Using Social Media to Enhance Learner Engagement

Using Social Media to Enhance Learner Engagement

Veronica Spowart (New College Durham), Kris Coates (Sunderland College), Leo Morantes-Africano(Newcastle College)

Although the FE sector is successful in many aspects of its HE provision both retention and employment outcomes need constant attention. This article reports progress made at three North East colleges in the use of social media to enhance learner engagement and so impact retention and employment achievement.

Introduction

Providing access to HE programmes within the FE sector has a long and successful history. In particular it is a provision recognised for its ability to reach a higher percentage of registrations from 'Low Participation Neighbourhoods'. Also the National Student Survey regularly sees learners placing FE colleges high in the satisfaction tables. However, according to HEFCE figures, both learner retention and employment outcomes in the FE sector are lower than those achieved in the university sector.

In order to address this situation three North East colleges, New College Durham, Newcastle College and Sunderland College, identified a need to improve learners' engagement with their programmes. The thinking was that a better communications flow within learning groups would help individuals to survive some personal issues which might endanger retention and would also helpfully disseminate employment intelligence to all. There was much previous experience in attempting to use Virtual Learning Environments and general bulletin boards for this purpose. However the colleges' experiences were that these approaches had achieved limited success. In contrast it was apparent that the vast majority of learners were habitual users of contemporary social media including Facebook and Twitter. Could these platforms be harnessed for programme engagement purposes ?

Three college representatives set out to explore this possibility. Not unexpectedly some college protocols were encountered. Privacy and safeguarding issues were always going to be roadblocks to be circumnavigated and so it proved. In summary it transpired that one representative was given backing to go ahead immediately, one eventually managed to overcome corporate uncertainty and achieve agreement but had then crucially lost appropriate timing, whilst the third was able to access activity already under way at their college and report on outcomes in that way.

The two substantial experiences at different colleges were with, respectively, Facebook and LinkedIn– used for students on an HE computing programme, and Twitter – used for students on a media programme.

Group 1

In the case of those learners using Facebook, a closed group was formed for all students and associated staff with no access provided for outsiders (but see later developments) and no cross-over to personal Facebook usage. In this case no student objected to the concept and no student refused to cooperate. Because of a parallel initiative to develop alumni and employer connections an early decision to extend group membership to ex-students was taken. Within a very short time, over two hundred previous students had joined the group and were posting messages about what they had done since progressing from college, where they were working and how their studies at the college had helped them progress.

These posts were then displayed to the current student cohort. This proved very motivational. It was November; students were starting their day in the dark and going home in the dark It was cold and their studies were challenging with assignment submission dates looming. However because they were able to directly communicate with previous students, they could see the relevance of their studies through real live evidence of how this same qualification had helped others gain employment and establish good careers.

The next stage was to invite employers into group communication. Some did join, however many did not want to connect their personal Facebook profile used with family and friends to our students and this was perfectly understandable.

In order to attract more engagement with employers and grow connections between them and the students the way forward was seen to be setting up a LinkedIn group. There are significant differences between LinkedIn and Facebook, not only in the way they are perceived but also in the Terms and Conditions each impose. Facebook profiles are personal; people share personal feelings, likes, jokes, major life events, personal photographs, music, family videos and so on. LinkedIn profiles are professional; people develop a profile detailing their work experience, qualifications, endorsements, skills, attributes and professional news.

A group was set up and all the alumni students from the Facebook group were invited to join. Invites were extended through staff contacts and very soon over two hundred connections to the LinkedIn Group were made. It became clear that many of these alumni were also employers.

Very soon employers were offering to come into the college as guest speakers. The first of these, who managed a leading games software development company, told the students of his background. How he grew up in Consett, 'Mum a dinner lady, Dad a painter and decorator’; they felt he was one of them. When he confided that he used something he learnt at college as a teenager and built it into the architecture of the most popular games console, they knew their aspirations were achievable.

The potential of social media to enhance the students' experience was starting to become apparent. The LinkedIn group was introduced to the current HE cohort and all were invited to join. At this point however it became clear that students were showing caution. They were much more aware of how their digital footprint could impact their professional lives and so took time to prepare their profiles seeking support and advice from tutors and researching websites for further advice and tips. So getting 'in the mix' with fellow learners on Facebook was fine for students, however the LinkedIn experience was more a case of observation of the world of work rather than being too daring with a personal identity.

The results of this exercise were very encouraging. Initial indications are that student retention has improved and their awareness of and identification with the industry towards which they are being directed was transformed. For example a 'before and after' questionnaire was used which asked about students' level of information and the contacts they had in relation to the computing industry. In summary the results were as follows:-

Question / Poor or little / Adequately or very well
How well informed about the computing industry do you feel ?
Before use of the IT Fb group / 33 / 2
After use of the IT Fb group / 1 / 34
How well connected do you feel into the computing industry
Before use of the IT Fb group / 27 / 8
After use of the IT Fb group / 0 / 35

The staff who operate this programme have energetically used the connections formed with alumni and with employers to benefit their students. Visits and presentations by employers have been very motivational and work placements have been generated.

In summary, although building connections to both groups is time consuming, enhancement of the student experience has been extensive and so far includes:

• Motivating; through connections to previous students who relate the qualifications to their progression
• Inspiring; hearing senior management of global companies talk about the importance of what they are learning and how they helped secure opportunities of employment around the world
• Confidence; recognising that soft skills are equally important to securing a professional career
• Enriching: gaining real experience and real connections to industry leaders who actively respond to questions
• Employability: securing work placement opportunities and live clients for module assessment
• Engagement: students are involved in the social media project and contribute to meetings held to look at how it can be progressed
• Destinations: destination data is collected as students’ progress to top-up degree and/or employment
• Employer Engagement: grows stronger with each connection

Group 2

The other group who were users of social media attended another college and were following a digital media programme. Their main social media choice is Twitter. The programme leader uses Twitter in the classroom for research and to make links to employers, for example:

‘to ask people’s opinions online, follow important people, put a question for example on Twitter - ask a question, as long as is the right people see that question, then they’ll answer it. If the students have a questions they’ll ask the opinion of the industry, and everyone has their opinion on certain things; if it is subjective like for example, the best way to code a particular thing, you can ask that question on Twitter and you probably get maybe three or four ways to solve that particular problem and is really good for the students to understand that there is no one way to doing things and it is not just the tutor’s opinion that matters, you need to look wider, you need to look at other options’.

The programme leader also states that she uses Twitter to make links to professionalism, for example, by making learners aware that web designers use social media in their professional practice.

'Twitter could be used to consult ‘types of frameworks, plugins, etc.’, and also that it helps to realise that ‘the answers are not always on Google’. They can ask ‘real professionals how they do their jobs’.

The programme leader identifies that

'at the beginning of the course some students are afraid of using social media, speaking out, low confidence, they don’t want to post their design work to get critique, are afraid of bad responses etc.'

However, she encourages students to use social media to develop industry habits. She believes that most people want students to do well and those in industry are keen to help students, because

‘they were there themselves once, and they might be future employees and so would wish to provide encouragement’.

She also asserts that trying to encourage students to tweet work and to receive critique is difficult but once they start, it takes off. She makes learners aware that currently graduates applying for jobs as web designers, web developers or app designers would not look on newspapers, recruitment websites or company’s websites; people now look for Twitter, blogs, etc., to check professional’s work.

The programme leader points out that at the beginning of the course some students mainly use social media for personal purposes and find it difficult to understand its usefulness. For example, at the beginning of the course she opened a Twitter account but some students did not know what to do with it, that they could follow key people, find useful articles, etc.

During interview stages she makes learners aware of the expected use of social media - as a component of the course. She identifiers that in her industry Facebook is very much personal, you don’t get much promotion through Facebook. However on the use of other platforms,

‘I’d say to be quite honest, if they are not using social media they are going to find it very difficult to get opportunities in our area because that’s where people are looking’.

The programme leader incorporates specials sessions on how to use Twitter (how to tweet, who to follow, etc.), and assert how sometimes you have people from the industry joining in. She describes it as a

‘room full of industry people all together and you are going in and dipping into their conversations and maybe joining in [networking], yes, it is like networking’.

The programme leader also uses Facebook. This is currently a closed group and she is the administrator of it, she moderates members of the group, everything posted is private. Partly Facebook is a tool to get them using social media. She encourages students to post pictures of their design work on FB;

posting out to the general public is probably quite scary for some of them straightaway, posting just on the Facebook page where there are 20 students and me, is kind of a soft approach to getting some feedback and getting them used to how they might use social media.

The main challenges in the use of Twitter and Facebook for this group of media students were

• Getting students to see how essential social media were in the live digital media business
• Helping them to gain confidence in accepting critique
• Coaching them on etiquette
• Maintaining a business-like on-line profile

Conclusion

Overall this project in the three colleges has proved very beneficial. Outcomes are as follows

• Most colleges will have privacy, abuse and safeguarding issues that need to be resolved and this may need the backing of senior staff
• The key factor in success is linking current learners not just to each other – but to the business which they aspire to join
• Ex-students are surprisingly keen to help inform and motivate current students
• Employers are very happy to contribute (most probably using the more professional and less personal social media) and will offer advice and support to staff and students over curriculum issues
• Particular industries already use social media as a main communication channel for commissioning and staff recruitment – appropriate use by students is therefore imperative
• Current students are clearly motivated by their interactions with ex-students and employers and the staff active in this project are certain that the enhanced experiences obtained have improved students' engagement

This project has been about improving retention and achievement by enhancing students' engagement with their programme. Further data collection and analysis is required on the specifics of this – but the project team have no doubt that those pursuing a vocational HE programme become significantly more engaged with their programme where social media are safely deployed within that programme and connections with business and ex-students are formed.