#SMCEDU Chat: Student Challenge for Social Media Week and Finding the Right Social Media Strategy for Your Classroom

[Yong Lee]

Social Media Club Education Connection (aka #SMCEDU) is a national initiative whose goal is to unite educators, students, and professionals to further the development of social media curriculum in our schools, enabling a wider network of learning and workforce preparedness.

#SMCEDU is a part of Social Media Club, a nonprofit organization that is working to promote media literacy and connect people to share what they are learning about social media.


Monday was certainly one of the more diverse #SMCEDU chats we've had to date. Here's the original question (which dealt with developing a plan for eduacators to integrate social media into their classrooms), but SMC founder Chris Heuer noted: we're here to discuss a lot...comments flew, numerous interests were covered with enthusiasm, and when the dust settled, we have a goal for our student community to showcase what they think will be crucial elements to a refined social media professional background.

First, some big news

There's something powerful about connecting with like-minded (and even more so, unlike-minded) people. But there's something especially convincing that I believe will make believers out of social media non-believers, and that is the use of social media to create change in the real world. With that spirit in mind, Chris announced on Monday plans for a national Social Media Camp.

It's an event that will focus on providing special job skills training to the underemployed and unemployed, helping prepare them for higher paying jobs in the expanding social media field.

What will be #SMCEDU's part in this?

A challenge was issued to students around the country. It's been mentioned before that when it comes to social media and technology, in many cases it could be students that help teachers learn. Here's one of those opportunities:

Students, you're the ones preparing to enter the workforce. It's on you to find your passion, your ideal career, and the connective nature of social media can help. As the ones shaping the future of how social media will be used, who better to come up with a list of the essential job skills needed for such future and present jobs?

We're asking you to team up and develop a job skills curriculum, a presentation of what skills you need to have and what intangibles will make those skills effective.

You won't be alone...you'll get to discuss ideas and concerns with all members of Social Media Club Education Connection, and the people you meet will be valuable resources and contacts for the future.

What's even more important, the development of this job skills curriculum will be a real-world example of putting social media into action for business value -- more than just another star on your resume, it will be the kind of experience you need to prove to future employers that you're already in the game.

Learn more about our plans here, where you can join the group and share ideas or ask any questions to help get you started.

Strategies are diverse

You hear a lot about strategy when dealing with social media. Creating online spaces for your organization or class without a specific goal in mind isn't a way to achieve success, however.

Goals are diverse, and class size and focus will be determinants.

Learning about what tools are avialable is crucial. Just as teaching styles are diverse, so too will be the tailoring of platforms to suit individual preference and strategy.

And that's not all; once you decide on how you'll engage students (do you start a class wiki? do you have students blog? do you have them tweet during lectures?), you have to decide on related issues like privacy, appropriateness of content, and other arguments that are being ironed out on the Web daily.

For many instructors and their students, adopting this new way of interacting will take some adjustment, but the advantages can quickly become apparent as more information and resources become available.

And while it may seem counterintuitive, students will need to adjust to using technology to meet educational needs just as much as their teachers (if they haven't already). While most students participate in social networks, using them for different purposes requires more knowledge and understanding.

Whatever you're planning for your classroom, keep this in mind. Twitter won't be around forever (in this environment, we'll think of Twitter and Facebook with nostalgia within the next decade), so the important thing for both educators and students is to be ready for change, to learn how to adapt quickly.

One of the great things about using technology is that material stays current, while textbooks get outdated. By keeping information fresh and relevant (fresh as in happening "today" rather than "recently"), course material takes on a more pressing, immediate bearing.

Even with goals in mind and a strategy in place to achieve them, there still exists a degree of risk. But keep in mind that the reward, greater student engagement and workforce preparedness, is becoming less of a benefit and more of a necessity.