Inspiring story of how online helped the University of Canterbury in New Zealand get back on its feet after the earthquake in February 2011:

With the library still unsafe – and half a million books to be reshelved – major education publishing houses helped out by temporarily allowing access to their online resources for free. Much greater use was made of Canterbury’s online learning system: today it remains twice as well used as before the quake. But the senior management team knew it had to think about more than the physical environment.

“You start thinking it’s about the buildings, but it’s not,” says Carr. “It’s about the student body. We always knew it would be important to maintain student engagement or we’d get substantial student flight.”

The quake struck on the second day of teaching in the new academic year, making freshers particularly susceptible to being scared off.

With communication a priority, social media became a key tool, and the university set up “UC” accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

“The purpose was to disseminate information, but the real impact was that students were able to feel connected,” says Ekant Veer, senior lecturer in marketing at Canterbury, who is researching post-quake online expression.

“It also allowed them to vent their frustrations… the more social aspects of social media meant that students were able to feel their voices were being heard and their thoughts valued. Without it, many of them may well have struggled far more.”

Read full story. See also this story about creating a digital archive.

In my efforts to declutter & streamline, I totally missed the following ‘live chat’ on Guardian Higher Education (thanks to Justine Mortimer for bringing it to my attention), seeking to find effective ways for social media to be used in HE, rather than just leading to fatigue:

Matt Silverman writes for Mashable: “When it comes to higher ed, there are not only opportunities for digital learning, but digital marketing too.” Social media can allow universities to advertise to prospective students, to share class announcements and to allow alumni to keep in touch. In the academic community, social media offers a chance for collaborative work, networking and profile building.

Check out the full story online, or like Guardian Higher Education on Facebook.

Life before “Social Media” took over:

I’m currently at the Federation of European Broadcasters 13th International Conference at Kim Hotel Dresden, about to give the following Plenary:

A great story in the pull out on the World University Rankings in Times Higher Education, encouraging universities to move properly into the digital age.

The increased importance of brands has been paralleled by rapid growth in the channels of information that shape reputation and transmit brands. Social media outlets have proliferated, diversifying the ways information is spread. There are live chats, blogs, interactive bookmarking and video sharing. All can and do shape reputations.

Universities have been slow to react to the shift in the media environment. They have one foot in the print and post era, and one in the online age. Yet they often engage social media on the same terms as they engage mass media: fixed and formal messages, static images and long production cycles.

…..

To achieve this brand leverage, universities have to engage with social media platforms and listen to many active voices. And they have to be quick about it because messages on these platforms move fast and reach many.

For example, a single student’s “status update” on Facebook at midnight about University X will reach on average 130 friends. If 15 of those friends comment, their messages will go to more than 1,000 individuals. Some will post a related message on Twitter. A complete stranger who searches for University X on Twitter will see this post; they could write a blog and reach another group of readers. Before University X’s communications office has opened, a message about the institution has been created and spread.

Read full post. Many lecturers are still treating social media as something optional … but we live in a digital world and we need to engage with it!

Course being run for Church of England this afternoon:

I’ve not used Storify before, so I thought I’d have a go for the event yesterday with Essex Churches Digital Media Day:

Listen to the audio here, which was recorded at #digimanc.

Comedic commentary on ‘the YouTube generation’ …

“I’m Twitter famous”

What does that mean?

“I’m not really famous”

So, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc can help us do many things… but not everything… and Daniel Radcliffe is quite amusing too! Try, but know your limits, not…

“I tried, and therefore no one can criticise me.”