Social Media- "History in Real Time" for Students, Teachers, and You

At the 2012 EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference in Chicago, an Experience IT Session was held to delve into the topic social media and how it can make learning more relevant for faculty and students. In this session, a series of presumptions were tested through a year long research study to see if social media can:

motivate and engage “the Base”
accelerate the speed of dissemination
disseminate fact or fiction
affect attribution of the author
reinforce, influence, or change opinion

In addition, the study looked into strategies and methods to make learning more relevant and engaging. By using social media tools such as Tweetdeck, YouTube, and CNN iReports, attendees learned how to bring real world political events into the classroom for discussion, evaluation, and research. Attendees across the Midwest were given the chance to see real life political events in Wisconsin to better understand the power, advantages, and dangers of social media. In addition. participants learned how to extend the use of social media into other academic disciplines.

Tech Boot Camp @ EDUCAUSE Midwest Conference

At the EDUCAUSE Midwest 2012 Conference in Chicago, I participated in an unique segment called Tech Boot Camp. In this 90 minute event, presenters sit at a series of round tables and talk about their technology-related project which covers a broad spectrum on topics. Every 15 minutes or so, the viewers rotate to other tables to learn about a different topic. As the session description states, "In this session, you'll learn from colleagues about emerging tools and their potential applications on campus and in your professional life. Facilitators will be positioned at stations around the room, allowing you to experience one tool or to float between discussions." In the photo, I am collaborating with Beth Kirschner, Application Development Manager from the University of Michigan, on social and rich media. My topic was "Social Media in Real Time"- for Students, Teachers, and You. This was a very good opportunity to confer with colleagues on a more one-on-one basis through more in depth discussion. The full presentation on this topic was given to a wider audience as part of the Experience IT track for the conference.