ENGAGED TEACHERS: USING SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS TO CAPTURE THE

IMAGINATION AND ENGAGE THE LEARNERSCOTT FREEHAFER, PH.D., SPHR

THE UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY

ACBSP NATIONAL CONFERENCE

JUNE 27 – 29, 2014

OUR UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY DEGREE COMPLETION JOURNEY

• I JOINED THE UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY IN 2006 AND WE ARE A BLACKBOARD SCHOOL WHICH USED SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE ELEMENTS (2 HOUR WEEKLY CHAT OR ELLUMINATE SESSIONS) TO “TALK” WITH OUR STUDENTS.

• THE SYNCHRONOUS ELEMENT WAS A DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTIC, BUT IT TIED US AND OUR STUDENTS DOWN TO TWO HOUR WEEKLY SESSIONS FROM 6-8 PM OR 8-10 PM.

• WE HAVE CHANGED TO AN ASYNCHRONOUS APPROACH TO OUR DEGREE COMPLETION CLASSES AND WE HAVE SHIFTED TO USING MOODLE AS OUR LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

• SO HOW DID I TRY TO MAKE MY DCP CLASSES INTERACTIVE AND ENGAGING?

• BY INTEGRATING MULTIPLE FORMS OF EDUTAINMENT!

• HERE IS MY BSAD 414 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY STORY….

NO MORE “LECTURE”

• IN OUR NEW FORMAT, WE DON’T HAVE FORMAL “LECTURES” ANYMORE.

• INSTEAD, WE CREATE A WRITTEN LECTURE WHICH WILL PROVIDE THE BACKSTORY AND CONTEXT OF THE WEEK’S WORK. IN ADDITION, I TRY TO COVER THE KEY CONTENT LIKE I WOULD IN A FORMAL LECTURE AND PREVIEW WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THEM DURING THE WEEK.

• BUT THE WRITTEN LECTURE IS RATHER “FLAT”, EVEN THOUGH I TRY TO PERSONALIZE IT AND, WHILE IT IS NECESSARY AND HELPFUL, IT MAY NOT BE VERY ENGAGING…AT LEAST NOT AS ENGAGING AS I WANT IT TO BE.

COURSE FORMAT

• IN OUR DEGREE COMPLETION PROGRAM, WE HAVE TO “HIT THE GROUND RUNNING” SINCE THE CLASSES ARE 8 WEEK CLASSES.

• MOST STUDENTS TAKE 1 TO 2 CLASSES PER BLOCK.

• MOST FACULTY DIVIDE THEIR COURSES UP INTO 8 WEEKLY MODULES AND STUDENTS HAVE ONE MODULE TO COMPLETE PER WEEK.

WEEK ONE

• DISCUSSION FORUM QUESTIONS

• NETFLIX MOVIE – A CIVIL ACTION

• THE STUDENTS HAVE TO IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE AT LEAST THREE (3) ETHICAL ISSUES THEY FOUND IN THE MOVIE. IF A STUDENT DOES NOT HAVE A NETFLIX ACCOUNT, THE FIRST MONTH IS FREE OR THE STUDENT CAN RENT THE VIDEO FROM THEIR LOCAL VIDEO STORE OR LIBRARY.

• DISCUSSION FORUMS ACT A LOT LIKE DISCUSSIONS YOU CAN PUT UP IN FACEBOOK GROUPS AND LINKEDIN GROUPS

MOODLE DISCUSSION FORUM

FACEBOOK GROUP DISCUSSION FORUM

LINKEDIN GROUP DISCUSSION FORUM

LINKED:HR 817,693 MEMBERS STRONG

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

• OBVIOUSLY, THERE ARE ADVANTAGES TO HOLDING YOUR DISCUSSIONS IN AN YOUR LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO GRADE IN THAT ENVIRONMENT.

• BUT, IF YOU SET UP A GROUP IN FACEBOOK, YOU CAN CONNECT WITH STUDENTS WITHOUT “FRIENDING” THEM. OVER TIME, THIS CAN HELP YOU KEEP TRACK OF WHERE YOUR STUDENTS WENT AFTER GRADUATION.

• THE SAME THING IS TRUE WITH LINKEDIN GROUPS, BUT I WOULD RECOMMEND CONNECTING WITH YOUR STUDENTS IN LINKEDIN.

• IN FACEBOOK, YOU CAN ADD A POST, VIDEO, PHOTO, FILE, ASK A QUESTION, ADD A FILE, MESSAGE PEOPLE, AND SEE WHO IS ONLINE

• LINKEDIN’S GROUPS DO NOT HAVE AS MUCH FUNCTIONALITY, BUT YOU CAN ADD VIDEOS IN FROM YOUTUBE.

WEEK ONE

WEEK TWO• WEEK TWO HAD QUITE A BIT OF STATIC CONTENT THAT I POSTED, BUT

STUDENTS WERE ENCOURAGED TO DO RESEARCH ON THEIR CORPORATE CITIZENS LIST FORUM BY RESEARCHING THEIR COMPANIES ON YOUTUBE.

• MOST OF THE TOP CORPORATE CITIZENS HAVE POSTED VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE WHICH PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR COMPANY, ITS CULTURE, AND WHAT MAKES THEM A TOP CORPORATE CITIZEN.

• STUDENTS WERE ALSO ENCOURAGED TO CHECK OUT THOSE COMPANIES’ WEBSITES AND POST RELEVANT LINKS FOR THEIR PEERS AND ME TO REVIEW.

WEEK THREE• IN WEEK THREE, STUDENTS WERE ENCOURAGED TO POST ARTICLES, VIDEOS,

AND WEB PAGE LINKS TO THEIR BUSINESS ETHICS ISSUES AND TO THEIR BUSINESS ETHICS HEADLINES.

• THIS MADE THE DISCUSSION BOARD POSTINGS MORE INTERACTIVE, INTERESTING, AND ENGAGING.

WEEK FOUR• IN WEEK FOUR, STUDENTS WERE ASKED TO FIND GOOD EXAMPLES OF

COMPANIES WHICH DID THE RIGHT THINGS (THIS IS HARDER THAN YOU WOULD THINK SINCE MOST BUSINESS ETHICS REFERENCES ARE ABOUT TIMES WHEN ETHICAL SCANDALS HAVE OCCURRED.

• STUDENTS WERE ENCOURAGED TO POST WEB LINKS AND VIDEOS TO THEIR EXAMPLES.

• AGAIN, THIS MADE THE DISCUSSION BOARD POSTINGS MORE INTERACTIVE, INTERESTING, AND ENGAGING.

WEEK FIVE

• IN WEEK FIVE, I POSTED A LOT OF VIDEO RESOURCES FOR THE STUDENTS. I CHOSE TO HAVE THE LINKS OPEN IN NEW WINDOWS SO THAT THE VIDEOS WOULD BE LARGER.

• HERE ARE SOME OF THE WEEK FIVE RESOURCES:

IF A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS, HOW MUCH IS A VIDEO WORTH?

THE FORD PINTO WAS A UTILITARIAN DISASTER!

WHAT DID I LEARN?

• IT TAKES A LOT LONGER TO BUILD A COURSE THAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD….ESPECIALLY TO DO THE WRITTEN LECTURES (BUT I KIND OF LIKED THE PROCESS OF WRITING OUT THE LECTURES AND PLANNING THE COURSE FROM WEEK TO WEEK).

• YOUR TEXTBOOK CAN BE A GOOD PLACE TO START – LOOK AT THEIR CONTENT, EXAMPLES, AND CASE STUDIES AND YOU CAN SEE IF THE TEXTBOOK HAS INTERACTIVE FEATURES AND CONTENT. IF IT DOES OR IF IT DOESN’T YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO TO YOUTUBE AND GOOGLE TO SEE WHAT RESOURCES ARE OUT THERE TO INTEGRATE INTO YOUR CLASS.

• LOOK AT THE SUGGESTIONS IN YOUTUBE AND LOOK FOR PLAYLISTS AND VIDEO REPOSITORIES (LIKE THE MARKKULA CENTER FOR APPLIES ETHICS) AND ENCOURAGE (REQUIRE) YOUR STUDENTS TO FIND AND SUBMIT RESOURCES TO YOU AND TO INCLUDE THEM IN THEIR POSTINGS.

• YOU CAN MAKE AN ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE CLASS ENTERTAINING, ENGAGING, AND EDUCATIONAL!

SO HOW DID IT GO?

• THE JURY IS STILL OUT – WE ARE IN THE FINAL WEEK OF THE CLASS!

• HERE IS WHERE I NEED YOUR HELP….IF FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, YOUTUBE, AND YOUR LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS, WHAT OTHER RESOURCES DO YOU USE?

• QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS??

• THANK YOU!

• SCOTT FREEHAFER