilised in their own practice. An innovative approach was taken to facilitate and capture this discussion using Lego® Serious Play®, Padlet and Flipgrid. This paper considers how effective this interactive approach was and to what extent it encouraged open discussion about the perceived enablers and barriers to using this selection of social media tools. Key findings highlight the benefits of using social media tools in a classroom setting, enabling participants to increase understanding and confidence of each available tool and exposing them to utilising it in a pedagogical way. The workshop enabled participants to connect with one another, expanding their network and to share potential ideas for learning and teaching. The need for ongoing support for colleagues who are not familiar with the approaches used and implementation in a classroom setting was strongly recommended by participants.
Keywords: Lego® Serious Play®, Snapchat, Flipgrid, Padlet, Social Media
Workshop Resources
Following the outline of practical applications of social media, we delivered an overview of Lego® SeriousPlay® to explain the concept and explore how it would be used within the context of the session using a skills building exercise. Reflections and discussions using Lego®SeriousPlay® were captured through Twitter and Padlet. Participants were also invited to add a video message using Flipgrid of their key takeaway moments and one for general feedback. The session resources used during the workshop are provided below.
Resource Padlet
We used a padlet to provide resources and information about the various social media tools that we would be using during the session and a secondary padlet to capture feedback from participants.
Session Feedback Padlet
Workshop Slides
Workshop Outputs
Quite often in workshops there are rich discussions and the use of paper flip charts and post-its are often used to capture this. However, this is not always shared after the event. During this workshop the Session Feedback Padlet provided a live digital repository to gather these discussions and reflections. We wanted a way to synthesis proceedings and therefore after the session Piktochart was used to create an infographic poster to highlight some of the ways the tools can be used in learning and teaching together with a Wakelet collection capturing tweets from the day. The aim being to create additional information and other resources that may be helpful for others. These are provided below.
Wakelet Curation
A selection of tweets from the day can be found on our Wakelet at the button below
Infographic
Access the full version of the Infographic using the button below.
Additional Resources
LINKED IN, TWITTER and MORE
Useful hints and tips for using LinkedIn, Twitter and other tools can also be found on Sue Beckingham's blog Social Media for Learning including this post Getting Started with LinkedIn.
SNAPCHAT
In this video Suzanne Faulkner discusses how she has used snapchat with her students. There are also useful blog posts and other resources on Suzanne's blog including 5 Reasons to Use Snapchat and 10 Reasons Your Students will Thank you for using Snapchat!
FLIPGRID
This video from Flipgrid covers the basics of setting up your account and first flipgrid. Other helpful videos can be found on the Flipgrid Blog. Debbie Baff has also curated a Flipgrid Padlet which contains hints and tips for those new to using Flipgrid.
About the Presenters
PRESENTERS
Kiu Sum @KiuSum
Kiu is a Doctoral Researcher with a research interest in workplace nutrition, physical activity and behavioural and psychological health focusing on NHS doctors. Away from her academic study, Kiu is heavily involved in a number of student engagement and pedagogy research projects (e.g. Students as Co-Creators), with topics focusing on assessment and feedback as well as the use of mobile technologies. She is also the Student Officer at RAISE Network
Sue Beckingham @suebecks
Sue is a National Teaching Fellow, Principal Lecturer in Business Information Systems and Technology with a lead role in LTA. She's also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Staff and Educational Development Association, Certified Member of ALT and a Certified Management and Business Educator. Her research interests include social media and she writes a blog called Social Media for Learning. An advocate of informal learning, she is a co-founder of the international #LTHEchat 'Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Twitter Chat'.
Suzanne Faulkner @SFaulknerPandO
Suzanne is a Teaching Fellow in Prosthetics and Orthotics, within the department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, she is also a facilitator trained in the LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) methodology. Suzanne is passionate about enhancing the student experience by focusing on improving student engagement, utilising social media in learning and teaching and incorporating playful learning. She has been nominated and shortlisted for several teaching excellence awards and is currently undertaking an MSc in Advanced Academic Studies, evaluating the use of LSP to enhance participation of non-native speakers of English in group work activities.
Debbie Baff @debbaff
Debbie is Membership and Professional Development Manager for the Association for Learning Technology and in her third year as a PhD Student in E Research and Technology Enhanced Learning at Lancaster University. Debbie is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Certified Online Learning Facilitator. Her research interests include online and social learning, open educational practice social support and community engagement. Debbie is a proud member of the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) and Secretary and Co-Chair of the ALT Open Education Special Interest Group (#openedsig) and is an active volunteer across many social media and education community networks including #ALTC, #OER, #LTHEchat #BYOD4L and #SOCMEDHE19.
Adobe Spark by @debbaff June 2020
Credits:
Participant Images by Participants and Presenters https://unsplash.com/photos/kn-UmDZQDjM