empowering student learning through the development of a social media community to support computing...

Empowering Student Learning Through The Development Of A Social Media Community To Support Computing Students

Dr. Thomas Lancasterhttp://thomaslancaster.co.uk@DrLancaster

#SocMedHE16 - The Empowered Learner?Sheffield Hallam University

Friday 16 December 2016

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/

Background

3@DrLancaster #SocMedHE16

My Teaching and Learning Background

Associate Dean (Recruitment) for Digital Technologies at Staffordshire UniversitySome subject portfolio areas including computing (my background field), journalism, broadcasting, TV, radio, music, games design, visual effectsFormerly employed in a selection of managerial and academic roles at Coventry University and Birmingham City University (where this research was undertaken)Most research focused on academic integrity, contract cheating, student plagiarism, social media use, professional online presences, student employability

Development workshop for PhD students in Montenegro




Many Opportunities For Your Involvement

Twitter Please tweet thoughts, observations, comments, quotes, photos, discussion topics#SocMedHE16@DrLancaster

Live Please join in the discussion, ask questions and contribute ideas




Questions To Be Addressed

Why establish an community to support Computing students?How are social media communities used more widely in the Computing industry (and in other disciplines)?How was the Computing community established and what recommendations are there for others to learn from this process?How was social media used to support community development and events surrounding the community (such as hackathons)?



The Computing Curriculum Disconnect


The Background To Traditional Computing

This is reflective of how I became a programmer

Modern Computing is not just programming, but programming is a core skill and feeds into many Computing jobs

Commodore 16 plus 4




What Do Computing Students Get Taught?

Textbook I was teaching from in 2000Learning outcomes in a core Computer Science programming module in 2016

1. describe the fundamental programming principles2. design a computer program based on a specification of requirements3. implement a computer program from a specification of requirements4. test computer programs to ensure that they meet the specification5. describe fundamental algorithms and techniques6. select appropriate algorithm(s) for a computer program and implement them.

Assessment in 2007




What Skills Are Industry Looking For Now?

https://blog.linkedin.com/2016/10/20/top-skills-2016-week-of-learning-linkedin

Data mined from all hiring and recruitment activity on LinkedIn between January and October 2016






Difficult To Support A Diverse Student Intake

Liam Sorta

One group of students arrive with technical skills in advance of those teaching them

Other students arrive who have never programmed before




The Modern World Of The Programmer Is Social!

Twitter, LinkedIn, DevPost, Website/Blog – and many more




Reasons To Develop A Social Media Community

To support high performing Computing studentsTo provide mentoring for inexperienced programmersTo increase student opportunities to engage with new technology and employersTo ensure student familiarity with the social media tools expected by industryTo help students to develop a positive Professional Online Presence ready for employabilityTo improve retention and student satisfaction levels on across suite of large computing courses with diverse intakes



Developing A Community Routed In Social Media


Tapping Into The Hackathon Agenda

Hackathons are collaborative programming events, often held over an extended time period, often with sponsorship, competitive elements and prizes

Similar events exist in other disciplines (e.g. business start-up weekends, collaborations to write and perform a musical in 24 hours)

BCU Hack Winners 2016




Community Development

Placement student (paid), used to establish communityFunding (internal) to provide student mentors and to support students to develop hackathon skillsFunding (internal) to support students to attend hackathonsFunding (internal and external) torun two hackathons

For more about the hackathons and the funding, see:http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster/creating-an-engaged-student-community-through-hackathons-birmingham-city-university-learning-lab-21-april-2016 (slides)https://youtu.be/psiqWZ4Ls_s (video)

http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster/creating-an-engaged-student-community-through-hackathons-birmingham-city-university-learning-lab-21-april-2016

http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster/creating-an-engaged-student-community-through-hackathons-birmingham-city-university-learning-lab-21-april-2016

https://youtu.be/psiqWZ4Ls_s




Teething Problems

Striking a balance between allowing the society to be student-led, whilst still meeting the reasons for which it was initially fundedEstablishing regular events aimed at an inclusive audienceGetting students to understand the marketing needed to engage students with a social media based societyExpanding the social media reach beyond FacebookManaging a quest for personal power




The Society

Facebook

Twitter




Observed Behaviours

Sharing events (internal and external)Sharing student opportunitiesPosting useful resourcesEngaging in discussions regarding technology news

Empowering studentsAttending and commenting on hackathonsSocial events and poking funCollaborations between staff and students



Social Media Examples


Ownership of employability




Free stuff notifications




Start-up engagement and external visits




Mentored support activities




International experiences




Competition participation and entrepreneurship engagement




Fun! Fun! Fun!




Hackathon attendance



Was Establishing The Community Worth It?


The Marketing Price To Pay

A large push was made to promote the internal hackathons on Twitter, in order to ensure continued fundingStudents were encouraged to tweet and share their results – and this activity was incorporated in the prize structureSocial media marketing was also supported with photographers and a push for external mediaCommercial aspects were not popular with all students, but appreciated by sponsorsMore active teaching of promotion and marketing for students is needed for the next generation of Computing courses




Positive Hackathon Outputs




Continued Society Development

Society still operating, although the focus seems different this yearStaff support (and institutional help) needed to seed the development of societies like thisPositive activity for those involved, as well as empowered learning going beyond the subjects taught in the classroom




Good results for both students and the institution




Connect With Me!(Speaking, PhD Supervision, Research

Collaborations, Consultancy)

Slides available at http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster

Email: [email protected] Website: http://thomaslancaster.co.ukBlog: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blogLinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster Twitter: @DrLancaster

http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster

mailto:[email protected]


http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster

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empowering student learning through the development of a social media community to support computing...

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