As I begin as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State, I have been thinking about how to articulate the power of social media to those who are unfamiliar with it.
To this end, I created the Prezi presentation below for our development office. My hope is that by focusing on a single event, the celebration of our centennial anniversary, I can illustrate how social media technology can engage a wider audience and cultivate a community that extends well beyond the historical event itself.
The screencast of a Prezi presentation that illustrates the power of social media to build community around the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the College of the Liberal Arts at The Pennsylvania State University.
Further Discussion
How do the principles of social media apply to development?
- Engagement = Stewardship
- Draw alums in by amplifying what they do
- Flexibility of the media:
- Diversity of communication: video, voice, writing, images
- Access fully customizable
Teaching with Technology
- How to empower active student engagement
- Loosen the reigns of authority, gain student ownership of the space
- PHIL200 on Socratic Politics: used blogging rubric (.pdf) to ensure clear expectations, quality of writing
- Engaged Learning with Technology
- Student Feedback: Comments, Thanks
Chris, what interested me the most in your presentation was the part on how you use technology in the classroom and how students become stronger writers and more passionate about their work/classes because they take ownership of the communication through technology. I think this would be the important message to share with alums and would be interested in other examples of how faculty are using technology in the classrooms to enhance the experience. Mark
The interest you and Nonie expressed in that particular part of my presentation makes me think that I should try to put together a presentation about the course that shows how student writing and engagement improved over the semester.
This would dovetail well with Ray’s point that what is compelling to alums (and others) is a story that can be told about how students learn in this environment. In the months to come, I am going to try to develop something in this regard.
Thanks for asking me to present and for the excellent discussion that followed.
Thanks Chris and Jillian for sharing your experience with us. I’m confident alums would like to participate in on-line “short” courses around a variety of topics from literature to history, politics to anthropology. Then finish with a weekend on campus to bring together the on-line community.
Chris- I thought your presentation was compelling and provided significant insight into the use of technology in the classroom and heightened student participation. I believe that our alums would be keenly interested to learn about this process, interaction, and evolution of the educational experience for both students and faculty.