SMCEDU in Virginia: Social Media in Education Conference
August 12, 2009 by Yong Lee
I had a great SMCEDU conference call on Tuesday with Nathan Hughes and Kendall Morris of Social Media Club of Richmond, VA. There is a lot of excitement within this local chapter, and I’m looking forward to working with this group of people as we reach out to local schools.
It seems that we’re still in the “create awareness” stage of things with SMCEDU, but we’re moving into action phases. Here’s one that represents that:
Tonight (Wednesday) from 6-8pm EST, SMCRVA will host a discussion with the Virginia Department of Education, the State Council of Higher Education, Virginia’s Community Colleges, and the College Savings Plan and Education Credit Management Corporation. The discussion will focus on how Virginia seeks to take the lead in creating tools to promote affordability and access in education.
Virginia’s Community Colleges seem very interested in setting an example of how social media can be applied in education and communication, and tonight’s conference will be available for everyone to participate and follow through Twitter using the #steakchat hashtag. Also, check out Virginia’s Education Wizard, an online portal for career and education planning in Virginia, for the podcast and blog posts about the event.
This is just one example of how the SMCEDU effort is happening as we speak. I know there are others — if you’re hosting/participating in one, please let us know so we can share knowledge and spread the word faster!
With social media again making headlines this week with Facebook’s acquisition of Friendfeed, I thought it a poignant opportunity to bring up this point.
Yesterday, I had a conversation with two college students and the subject of Facebook came up. Out of curiosity, I asked if either would be interested in taking a social media class if one was offered at their school. The response was mixed…it seemed both would be interested, but neither could honestly find the value of “just learning about Twitter.”
I understand two people’s opinion is not an accurate representation, but it was a sentiment that was echoed by others listening to the conversation and seemed to reflect the definition of social media for at least a percentage of college students.
That’s part of our challenge — spreading awareness of first, what social media is, and second, why it’s important. I could have bored the two students with a definition/lecture of social media, but instead filed away the opinions as a marker for future discussion. I’m curious: social media is a powerful tool now, and will only become more prevalent in the future. If a percentage of the current generation that’s in school isn’t prepared to take advantage of existing technology, what percentage is?
Are classes enough to teach students (and anyone else that’s interested) that there’s more to social media than Facebook? Or that Twitter isn’t a waste of time? The classroom is a conventional atmosphere that brings with it a level of seriousness; in other words, if students see social media classes in their course catalogs, perhaps more will see it as something that’s more than a frivolous Internet outlet. Just a thought.
We are really excited about this new initiative in Richmond! We see it as an opportunity to engage a whole new audience and further all of our understandings and development of social media.
I am not at all surprised at the reaction you got about a social media class, but it is not just that age group. I have found much disinterest among other groups as well. Often times speakers fail to put the whole discussion into the WIIFM arena – whats in it for me. Until we do more of that and yes to some of us it seems straight forward and hard to see how this is so hard but we need to take it back down to basics and start from there.
I also do a class on occasion that I call Internet marketing 101 and it still continues to be well received and yet the simple questions continue to come up. We still need to educate and do so with the emphasis on WIIFM.
I am so glad you brought this up, I am on the curriculum advisory committee for a College that is solely online (Headquartered in Virginia Beach) where in July I brought up this point that the business classes need to at least touch upon social media. The school discussed their goals of wanting the graduated students to be armed with knowledge but also the networking skills. They also want their alumni and current students to feel a sense of community , a challenge for an online school. They are starting with Facebook and so I am looking forward to staying in touch with them on how to maximize all social media avenues to meet their goals!
Kendall, I’m looking forward to working with you and the members of SMCRVA in the near-future!
Rick, it’s impossible to understate the importance of the WIIFM factor when trying to get people interested. I think part of the challenge in conveying what’s in it for them, and also one of the most exciting aspects of social media, is the constant discovery of its potential. Gathering examples of how people currently benefit would be useful, but I’m hoping that the benefits of sharing (one of the core attributes of social media) will also become evident.
Cara, your school’s goals of arming students with knowledge and networking skills echoes the desire of many businesses that want to recruit from a more tech-savvy (in regard to social media) pool of graduates. I hope you keep an eye on our project!
Hi Erik, thanks for the mention, it’s a great video! It’s actually featured on Social Media Club’s home page
http://socialmediaclub.org