Using social media tools to support student retention

Dr. Stella PortoMaster of Distance EducationGraduate School of Management & TechnologyUniversity of Maryland University College

http://www.slideshare.net/sporto/uceama09-porto

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 Our activities Lessons learned Synergy and future

• Final remarks

Focus of this presentation

“As distance education has evolvedfrom a teacher-centric to a much morelearner-centric model, the roles andactivities instructors and other learnersupport providers have changed to beingmore proactive than reactive” (Brindley etal., 2004, p.9)

The lack of campus life imposes difficulty in keeping students andgraduates connected beyond the ties of the online classroom.Using social media to provide further student support in asustainable 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

IntroductionContext and Background: U of MarylandMaryland U College

IntroductionContext and Background: U of MarylandMaryland U College

Context and landscapeOldenburg

Introduction:Context & background: the program

• Core competencies Managing the DE system in a

variety of settings Planning, budgeting,

development, delivery, andsupport of distance educationand distance training programs

• Target Audience Potential managers of the

distance education enterprise in: Educational organizations Corporate / Business Government & Military Non-profit and associations

• Entirely online for part-timeworking adults

• International• Collaborative

FacultySupport

InstructionDesign &Support

Leaders &Managers

HigherEducation

Media & technology

CorporateTraining &Learning

DistanceEducation

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 is

Social media: what it can do for usBEYOND 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 distanceeducators Learning with technology Learning through technology Acquiring skills Developing technological competencies Tools: ALL

Social media: what it can do for usBEYOND instruction

• Individual and collaborative means for producing and sharingcontent 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 ALLMDE related information•Extremely flexible platform

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE Blog

The MDE Blog•Initially was the one-stop-shopfor all MDE information•Now, works exclusively as ablog•One-way communication - nointeraction

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE Lounge

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

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

The Faculty-forum•Management effectiveness•Privacy, listserv mode,discussion board, simple andnot-invasive

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The MDE wiki

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

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

The MDE capstonewiki•Support for finalcapstone: e-portfolio &research project•Information sharing•Direct relationship withinstruction

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: The capstone tutorial

The MDE tutorial•Support for e-portfolio•Precursor of the MDEcapstone wiki•Direct relationship withinstruction

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: MDE Orientation

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

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

The MDE internshipprogram•Getting your feet wet asa distance educator•Supporting the program•Engaging in actionresearch

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

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

The MDE Student Support Social Media Suite: social networking

Presence in socialnetworks•Connections withgraduates andprospective students•Marketing

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

The MDE Itinerantvideo project•Graduate initiative•Celebration of the 10th

anniversary•Communityinvolvement

Tools and more tools: Allison’s toolbox

Who is Allison?Allison is an MDE 2008 graduate and an collaborator in the MDE network…

Lessons learned

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

Reach out to new studentsMost participants are lurkersCoupling blog posts to listservStudents want to get involved, but they need a HAND

A few active members generatesignificant impactBeing personal is keyOngoing projects and activitiesRespond to the needs of stakeholders

Synergy and future

Projects ledby graduatesRelationshipwith otherUMUC unitsPartnershipsin publishingand academicwork

Virtualconference for10th anniversarycelebrationPodcast seriesWebinarsSpecial interestgroups

Final remarks

Thinking beyond theclassroomEnthusiasm is contagiousExperiment, experimentand experiment…Count on your graduatesand studentsNetworking is essential toeveryone for differentreasons

Thank you!

Questions?

Presentation can be found at:http://www.slideshare.net/sporto/uceama09-porto

Contact: sporto@umuc.edu