A couple of months ago, I had a chance to present to my fellow faculty and staff at the Missouri School of Journalism to talk about how I use social media inside and outside the classroom. Here’s a look at my slides:

I’ve found great success in using my classroom as a social experimental space. I also use it as a way to stay in contact with my current and former students. In the classroom, I encourage tweeting with the #jenclass hashtag. It gives my students a chance to share live notes with each other. Yes, there are times where the note taking turns into a completely off topic side conversation, but I follow the hashtag and can call the students out if they lose focus. I also use CoverItLive sometimes to let students practice the skill of live blogging. It’s a skill that is only done well if you practice. It’s tough to practice if you don’t have reasons to live blog!

I also make it clear to my students that it’s easier to reach me via social networks than leaving a voicemail. My class hashtag extends beyond class discussion. Current and former students share links and ideas throughout each week. (Right now the stream is quiet since I’m not teaching a class, just managing the newsroom at KOMU.)

I recommended experimenting with your comfort zone to the faculty and staff who attended my session. One person commented how I’m much braver than he is as a teacher. I said I’m lucky to have flexible students who are hungry to learn in this space. Each semester is different for me. I never teach my class the same way, so every semester I learn something that worked and something that didn’t work. Luckily, I ask for input throughout the semester and most of the time my students feel comfortable telling me when they feel they understand what’s going on and when they feel lost!

I loved having a chance to share some of my higher ed ideas to my peers. It’s something I don’t get to do often enough. It’s funny how so many of us are doing really great things, but we’re so busy working hard we don’t take enough time to share.

It’s a very good feeling.

 The best moment was when I found out one of the students I had last year who couldn’t get hired is suddenly working on the web for one  of the best newsrooms in the country. The broadcast industry is catching on! Hooray!

When I took my career into a more technology-based direction, I constructed a new class and added a required online portfolio. I quickly discovered how most of my students did not have a ton of skill using Dreamweaver. So that’s when I decided it was time to expand my view of what can turn into an eportfolio. I recently let go of the “personalized” website structure and now I’m looking for a system of: Get it online no matter what it takes. I have students who use iWeb, Blogger, WordPress and of course Dreamweaver. The hardest part: getting video that is consistent and easy to see online. I’m encouraging my students to use Flash-based video players or I teach them how to create their own Flash players and embed them on their sites. Many of my students are buying their own URLS, some are buying their own server space.

Because my class is in a student’s final year – in some cases, final semester – I have found that introducing the eportfolio concept to them is almost too late. They should be collecting their “assets” much sooner. With us all living in a digital age, almost everything we do can be saved on a server. So the next trick is finding server space where the students can save four years of work in one place.

That’s why I’m on a quest to get the faculty in my school ready to work with a company that can offer students a more complete eportfolio system to save and share their work. It could possibly change the way our students communicate with their professors. The great part is professors may have a better way to truly analyze and critique student work in one space. It’s exhausting to push this inititative forward while I continue to build a three-newsroom election website for the 2008 election year (which is making progress). But I’m committed to getting my students online and ready for the job or internship market. My students have amazing skills and I want them to be able to share it with the world if they want!