Joy D. Britt MPH Graduate Student

Center for Community Engagement & Learning Diane Hirshberg

Associate Professor of Education PolicyInstitute of Social and Economic Research

Student and Faculty Knowledge of Social Media

Setting the Context Student-led initiative exploring the use of social

media (SM) tools to facilitate civic, educational and political engagement in undergraduate and graduate students

Paper and online survey of UAA Faculty & Students on knowledge, opinions and use of SM tools

Survey findings will guide next steps toward promoting use of SM for engagement and learning around a specific focus topic (to be determined by student leaders)

About

Open access institution, AA to Masters degrees

Students (Fall 2009)• Headcount 15,662

• Full-time 6,494• Part-time 9,168• Distance Education

6,260

Faculty (Fall 2009)• Regular Faculty 536 • Adjunct Faculty 447

Survey Demographics

Gender

Students Faculty

Female 58%

Female 72%

Male 42% Male 26%

Total Respondents

Students 126 Faculty 66

Respondents

Age Respondents

Age

# Students # Faculty

60 17-22 yrs 11 29-39 yrs

25 23-27 yrs 16 40-49 yrs

5 28-33 yrs 11 50-59 yrs

9 34- 58 yrs 9 60-69 yrs

Top Ten most familiar SM tools

Students

Top Ten most familiar SM tools

Faculty

How often are SM tools used?

Facu

lty

Studen

ts

“If you do not use SM tools described above, why not?”

05

101520253035

Faculty (n=66)Students (n=126)

If you do not use social media tools, would you be interested in learning

how?Yes 61% No 42%“Educate myself, broaden my scope of technology”

“…overloaded with information”

“it will enhance socialization with friends and UAA as a community”

Safety concerns Stu

den

ts

Yes 58% No 42%“To keep up to date” “Too much time and too

invasive”

“To connect with students”

Skeptical Facu

lty

Have your professors used or are they presently using social media tools in the classroom? Yes: 78% No: 22%

Student

s

Have you used or are you presently

using social media tools in the classroom?

Yes: 66% No: 36%

Faculty

Tools faculty use:

E-mai

ls

Video

sha

ring

site

s

Blogs

Wik

is

Podc

asts

New

s sh

arin

g/Cro

wds

ourc

ed

Social

net

wor

k site

s

Colla

bora

tive

Plat

form

s0

10

20

30

PresentPast

Top 8 Faculty responses

With the use of social media, was the class environment:

Faculty

StudentsMore Engaging

Somewhat Engaging

More Engaging

Somewhat Engaging

How important do you think SM tools are to the future?

3%

20%

30%

50%

6%

21%

31%

42%

Students

Faculty

How beneficial do you think SM tools are to the future of education?

49%

31%

18%

3%

31%

31%

35%

6%

Students

Faculty

“Would you prefer the use of more social media tools incorporated

into classes?”

65%

37%

61%

41%

Would you feel more connected to:through the use of SM tools..

Students

Faculty

Students

Students

Faculty

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

NoYes

“Do you feel more informed / aware of news because of social media?”

85%

17%

53%

47%

“Do you think social media tools allow you to become more engaged in community, nation and worldly

issues?”

Students Faculty 0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

YesNo

78%

22%

52% 49%

Summary & Next Steps Faculty and students generally favorable toward using

SM tools Training on SM tools needed on campus Next steps:

• Experiment with SM to engage students in upcoming elections

• Led by eCitizenship Student Council, with support from eCitizenship Faculty Council

• Identify topic area for project post-election• Identify Community Partners for project• Collaborate with the UAA Faculty Technology Center (FTC) & the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) to:

• Have faculty demonstrate how they use SM in the classroom

• Provide technical training for faculty on using SM tools in the classroom (Student led)

Joy BrittCenter for Community Engagement and Learningjoybritt@uaa.alaska.edu907-786-4011

Diane HirshbergInstitute of Social and Economic ResearchHirshberg@uaa.alaska.edu907-786-5413

Thank You!

www.uaa.alaska.edu/engage/