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Allen Kupetz

_“The word blog is irrelevant, what’s important is that it is now common, and will soon be expected, that every intelligent person (and quite a few unintelligent ones) will have a media platform where they share what they care about with the world.”_- Seth GodinOf the thousands of applications, my experience has shown that blogging is the best social media tool that professors can integrate into their courses. A blog gives the professor an opportunity to post his/her own thoughts, or an article from someone else, and allow students to read it and comment on it outside of class. While some of this functionality exists in many course management tools, a blog hosted externally from the school generally has better tools to integrate text, pictures, and video into a single message. Students can read the content outside of class, comment on it, and comment on the comments of other students.You can easily create and manage a blog with two of the most popular sites, Blogger (www.blogger.com) or WordPress (www.wordpress.com). Bother are free and relatively easy to use, but WordPress offers a broader suite of applications.Most syllabi have a participation component as part of the final grade. Many students – particularly those whose native language is not being used in class or whose culture discourages engaging with professors – are reluctant to raise their hands. A blog is one way to increase their level of participation because students can collect and process their thoughts before sharing them (something many native-speaking students might also benefit from).Course example: You have a textbook and cases in your syllabus, but try posting a current article from the business press and having your students comment on it and the other students’ comments. The students can also post links to other related articles that may have a different perspective. Blogs are a useful way to promote discussion and keep the subject matter fresh. E-mailing students the article doesn’t allow for an interactive response. And photocopying the article and handing it out in class doesn’t increase the participation. Creating a blog takes less than five minutes and posting an article to it takes less than that.About the author: Allen H. Kupetz is the executive-in-residence at the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He can be reached at akupetz@rollins.edu. Please consider attending ASTD 2012 where you can hear Allen Kupetz at his session, "Technology Trends Impacting Higher Education", which is part of the Higher Education Session Track.

Social Media For The Professor-Getting Started with Blogging

“Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.”- Oscar WildeAs powerful as many social media tools can be, they also present some pitfalls. But by keeping the following suggestions in mind, you’ll keep the technology under control and your students on task.Focus on your strategy, not the technology. Like blackboards and textbooks, social media applications are aids to the learning process. Use them to enhance the course, not just to say you use them. For instance, outside of class, use social media to increase the level of discussion and collaboration on new or tangential topics. This will help you free up in-class time for more central topics.Don’t drive the bus – take a seat in back with your students. Don’t create a blog post and then just sit back and wait; continue to be a part of the conversation. Respond to students’ comments. Ask “Have you considered this idea?” or “How does your comment relate to this link?” Encourage responses to your response to their responses – and so on. Social media is about having a conversation, even if you are the professor.Participate, but don’t officiate. Social media tends to lower inhibitions – students will write things about others that they would never say face-to-face, even when each post is attributed to its writer. Why the most egregious violations of civil discourse are less likely from college students, you should still set guidelines for what is appropriate and what isn’t. Make it clear that students should challenge ideas, not attack other students’ motives or intelligence. Writing “a better choice might have been” is, well, a better choice than “only an idiot would have reached that conclusion.”Also remind them of the level of discourse expected. Using a Twitter feed to post what they had for lunch does not move the discussion forward, unless the comment is meant to highlight a facet of customer service, marketing, or pricing strategy.On the other hand, you also should avoid being too restrictive. Most blog sites allow you to approve comments before they are posted to the broader audience, but I recommend against that. You risk giving students the impression that they can post ideas only if you approve of them. Or worse, that all the ideas posted are in fact things you do agree with. Let them post whatever they want. If a comment is completely out of bounds or overly confrontational, you can easily delete it. Otherwise, let students respond to offending comments.