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Using Social Media in a Boston College Classroom (and what you can learn from it)
Gerald C (Jerry) Kane, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Information SystemsCarroll School of ManagementBoston [email protected]
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Classroom 2.0Teach Intro Information Systems
course (BBA and MBA) in Business School
Have used Wikis, Blogs, Social Networks, RSS, YouTube, Folksonomies to enhance classroom experience. ◦Different challenges at MBA
and BBA levels◦Colleagues used in other
departments.
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Lesson 1) “Social” before “Media.”
It’s not mainly about the tools, but the collaborative processes that they enable.
Example: Journal Editor attempting to replicate wikis in classroom.
•Good social media environments don’t just “happen.”
•It’s a competency that can be learned and taught.
Lesson 2) Learn when/how to trust the crowdNew Media Literacy (Jenkins 2008).
◦Crowd is good in some situations, not so good in others.
Need to become savvy consumers and creators of social media information.
Example: NML Assignments, Wikipedia◦Reliable information, but often incomplete.◦Quality does not equal relevance.◦“The crowd creates mostly crap.”◦Social structures still exist online
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Figure 1: Two-mode network of articles and editors
Squares = editorsCircles = articlesRed = Featured ArticlesOrange = A-quality ArticlesYellow = Good ArticlesLight Blue = B-quality ArticlesDark Blue = Start-quality articles
Squares = editorsCircles = articles
Red = Featured ArticlesOrange = A-quality Articles
Yellow = Good ArticlesLight Blue = B-quality ArticlesDark Blue = Start-quality articles
The Social Structure of Peer Production
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Lesson 3) Leverage the CrowdUse crowd to perform
work they are doing anyway.
Example: Crowdsourcing Exams
Upside: frees experts up to be experts.Downside: social media environment
means less traditional managerial control
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Lesson 4) Provide incentivesDespite the hype, people don’t want to
work for “free.”
Example: Grading Policies
Sticks: mandate participation◦Requirements for minimum contribution◦ Increases quantity of activity
Carrots: reward desired behavior◦Offer rewards/ recognition for best work◦ Increases quality of activity
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Lesson 5) Monitor the crowdPay attention to what’s going on
(internally and externally)Automatic search tools
◦Helpful ways to keep track of high-level trends.
◦ Example: RSSDeputize individuals
◦In Web 2.0, lots happensoutside the reach of ‘bots.
◦Example: “Hotlines”© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Lesson 6) It takes time…
Social media changes over time.◦ Google = 10, Facebook = 5, Twitter = 2◦ Portfolio of small “experiments”
best – keep what works. Example: SocialText Platform.Time may be more important than
expertise◦ Do you give employees time to use?◦ Consider who you’ll hear from in social media
environmentsExample: Wikipedia and Aspergers
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Lesson 7) Open, but control, boundariesSocial media weakens
traditional boundaries
Example: Mini-blogosphere
Beware unintended consequences ◦Google indexing, student death.
Retain right and maintain ability to control◦But know limits of this control.
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Lesson 8) Face-to-face is social media, too.Social media does not
replace F2F interactions, it augments them.
Example: Class Introduction
Sends message:◦Social media is important
(and transparent)◦Opportunity to recognize desired activity◦Constructively handle undesired
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
Thank You.Questions?Comments?
© 2009 Gerald C. Kane
