Students at Purdue University are experimenting with a new application developed at the school called Hotseat that integrates Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging to help students “backchannel” during class. People who have attended technology conferences in the past several years are already familiar with this phenomenon, where social media is leveraged to allow the participants in a session or panel to comment and exchange questions and ideas in real-time. At Purdue, Hotseat is used to allow students to comment on the class as it proceeds, with everyone in the class including the professor able to see the messaging as it happens. The Hotseat software allows students to use either Facebook, Twitter, Myspace ( ) , or SMS to post messages during classes, or they can simply log in to the web site to post to and view the ongoing backchannel. Right now it’s only being pilot tested in two courses, but has already become a fast favorite for both teachers and students. Professor Sugato Chakravarty, whose personal finance course is one of the pilot tests, said, “I’m seeing students interact more with the course and ask relevant questions.” And although it’s been optional for students to participate, so far 73% of the 600 or so in the pilot classes have used the software. We’ve seen Twitter become mandatory for journalism students at Australia ( ) ’s Griffith University to some negative reaction, but this is a less structured implementation which may perhaps account for its more favorable reception. As Chakravarty goes on to note, though, the application is called “Hotseat” for a reason — and professors will have to be resilient enough to take any potential criticism or even corrections from students in real-time. Nevertheless, he cites it as a “valuable tool for enhancing learning. The students are engaged in the discussions and, for the most part, they are asking relevant questions.” Check out a video introduction to the Hotseat application below, and let us know what you think. Does social media have a natural place in the classroom? What role should Facebook ( ) and Twitter ( ) play in education?
Social media is all about having a conversation. It is distinguishable from many other Web tools because it provides a two-way dialogue and allows for real discussion. Most of university news services I interviewed said they used social media to engage the public. That means things like replying to tweets, Facebook posts, and blog comments. Blogs are actually a great example of how schools are getting into the conversation. Though they’re not real-time, blogs provide a format for dialogue via comments. During the school year, the University of Texas hosted student blogs called “ Longhorn Confidential ” in which two students from each grade level blogged about their experiences at school. The public could respond to each post via comments, and often did. “It served as not only a story-telling format, but created dialogue as well,” said Corley, the school’s public affairs social media manager.
In an interview with The Chronicle last week, Mr. Beykpour said that the new features of iStanford would help students find their friends and send them instant messages right from the interactive map. He said his company was already working with two other universities to build similar applications for their campuses. It will be interesting to see whether students — or professors — allow friends to track their every move. For those who do not have an iPhone, Stanford also offers many campus services on a Web site designed for other Web-capable cell phones. If you know of other innovative college uses of mobile phones, send them our way for our Mobile College Apps series . —Jeffrey R. YoungWhile some universities are still playing catch-up in getting campuses wired with WiFi, Stanford University has its students connected through a mobile application. Last school year, the school released a free iPhone application called iStanford that allows students to register for classes, look up campus maps and be able view the location of their friends on a map – instant messaging them if need be. Ian Hsu from Stanford said the development of the app, which was done by two students, was commissioned by the university and has further potential. What if the campus was sprinkled with signs that point visitors with iPhones to be able to connect to the application, he asked. “There is a lot of potential there,” Hsu said. For those without an iPhone, the school also has a mobile web client that allows students to access their mail, check the calendar, and more all from a mobile device. Other schools have also introduced similar applications (Duke University, Georgia Tech, U Cal at San Diego, etc.). The Chronicle of Higher Education recently did a series on schools introducing mobile applications . Greater than 97% of college students own a cell phone , so connecting with students via mobile devices is smart.
Gros problème de loyauté. Ciseaux…Rehausser la marque. Objectifs précis et 18 mois après résultats impressionnants - Les ventes en magasin ont été multipliées par trois - Le trafic du site a augmenté de 600% - Le club des “Fiskateers” compte 5000 membres et 1000 démonstratrices Analyse de la blogosphère : profil des acheteurs (en l’occurrence des femmes), et qui révèle (crafting et scrapbooking) : ¼ des bloggeuses postent des billets trois fois par semaine! Interviews des “influenceurs” Enrôlement d’évangélistes . Toutes acceptent de blogger sous la bannière Fiskars et de rallier leurs amies. Envoi d’un kit de bienvenu . Chaque nouvelle recrue reçoit par la poste un kit comprenant notamment une carte de membre numérotée - fierté d’appartenance oblige - et des cartes de visites permettant d’enrôler d’autres adeptes. 5. Expansion virale et offline . Des “partys”, des réunions en tout genre initiées par la communauté, des concours, une galerie virtuelle, des émissions tv en ligne : tous les ingrédients d’un club d’aficionados sont réunis. 6. Recrutement de démonstratrices . 7. Alignement et globalisation . L’initiative s’est maintenant érigée en stratégie globale. Sur le marché américain, la communication est passée de l’outil à l’usage et le branding général s’est complètement aligné sur les trois univers de la marque : jardinage, loisirs créatifs et scolaire. Initialement réservé aux Etats-Unis, le programme traverse désormais les frontières, pays par pays. Une étape “work in progress”.