Link to full-text: “Posting, Sharing, Networking, and Connecting: Use of Social Media Content by Graduate Students”

Here is a link to my latest publication: http://rdcu.be/qiVq

[This is a view only version. Unless you have a personal or institutional subscription to the journal]

Abstract:

The purpose of the present investigation was to better understand graduate students’ use of the content shared in the social media channels of their programs and the perceived impact that their participation in these social media spaces has on the graduate students’ transformation as professionals. Seventy-seven instructional design and technology (ID&T) graduate students completed an electronic questionnaire. The results revealed that although graduate students use social media for personal purposes, they are not always followers or members of the social media spaces of their ID&Tprogram. However, those who follow the social media of theirID&T program found tremendous benefits from the experience. These benefits range from feelings of belonging to acommunity of ID&T professionals, to career opportunitiesfor networking, and cross country interactions.

[Chapter] #SocialMedia in HigherEd: Enriching Grad Students’ Prof Growth Outside the Classroom

Received notification today that the book chapter I wrote for the book “Digital Tools for Seamless Learning” published by IGI Global is now available. The title of the book chapter is: Social Media in Higher Education: Enriching Graduate Students’ Professional Growth Outside the Classroom. Here is a copy of the abstract:

“This chapter discusses the current use of social media for professional growth, focusing on a case study that uses social media to increase instructional design graduate students’ awareness and participation in professional growth opportunities. Social media metrics were analyzed from three social networking tools (Facebook Page, Twitter account, and/or Google+ community) that are used to communicate with the students in the program. Additional data was collected using an electronic questionnaire with open and closed-ended questions. The results show that graduate students’ participation in the social media initiatives for professional growth provided awareness of self-directed, voluntary, and informal learning opportunities; engaged students in conversations with their peers and the instructors; and allowed the learners to expand their learning experience outside the traditional classroom format.”

If you are interested in reading the rest of the book chapter, please feel free to contact me. I will gladly share it privately so that I do not break any “copyright” rules. Here is my email: eromerohall@ut.edu

IDT (or related field) Departments/Programs Social Media Spreadsheet

We (George Veletsianos, Royce Kimmons, and I) would like to compile a list of PUBLIC social media outlets that instructional design (or related fields) departments/programs use to interact with their graduate students. Please help us by entering the information about the social media outlets used by your program, in this spreadsheet [Thank you]:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19aNLroDOo9cx8sIZnnDOUO8s7WTSmPUqt7lovrbaiQE/edit#gid=0

Learning from Las Vegas #AECT16 [Recap]

It has been a year of conference planning and work in preparation for #AECT16. I am happy with the outcome of the Research & Theory Division (RTD) division sessions and I am confident on the quality of the presentations. Since I had several president-elect commitments I was not able to attend many of the sessions but I received good feedback from those who attended the sessions. Thanks to all that helped and supported the Research and Theory Division before and during the conference.

The preparations for #AECT17 started already. RTD PD Professional Coordinators are already working on the grant preparation for the Early Career Symposium. Our RTD conference planner & research and theory coordinator had their first Convention Planning Committee meeting. Also, during the RTD membership meeting several topics related to research methodology and theoretical perspectives were mentioned as recommendations for the professional development coordinator-elect to consider. The RTD board, specifically our past president, has already started looking for potential nominees to serve in our division during the 2017-2018 service year. We are also preparing to launch several initiatives that will serve to connect graduate students and faculty members.

On a personal note, I am so grateful to be part of the AECT family and all my other sub-families (ESU IDT, ODU IDT, and UT IDT). I am very grateful that I was able to attend the AECT conference this year (since I was not able to attend #AECT15). I made new connections with first timers or individuals who I’ve never had the opportunity meet in the past. As usual, it was great to see and talk to those who I consider not only colleagues but also my friends. Hope to see everyone next year in Jacksonville!

For quick access to the #AECT16 hashtag tweets click here: #AECT16 Tweets

International Scholar, Hanspeter Erni, from @PHLuzern visits @UofTampa @UT_IDT

This week the UT Department of Education and UT Instructional Design & Technology Program hosted, Mr. Hanspeter Erni. Mr. Erni is the Director for the Center of Teaching and Learning and the Head of Computer Science and Media Education at PH Luzern. I met Hanspeter during my visit to PH Luzern last year.

During his visit to The University of Tampa, Hanspeter, did a presentation for the UT College of Social Science, Mathematics, and Education (CSSME) faculty, staff members, and current UT IDT students and alumni. It was a great presentation on the importance of informatics and computer science. He also discussed the project “Mini-Beaver.”

Music Room, Plant Hall [University of Tampa]

In addition to the presentation, I was lucky to have Hanspeter join one of the UT IDT classes. Other activities included: visits to local schools, meeting with the UT CTL Director, and meeting the UT Ed Tech department.

We are collaborating on a special project that will help internationalize the educational experience of UT graduate and undergraduate students. This includes the addition of a travel component (optional) in the curriculum for education graduate and undergraduate students (and potentially UT students with others major who find the topic interesting. More information on this coming soon!

#UTampa Honors Program Symposia [Presentation]

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting to the UT Honors Programs students and faculty as well other UTampa colleagues and staff members. I presented on the topic: “Use of Social Media by Graduate Students and Programs.” This is a research area that I am currently exploring and I was able to share some preliminary results. Click on the image below to access the link to the complete Prezi presentation:

Audio Recording Session #SimulationDevelopment

Sneak Preview: #AECT16 Research & Theory Division Highlights

Yesterday, I purchased my plane ticket to Las Vegas (to attend the AECT 2016 International Convention later this year). This reminded me that I wanted to share a sneak preview of the AECT Research & Theory Division (RTD) sessions. As you know (if you read my blog posts regularly), I have the pleasure of serving as the AECT RTD Convention Planner as well as the Featured Research (FR) Sessions planner. The peer review process for all the sessions was earlier this year (it was not an easy process). The AECT RTD had a large number of good submissions and, at the same time, it had a limited number of allotted presentation hours (plus we had very rigorous reviewers). Now that the review process is completed and all accepted authors have been notified, all planners put together division highlights for the conference printed program. Below are the sneak preview or “highlights” for the AECT RTD and Featured Research Sessions. The full AECT16 schedule will be available in a few months.

Featured Research Sessions: https://cloudup.com/cZomjap6oqL

Research and Theory Highlights: https://cloudup.com/cs6T_t6JAID

For more info about the conference, visit the AECT 2016 website: http://www.aect.org/events/convhotel/

#CIEEIFDS COMM Summer 2016 Radio Show #Sevilla #Spain

Hopefully you have read my previous posts and understand the context of this post. Just in case: I am doing an international professional development seminar in Seville in which I am learning and practicing communication strategies (and using digital media). One of the assignments in the seminar was to record sounds of the city during our stay in Seville. We finally used those sounds today during the production and recording of a radio podcast. It was a two hour preparation time of scripting and sound editing before recording our radio show. I am really impress with the final product!

I have to upload more sounds that I captured this week (they are now updated). I have many more, including interviews and more street sounds. However, I want to share our radio podcast. Big thank you to Radiopolis for letting us use their space to work on the project and their recording studio.

Here is our story, narrative, experience:

IFDS Communication Strategies in Context Summer 2016 Radio Show

Makerspaces and the Maker Movement: Design Thinking

In February, my students in the Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology course (EME610) and myself visited and toured The HIVE. Then, this past April a group of students and myself attended the Gulf Coast MakerCon event. Both of this activities were an attempt to learn more about Makerspaces and the Maker movement as learning spaces. In all honesty, I initially thought it was all about 3D printers. What I learned since then is that Makerspaces really focused on design thinking. Some spaces are technology heavy (hardware and software), others are more about crafting, others are about innovative ideas, and the lists goes on. Basically there are various views as to what constitutes a markerspace.

12647280_906628236072934_6825368649050924601_n — “The Hive” Makerspace: This is the recording studio.

UT ID&T Graduate Students at the Gulf Coast MakerCon Event

From talking to those involved in the markerspace movement here in Tampa, I also learned that the term Makerspace at times seems too crafty. A few weeks ago I toured a school in Tampa in which there are different Makerspaces for students in different grade levels. It was interesting to talk to instructors from the different grade levels. One instructor in particular expressed some concern over the term “makerspace.” He though that the maker movement should be more focused on design thinking. He was very interested in having students master design thinking with simple tools like paper and pencil before even allowing them to use more advance technology. This instructor also expressed concern with the total lack of guidance in some makerspaces. I consider myself an academic novice on makerspaces (as I am still learning and educating myself on the topic) but I do agree with the notion that design thinking requires guidance and supervision. I practice this in my systematic instructional design course. The graduate students and myself spend a significant amount of time going over different elements of their instructional design projects.

Another interesting aspect of Makerspaces that I learned about recently, while attending AERA, is the lack of diversity. One of the “working poster sessions” (we need more of this at AERA — great session format) I attended was on makerspaces reaching diverse audiences which include individuals in different genders, socio economic status, and cultural backgrounds. There were a total of 7 or 8 posters in the session (below is a screenshot from the AERA online program). If you are interested and want to learn more about inclusive makerspaces, I strongly recommend reading the abstracts and following up with the authors.