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TECHNIQUES FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE SCHOOL, CLASSROOM AND WORKPLACE [Techniques](Techniques Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) IN THIS ARTICLE WE WILL LOOK AT SOCIAL MEDIA FROM TWO PERSPECTIVES: (1) a GTE graduate who wants to develop a business brand and network, and (2) career and technical educators who want to enhance their reputation and that of their school while at the same time helping students develop their own brand. Using Social Media to Build a Business Brand and Network Social media provides a powerful set of networking and communications tools for educators and for businesses. As an instructor, you can use these tools to develop your own professional brand, build the reputation of your school and network with your community business supporters. You can also assist students in creating their professional online brand, helping them to establish themselves as specialists in their chosen field. When CTE graduates start their own businesses, they may find it challenging to build their business brand and develop a strong and reliable network of customers and suppliers. In our highly competitive, networked and global economy, social media has proven to be a powerful tool when used strategically for the aforementioned purposes. Social Media Use in Education Educators also can use social media to communicate effectively with students and increase their engagement in classes. You can distribute information directly to the same social media platforms students use every day. You can create discussions, provide just-in-time responses to questions, and communicate about assignments, schedule changes and other information related to your school or classes. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedln, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube are among the most widely used services. For a detailed discussion of these platforms, we suggest viewing ACTE Online Communications Manager Brian Jenkins' presentation, "Social Media for Late Adopters," from VISION 2013, at www.acteonline. org/vision/#.U688kfk7uSo under the "Educational Technology" section. As an educator, you can use social media to: * Stay current with industry developments and share news and innovations using Twitter. * Network with industry professionals using Linkedln, Twitter and Facebook. * Create closed groups or circles to communicate or share curriculum resources with students and other educators using Facebook and Google+. * Follow industry developments using Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedln and Google+ communities. * Develop training videos and share with students using YouTube, Vimeo or another videosharing service. * Provide students with links to other training videos on YouTube. Professional Social Media Tools Professionally oriented platforms can enhance your reputation and that of your school and students. We suggest beginning with Linkedln: * Create a profile on Linkedln and join groups that discuss topics relevant to your field. A search of Linkedln returned 474 groups for the agriculture, automotive, construction, education, electrical, health services, HVAC and manufacturing fields. * Encourage students to create a Linkedln account to begin professional networking for their future careers. To create a clear brand, use the same profile, picture or identifying image on each platform. Phrasing, design and navigation should be as consistent as possible, as well. What About Blogging? Blogs, in many ways, perform the functions of the personal website of the past. With a blog you can publish articles to the online community and create pages for different audiences. For example, a class or course page can provide easy access to a variety of resources, e.g., informational articles, links to related materials and course descriptions. Blogs need to be updated frequently. If you have time to write and post new material with regularity, a blog can boost your professional image. There are many blogging platforms-WordPress, Google+ and Tumblr are just a few. Research these and others before selecting a platform as capabilities and restrictions vary. When you have time, write as much new material as you can, and create a calendar to schedule when you will post updates. Getting Started Following are some quick-start suggestions from STEP (Social Technology Enabled Professional) teachers for creating an online presence: * Seek advice from others who use social media (colleagues, university partners, industry contacts). * Search through Facebook to find and evaluate the pages of businesses, professional contacts and other people you know. * Learn the tools available on each platform to protect your personal identity, information and materials. * Try social media platforms you have not used. * Select only the media you feel comfortable with and that you will have time to update on a regular basis. Twitter, Linkedln and your school's Facebook page and website are good places to start. The STEP project's social media experts recommend: * Using Twitter twice each day at least three days a week. * Updating Facebook at least twice a week or more if your Facebook followers are active users. * Checking Linkedln every day. Respond to networking requests and postings. * Checking your blog daily for comments and responding to them. Update your blog posts once a week to keep it active. * Updating YouTube twice a month if you produce or have a stockpile of training videos. Final Thoughts Social media can be an effective tool to build a business brand and network, engage GTE students in new types of technical content and build a strong community of learners for GTE programs. However, using social media effectively means developing a pattern of practice that includes connecting with your online communities on a regular basis. Although planning and writing online content can be done in spurts, following a regular schedule of posting is key to engaging online communities successfully. Tech The National Science Foundation-funded STEP Project The STEP project at the Education and Development Center In Waltham, Massachusetts, brought together social media experts and educators to develop online learning-curriculum modules and tools to help students build a business brand and network. The modules can be used for classwork, homework or projects. No prior social media experience Is assumed. Each module Includes stepby-step directions and resources to build social media skills. Rubrics tied to specific work tasks guide assessment of student progress. CTE Instructors can also use them to enhance their own professional Image or brand online. The STEP modules Include four ways to get started using social media to develop a business brand and network: 1. Study the online presence/ activities of companies like your own. What platforms do they use? How do they engage their community? What do they post and how often? Use the results of your analysis to design your own online presence. 2. Select a platform based on your organizational goals and the type of materlal/content you have to share (Twitter for news, YouTube for videos, etc.). 3. Write and schedule your content. Plan your messages strategically In advance. Write the content you want to appear on your platform, and schedule when that material will be posted. 4. Monitor your site frequently, and adjust your messages accordingly. Respond to Inquiries and Issues In a timely manner. David M. Smith, M.Ed., is an adjunct professor in the School of Information Technology at Kaplan University. For educator uses of social media information, contact David [email protected]. Joyce Malyn-Smith, Ed.D., is the managing project director and principal investigator for the EDC. For STEP program information, [email protected]. The authors thank the STEP team for their contributions: Joseph Ippolito and Heidi Larson of EDC, and Latrice Singletary and Shonese Lawhorne of Orangeburg County Community College. (c) 2014 Association for Career & Technical Education |