Kerry Sorby – @kerrysorby
Jessica Wells –
Josh Makuch –
Maria Parks – @jaffaparks
York St John University
The presentation will use a gardening metaphor to explain the lifecycle of this start-up project.
Rationale for the Project : “preparing the landscape” Social media is widely used both on personal and professional levels to promote and disseminate information but there are concerns within regulated professions such as Occupational therapy, as to how these can be used in a professional and ethical manner. Local and professional policies were shared with our students and staff but these appeared to constrain users rather than empower them to use social media. Therefore it was decided to develop some programme led media platforms, to encourage staff and students to engage with social media together. This project was timely and responsive to the current political and economic agenda (e.g. The Comprehensive Spending Review, 2015). Marketing and promotion of the programme were considered key drivers for this project. As a programme team we were aware that our digital presence was in need of “cultivation” and needed to evolve to meet the changing need of students and employers Smith, Killen and Knight (2013). The Higher Education Academy Framework (2014) and National Union of students (2014) both recommend that all members (students and staff) should be empowered to co-create and contribute to the development and direction of the learning community. This was a key aim of the project. A programme blog was chosen to meet this aim and also be a mechanism to promote our good practice both within the university and to our external partners.
“Sewing the seeds” This year long project was set up as part of a funded university initiative to introduce, and develop the use of social media within the Occupational therapy Programme. The project team consisted of 2 academics, 2 students and an administrator. The 2 students were from non- related disciplines and were recruited for their skills in project management, use of social media and web design. The project team “germinated” a twitter account at the start of the academic year and a programme blog was launched in April. The project was “regularly watered and maintained” by the team through regular editorial team meetings.
“ some ideas blossomed into flowers and others bore fruits” The presentation will share the experiences of both staff and students involved in the project: their reflections will include benefits (the flowers and fruits) challenges (defoliating insects) and opportunities (sunshine) . It will also share the evaluation of the impact of the social media platforms had in raising the profile of the course, profession and university.
References:
Higher Education Academy (2014) Framework for student engagement through partnership. Higher Education Academy https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/student-enagagement-through-partnership-new.pdf
Smith R , Killen C, Knight S (2013) Using technology to improve curriculum design. JISC
National Union of Students 2014 Radical Interventions in teaching and Learning http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/nusdigital/document/documents/14853/7b346601c9e46d97d53ce13e1d39e59d/NUS%20Radical%20TL.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJKEA56ZWKFU6MHNQ&Expires=1446210129&Signature=ArNpKv7Kd1UZW3suy3lyYhxgWdc%3D