Changing the Culture of Your IT Organization [podcast]

At the EDUCAUSE 2013 Midwest Regional Conference, as a follow up to our session on "Changing the Culture of Your IT Organization," we sat down with Gerry Bayne from EDUCAUSE to record a 10 minute podcast. The podcast highlights how an IT organization can go through an external, becoming more strategic, and enhance the IT alignment, both internally and externally. The key to success is a clear plan, effective communications, and an open process that engages IT staff and stakeholders. Listen how an IT culture can change and empower people in the process.

Flipping the Classroom with Social Media

Educators continue to look for ways to "flip the classroom" through effective learning space design and adhering to the principles of Universal Design. The concept of Universal Design focuses on seven principles in designing spaces: Equitable Use, Flexibility in Use, Simple and Intuitive Use, Perceptible Information, Tolerance for Error, Low Physical Effort, Size and Space for Approach and Use. While each of these elements are closely related to learning space creation, they also have a relationship with the curriculum and how it's taught.

The key for higher education, is to research how new technology tools, and strategies can be incorporated into the learning space to make teaching and learning more authentic and relevant to the student.  One of these tools for educators is the academic use of social media by students. This can open dynamic "windows of opportunity" by flipping the classroom through effective use of social media- in this case, through citizen journalism.

Through a series of class lectures in political science, English, and Communication Studies  at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, students are exposed to the concept of creating digital stories through citizen journalism with CNN iReporting. The class quickly learns about the potential of a wider audience to view their work.

In a variety of classes, a diverse array of human interest and relevant political events are shared with the students.  These "digital stories" are used  to illustrate how authentic and relevant events and personal stories can connect emotionally with the audience.  In addition, social media tools such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Skype are discussed, and examples are used to show how they can quickly disseminate content and stories worldwide, almost instantaneously.  As it was pointed out in the lecture, "social media is history in real time."

During the class lecture, a series of CNN iReport stories are highlighted to explain how the story concept was initially developed, written, and disseminated with the help of social media tools. The key to understanding social media is to realize how it can: motivate and engage; accelerate dissemination; distribute fact or fiction; affect attribution of the author; reinforce, influence, or change opinion; and make learning more authentic.

Students are encouraged to consider becoming iReporters to further enhance their writing and photojournalistic skills. Even faculty members can participate in this process.  Currently there are over 1 million iReporters worldwide.  As an iReporter, you become part of the iReport community, learning techniques and strategies from a worldwide cohort. The experience of being a citizen journalist can extend to almost any discipline.  Once an article on CNN iReports is verified for its accuracy with appropriate clearances, it is becomes officially "vetted."

Once this occurs, other news aggregators may take the story and disseminate it to even larger audiences.  Originally my goal was to reach 10,000 views by the on-line audience.  Today, that total is approaching nearly 1 million views, and that total continues to grow every day. By providing students the opportunity to document original personal stories or a relevant news event, it helps create a diverse portfolio of the author's work, and offers opens the opportunity for worldwide commenting and discussion. Providing these opportunities to students helps to empower them to become more engaged in the learning process.  By encouraging students to immersed themselves in relevant topics helps to "flip the classroom" into a much more dynamic and engaging environment environment. [in class photos taken by Nicole Noe and Rileigh Van Driessche]

Jim Jorstad- CNN 2013 iReport Spirit Award Winner

Mediasiting Your MOOC-Transforming Online Learning Modules into a Massive Open Online Course

On April 16, 2013 Dr. Bob Hoar, Math Professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Jim Jorstad, Director of ITS/Academic Technologies, presented a live webinar at the corporate headquarters of Sonic Foundry in Madison, WI.  Sean Brown, Vice President of Education at Sonic Foundry moderated the event, with over 1200 on-line viewers from across the globe participating and posing questions. It was the one of the largest on-line web streaming international audiences Sonic Foundry has ever sponsored.

Jim described the essence of a MOOC as a type of on-line course which is offered to a large population through the web. The goals of a MOOC can be best explained by three main core concepts including how scalable, sustainable, and if the course can someday be profitable.

Academic institutions and corporate partners are wrestling with each of these goals as they consider the potential of MOOCs.  In addition it is important to consider the "MOOCability" of the the course- in other words can a course be transformed into a MOOC or not?  Some academic disciplines naturally lend themselves to being converted into a MOOC, such as math course.  However certain science lab courses may not translate well into a MOOC.

There are seven core strategies for a successful MOOC which include:

1) develop a worldwide strategic strategy
2) engage faculty into MOOC pilots
3) explain the MOOC concept to faculty, staff, and students
4) use web streaming to explain and promote the MOOC concept
5) consider live and on-demand learning opportunities
6) track project analytics
7) review and refine your plan.

In this Math MOOC project, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant in concert with UW-La Crosse and UW System, "helped to open our eyes" to a worldwide audience for our math MOOC. UW-La Crosse utilized Mediasite streaming technology to promote, explain, and disseminate the MOOC concept on-campus, throughout the U.S. and across the globe.  Web streaming was also utilized to hold live class office hours so that students could interact with the faculty, as well as with other students.  Polling options within Mediasite provided additional interactive feedback. Comments and questions were collected via an e-mail address dedicated to the course web stream.

Using this technology helps to make the remote student feel more a part of the learning environment by engaging them into the teaching and learning experience. If the student cannot participate live in the event, they can watch the program on-demand anytime, anywhere, where there is a computer and Internet access.  Having this feature available helps the students connect with a particularly wide MOOC audience for this project. The age groups for this MOOC extends to an eleven year old student, entire high school classes, to a 83 year-old grandmother.

Dr. Hoar explained the importance of a well-defined team which included Maggie McHugh who is the lead instructor, Jenn Kosiak, a math education expert, Jim Sobota, a professor emeritus who helped to inspect the modules, and Cari Mathwig-Ramseier who served as the intelligent agent to integrate the MOOC into a LMS, which is Desire2Learn.

Dr. Hoar pointed out that the success of the first MOOC was the previous work completed in the FastTrack on-line math program. In this project, 38 high school students enrolled in a summer camp that included on-line math modules. In the end 37 out of 38 improved their math scores which allowed them to avoid having to take a remedial math class as Freshmen.  This saved the students from having to pay for credits to take a remedial math course, and also saved them time for not having to take the course.  It also better prepared them for future science classes as they went through college.



According to Dr. Hoar, the MOOC web site at one point  reached nearly 200,000 hits in one day, and the average grades for students in each module improved dramatically from the original pre-test.  Jorstad commented that through social media, information about the MOOC project was disseminated worldwide through a number of social media channels such as Twitter, blogs, and web streaming. Analytic data was tracked in tandem with the data gained through the MOOC course itself.

Dr. Hoar added that for a successful MOOC you "need to assemble the right team, provide support so that the faculty, staff, and students can develop the materials, and pick a course topic that is important."  If you are follow each of the recommendations highlighted, you are well on your way for a very successful MOOC. More math MOOCs are planned for UW-La Crosse with the support of UW System.

IT: Be the Change and Culture You Want “IT” To Be

At the 2013 EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference held in Chicago, CIO Mohamed Elhindi and Jim Jorstad, Director of Academic Technologies presented a session entitled, "IT:Be The Change and Culture You Want IT to Be" on how institutions can navigate an external review and develop a new IT environment based on change and a new culture.  An audience made up of CIOs, administrators, IT directors, technologists, and faculty attended the event to learn how they could positively change their own IT enterprises. The session illustrated the genesis of an external review, the stated charge, how it was integrated, and how a new dynamic and positive IT culture was conceived and implemented over a two-year period. There are eight core concepts integrated into the plan to change IT culture. They include:

Communication
Ownership
Empowerment
Leadership
Collaboration
Fear of Failure
Cross Pollination
Professional Development

The charge in the external review example was to investigate the state of technology on campus, to understand how IT services are used, to develop recommendations for strategic investments, that will enhance information technology alignment. A key prerequisite for the review was to “avoid undue blame or credit” and the report “should serve as a catalyst."  What is important during an external review, is to look at it as an opportunity for positive change, rather than the chance to merely be critical.

Mohamed stressed the overall IT goal was for “continuous improvement without dramatically changing current or past culture.”  This is a key observation since external reviews can create sometimes create the perception of moving too quickly for dramatic change. At the same time, it is important to recognize the history of an institution’s culture, but not to be constrained by it.  Getting employees to move away from saying “what is good for me" to “what is good for we” is an important consideration.

Another key component for IT change is to have your staff serve at the Help Desk at some time. This provides an important service component to the end user, but also provides an opportunity for each IT staff member to more fully understand important support issues that are trending on campus.

Empowering employees is important step in creating an environment of trust, and an atmosphere that promotes cross pollination of employees to share their expertise throughout the enterprise.  Developing a culture which relies less on reporting lines and more on project success helps to diminish silos and promotes teamwork.  Mohamed stressed the importance of creating an atmosphere of laughter and openness. Each of the directors and managers  literally promote an “open door policy.”  Each of manager's doors are open to promote open discussion. Providing consistent and constant access to the management team is essential. There is an important need to emphasize consistent and clear communication while promoting collaboration.  At each project meeting, it is suggested that you ask the question, “Who was not at the table last time, who should be invited next meeting?” Asking this question at each meeting will help provide a sense of community and inclusion.

There is a need to admit and celebrate our failures.  The Honda Motor Company film, “Failure-The Secret to Success” was discussed and connected the universal themes of failure in race car racing and being an IT professional.  The film graphically illustrates the importance of admitting failure, learning from it, and being proactive in changing the atmosphere towards a more productive and effective organization.

The audience was extremely engaged, and participants asked if this culture truly existed and was sustainable.  We explained it is sustainable and scalable if you carefully follow the key 8-points of success highlighted in this blog posting.  For the IT management team, it takes consistent commitment, cooperation, and communication to be successful. The key for positive change in your IT enterprise is to merely start the process and celebrate the small steps. If you make steady consistent progress, you will positively change your IT culture.

At the end of session, Gerry Bayne, Multimedia Producer at EDUCAUSE, recorded a podcast on the topic of IT Change and Culture.  In the segment we emphasized the importance of be honest with employees and helping them to understand where the stand in the organization.  Keeping communication clear, concise, and consistent is essential. After the recording we were stopped by a number of conference attendees commenting on the impact of the message.  If you need more information, don't hesitate in contacting us. Session information and PowerPoint is available for download.

MOOCs: Transforming Education- In 10 Minutes

Both academic and corporate institutions are rushing to find a way to create, explain, and deploy successful and well publicized MOOCs- Massive Open Online Courses.  News outlets and marketing firms are attempting to explain their purpose and value.  In the longer view, many are questioning if there is a profit at the end of the road. To be truly successful, a MOOC needs to be scalable in a sustainable framework, with a potential towards profitability.  The key is to develop a proof-of-concept to illustrate how a MOOC can and should be created.

In a special 10 minute web streamed presentation, Jim Jorstad, Director of Academic Technologies and Dr. Bob Hoar, Math Professor and Founder of the IIURL, both from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, collaborated to shape the discussion on what a MOOC is, and how to create one and evaluate its effectiveness.

Through support from the University of Wisconsin System and a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a College Readiness Math MOOC was created with over 1000 students enrolled worldwide. The idea was to test and develop effective teaching strategies and mobile learning technologies to help math students learn more effectively and in a shorter period of time, anywhere and at any time.

In the end, the concept is also testing the MOOCability of the curriculum.  In other words, will a MOOC work as effectively in a traditional class as perhaps in a lab setting, or in other disciplines.  What is learned in this project may lead to future MOOC designs and methods worldwide.  It is the research gained from this project which will help determine if a MOOC can in fact be scalable, sustainable, and profitable.

Social Media- The Power, Speed, and Reach

Photo by Larry Lebiecki

At the February 1st, 2013 Chancellor's Community Council at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, I spoke on the topic of social media, and illustrated its power, speed, and reach worldwide.  The audience was made up of faculty, administrators, politicians, business people, students, and community members.  The two-year long research study analyzed how social media can: motivate and engage, accelerate dissemination, distribute fact and fiction, affect attribution of the author, reinforce and influence opinion, and made messages more relevant and authentic.

Key statistics were discussed about Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  According to current data, one in 13 people worldwide are daily active Facebook users.  There are 1 million Twitter accounts every day. More than 35 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute.  All of these statistics are dazzling, however to effectively utilize these social media tools, we must develop a strategic method to form a cohesive, relevant, and sustainable message.

A wide variety of examples of citizen journalism on CNN iReports were highlighted and discussed. "When I started writing for iReports I was hoping for approximately 10,000 views.  Already in 2013, that number has jumped to over 875,000.  The current goal is 1 million."

One of the key strategies in obtaining such impressive numbers of readers is to tell digital stories that focus on some human element so that the viewer can more personally relate to the story.  A wide of variety of stories were highlighted including the Drought of 2012, A Professor with Two Hearts, a Presidential Visit, and a special on Homeless in America.  In each of these examples, the key to success was to a uncover a great story, adding excellent supporting images, and be willing to write the story even if it is difficult to capture it because of the time, location, or weather. "There are stories all around us. We just need to be passionate to capture them."  As I tell my audiences, the stories many times are right in our hands but they frequently fall right through our fingers.  As we use social media to disseminate these stories, as one blogger wrote, "Jim is documenting history in real time."

Webstream Explains MOOCs and How To Develop One

As part of the 7th Passport to Technology held at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, a keynote address  entitled, "MOOCs,Math and Beyond: Transforming How We [All] Learn" was introduced by Jim Jorstad, Director of Academic Technologies, and presented by Dr. Bob Hoar, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor of Mathematics.

A MOOC is simply a type of on-line course offered to a large population through the web which may provide certification or potentially credit in some situations.  Many MOOCs are free and open to the public, but academia and corporate representatives are looking for a reasonable value/cost model for potential profitability of the course in the future.

At UW-La Crosse, the Math MOOC began out of the creation of a series of math vodcast learning objects as part of the Institute for Innovation in Undergraduate Research and Learning- IIURL in 2007.  In 2012 a FastTrack program was developed to help students take a refresher course in math to eliminate the need to take remedial math courses in the future, saving students time and money.  The success of the program could be seen in when 97% of the student cohort was successfully placed in a college level math course without having to take a remedial math class.

In late 2012, the FastTrack concept was successful awarded a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant fro $50,000 to test if the MOOC concept was sustainable, scalable  and potentially profitable.  According to Dr. Hoar, as enrollment begin to take shape, over 1400 students from ages 11 to 83 enrolled in the class. Entire elementary education classes have enrolled as well. Over 40 countries are participating in this Math MOOC. The project is being hosted on a Desire2Learn learning management system.

The instructional team for this MOOC includes Associate Professor Jen Kosiak, 2012 recipient of the Teacher Educator of the Year from the Student Wisconsin Education Association [left], Associate Lecturer Maggie McHugh, content expert [middle], and Dr. Bob Hoar, who is overall director of the project [right].




The team is working with a team of instructional technologists to ensure the learning objectives are stable and instructionally sound. The MOOC is going through various modifications as feedback is obtained through students.

On-line office hours are offered to help the students feel they have the necessary support to get through the course.  A twenty-nine question pretest was given to gauge the student's initial math abilities to help gauge the progress they will make. It is hoped that what is learned from this pilot will help in the design of other MOOC in math, as well as in other disciplines.

To learn more about the development and operation of this MOOC, you are welcome to view a special Mediasite web stream of the presentation. Click on the Math MOOC webstream to learn more about this innovative project.

MOOC’s and the Global Transformation of Education- What is the Reality?

A MOOC math learning object.

Transforming education through technology is nothing new to academics, or for business. In the 1960’s educational television was hailed as the technology that would dramatically change how we teach. At the time, Marshall McLuhan predicted education would be transformed as our society embraced communication technologies.  Over the next fifty years the world would see the combined effects of computer technology, the Internet, on-line learning, and the proliferation of mobile devices.

Today educators and administrators are wrestling with the concept of Massively Open Online Classes, or MOOC’s as they are called.  In a sense MOOC’s represent the culmination of many of the technological advances over the past 50 years.  Just as the public hype began with each subsequent introduction of “latest greatest technology” over the years, today many people are attempting to sort out what the reality and the potential of MOOC’s truly is.

Basically a MOOC is a type of on-line course offered to a large population through the web. While most MOOC’s today don’t offer traditional college credit, many provide some form of assessment and certification to the student.  The goal and hope of a MOOC is to make on-line learning scalable, sustainable, and for some, profitable.

The genesis of a MOOC began in 2007 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse when math Professor Dr. Bob Hoar, created the IIURL, the Institute for Innovation in Undergraduate Research and Learning.  It is here Professor Hoar, his math colleagues, and technologists began creating a large collection of on-line learning objects or vodcasts (video podcasts) to help students enhance their math skills.

The concept was taken a step further in 2012 with the creation of FastTrack, a program to help students take a refresher in math skills, rather than having to take a remedial math class.  Dr. Hoar says, “The FastTrack math program, from the student’s perspective means they are going to get out faster, which makes education cheaper.” Adding another year to college whatever class you are taking gets more expensive. The program helps students refresh their math skills, helps save money, and helps the students get through school at a faster pace.
For some students, struggling with math sometimes “causes students to walk away from the university,” added Hoar.

The positive aspects the FastTrack go well beyond math.  Dr. Hoar points out, “Studies in chemistry and the sciences on student performance show students who are struggling in math are less likely to perform well in their classes.” The FastTrack math program highlights just one discipline which can help students perform better in science classes.  Hoar points out, “As far as remedial college readiness I think you can walk around any campus and ask every faculty member if you wish students should do a few things before they show up on campus. They would all have a list.”

After the first year, the assessments from the FastTrack program were impressive. Of the first cohort, 37 out of 38 students moved from a requirement to take remedial math to placement in a traditional level math class.

Enter the MOOC idea.

In 2012, with a solid concept and assessment data in hand, Dr. Hoar in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin System applied for and received a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for $50,000 to develop at MOOC at the developmental math level, and provide it free on-line to anyone.  Dr. Hoar reflected that what would take a 20 month process was compressed to just 20 days. It was the FastTrack concept that helped him apply for the grant quicker. Once the grant award was announced, officials began offering supportive data on why the MOOC concept could provide multiple benefits to students.

According to the UW System, approximately 21% of all new freshmen need some remedial math education when entering college. This mirrors national statistics showing the percentage of high school graduates who don’t have the required skills to succeed in college-level mathematics courses.

Mark Nook, UW System Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs commented, “One of our main strategic goals is to help Wisconsin create a stronger workforce. Math skills are a key ingredient to success in college, and in work. Many students who have the drive to earn their UW degree are just missing that one piece of math confidence, and this can help.”

The MOOC video production team (left to right) Jim Jorstad, Jeff Kerkman,
Bob Hoar, Jen Kosiak, and Maggie McHugh 

For Dr. Hoar, the Gates Foundation provided the opportunity to bring the traditional classroom experience into an on line course on a much larger scale. He commented, “The MOOC made us think beyond our campus, and beyond UW System. The Gates Foundation grant allows us to open our eyes even wider.” As of January 2013, over 1000 students have registered for his College Readiness math MOOC. For Dr. Hoar, that already is a success. “I probably should be nervous with the increasing numbers, but everybody sees the value of this program. People are now seeing enough value to invest into it.”

Bob Hoar (right) checks the digital image for the MOOC
learning object.

The concepts proven in the FastTrack math program are being put to practice. Interactive video segments are being created by Associate Lecturer Maggie McHugh, and content expert Associate Professor Jen Kosiak, who also is the 2012 recipient of the Teacher Educator of the Year from the Student Wisconsin Education Association.  The videos are being shot and edited and eventually will be placed on YouTube as well as web streamed on Mediasite. Some classroom activities are being planned to be streamed lived worldwide to help make the experience more interactive and immediate.

The students enrolled in the College Readiness Math MOOC are diverse in location and in background.  Dr. Hoar points out, “Some students are preparing for their first college math class. I’ve had entire high school classes enroll, an eleven year old student, and an 83-year old grandmother wanting to improve her math skills so she could teach her grandkids, all for free.”

And what about the reality of the MOOC?  Dr. Hoar points out that everybody wants a well prepared student. He continued saying, “MOOC might change colleges. We do see that with on line classes as students transfer credits from larger number of other institutions, particularly in the summer. We need to realize that we need to transform a little. It’s not a bad thing. Content from many large lectures might translate well for MOOC’s translating that to students in labs may not work as well.”  

Dr. Hoar says we need to test the “MOOCability” of the teaching before rushing to embrace the technology. Some teaching and learning may translate very well to a MOOC, other activities may not.  We need to test the concept before making wild assumptions and claims, similar to what has happened with technology and communications that McLuhan described, and the resulting technology hype reported over the years. Education will surely be transformed once again.  Our challenge will be to carefully embrace the new technology through careful planning, implementation, and assessment.  This particular MOOC seems to be following the correct path to scalability, sustainability and perhaps someday, profitability.

Wordle 2012 View of The Learning Space

To commemorate the main themes of The Learning Space for 2012, and to look ahead for the developing trends of 2013, I made use of the innovative tool Wordle to create a word map.  This is a great tool to create "word clouds" to illustrate a proportional listing of key words.  In looking at some of the key blog posts for 2012, the words social, media, faculty, and learning were prominent.  In addition, based upon my work with digital reporting, the words CNN, relevant, authentic, stories, classroom, and teaching were emphasized.

These trending words are expected to continue throughout 2013, and new technology tools of mobile appliance and social media strategies will likely be prominent story lines both in academic and corporate environments.

While many new technology tools will be developed, introduced, and disseminated this year , the key component in our effective use of social media is still our ability to write compelling and authentic stories, supplemented with dyanmic and engaging imagery and rich media.

Flipping the Classroom- Variations on a Theme

There has been a great deal of discussion on the concept of "flipping the classroom." In some circles, a flipped classroom refers to the pedagogy of the class whereby the traditional teaching model and the time it takes place, is switched or reversed.  What traditionally occurred in the lecture, may in fact occur outside of class perhaps through web streaming or accessing on-line resources for the course.

Another definition of a flipped classroom could be the orientation of the classroom, where the location of the faculty member (or student) at the front of the class and been reserved or changed.  In this case the traditional front-of-the-class lecture has been changed to the middle,back, or side of the classroom. Perhaps even a student or group could become presenters of the lecture.

Another variation of this flipped classroom theme, is a combination of both pedagogical methods and learning space orientation.  One intriguing example is utilizing a collaborative furniture arrangement by Steelcase called the media:scape.  This system promotes collaboration with two screen monitors that allow participants to share computer screens.  In this example, this system was simultaneously connected to a SMARTboard to share a Skype conversation with a Rhodesian national.  By changing and combining a learning space, an entirely different set of options is presented to both the faculty member, and the student.  

The class can watch an event on all the screens.  Later students at the media:scape could collaborate in a small group setting, independent of the class utilizing the SMARTBoard technology.  The key in using the concept of a flipped classroom is to prepare the teaching and learning curriculum and experience beforehand.  EDUCAUSE states in its document, "Things You Should Know About "Flipped Classrooms," the importance of understanding that the "model puts more of the responsibility for learning on the shoulders of students while giving them greater impetus to experiment." This is not only true for the students, but also for the faculty and teacher of the curriculum.  While many rooms on universities and colleges have traditional classrooms equipped with educational technologies, there are a growing number of learning spaces which are experimenting with the concept of flipping the teaching and learning.  It is important to understand that there variations in when we begin thinking about flipping classrooms, and that there are many factors and influences that need to be considered before innovating the teaching and learning process. Thinking outside the box can yield many innovating concepts originating from a main theme.

Engaging Students In Learning Through Social Media

[photo by Austen Keller]

It is readily acknowledged that students are active users of social media. However, research has also shown the majority of students use social media for personal reasons, rather than for academic needs.  In many academic circles, more discussion centers around the concern of faculty "friending" potential students or students attempting to "friend" faculty members.  These issues seem to focus more on the policies of the potential impropriety of  social media communication, rather than concentrating on how social media tools can be used to enrich and engage students and faculty in the teaching and learning process.

Cristin Cesar learns how social media is used in politics
and human interest stories. [photo by Matt Davis]

One method to create more awareness of the potential of social media tools, is to demonstrate their use in communicating "real world examples" in classroom lectures.  This is exactly the strategy employed in a series of lectures for Communications Studies classes at UW-La Crosse.  Faculty member, Pamela Morris, invited me into two of her classes to show how social media can: motivate the base, affect author attribution, disseminate information quickly, distribute fact and fiction, and how it can reinforce or change opinions.

Breanna Levine listens on how social media was used in
Wisconsin politics throughout 2011. [photo by Austen Keller]

By utilizing citizen reporting via CNN iReports, students could see how stories can be quickly disseminated and amplified through social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Results could be analyzed through analytical data. Students learned that iReporting can reach a wide variety of people worldwide in a matter of hours.  While they understand that social media can transmit information quickly, students had no idea just how fast these tools could distribute messages, either as fact or fiction.

[photo by Peiqing (Shine) Chen]

Each class seemed extremely engaged in seeing and discussing actual stories and footage of current news events.  Some students learned that the media can present the news in a biased manner. They also thought more deeply about the importance of watching viewpoints from both sides of an issue. Whether the story has a political story line, or is more of a human interest story, the key to engagement is to personalize the experience so that the audience can more readily connect.

Social Media- Making Teaching and Learning Authentic



On location with the President-November 3, 2012

Since 2011, I have been covering and researching the effects of social media, particularly in the environment of politics.  Throughout the 2012 political season, I have been focusing more intently on the Presidential campaign, and how social media is utilized to disseminate and distribute content and multimedia to the world.  The speed of which social media can move can be blazingly fast.  Not only fact can facts be quickly disseminated, but so can fictional content.

To make teaching and learning more relevant or authentic, as educators we can utilize and better understand the uses of social media to present "real world digital stories" to further engage students in the learning process.  To actively engage both students and faculty can create a more collaborative learning environment.

In capturing fleeting historic moments and using social media to communicate them, can bring an entirely new and authentic learning experience to the classroom as well as to the public. As one blogger commented about my work, Jim is using social media to document "history in real time."

Global Influence of Social Media in Politics and in Our Lives

Jim Jorstad [right] addresses a group after his lecture on social media.
{photo courtesy-Larry Sleznikow}

A live streamed webcast was broadcast from the campus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on the evening of October 29th. The lecture was entitled, "The Global Influence of Social Media in Politics and in Our Lives." The presentation explained how Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have dramatically changed the political landscape as well as our personal lives.  Through an insightful documentation of politics in Wisconsin since 2011, through the national political scene of 2012, the interactive program showcased a long series of historical events through social media and citizen reporting.  Using CNN iReports as the framework, the audience saw first hand photo-journalistic reports of the Wisconsin Recall, the presidential and senate races, and a variety of human interest stories.

The lecture was streamed live on Mediasite and Live Polling was used to measure the political demographics of the audience, as well as gauging the audience's perceptions in regards to how specific media outlets may or may not be biased in their news reporting. The event was carried on Twitter at #GlobalSocMedia

You can view the presentation by clicking on the image.



Some key takeaways when effectively utilizing social media include:

1) use relevant images and video to document authentic events.
2) use analytics to track dissemination and distribution.
3) use social media to tell personal and relevant stories
4) use social media to engage faculty and students
5) go global with your social media story
6) go local with your social media story 

Live Polling was used in this presentation.  You may be part of the poll, or view the responses by clicking here: