Andrea,
OK, I am copying your citation and using it. I hope you will make your students read this! I know my students since I am sharing this.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Within my world (the hospitality industry), the 6 degrees of separation and social media are becoming a major focus within HR. Entire social media policies have been formed in light of what team members are posting about the workplace. The 6 degrees comes in, because most don't understand that no matter what we are only separated by six people and someone that knows someone will see your post and share with the top brass. Before you know it you have been separated from your job!
Martin,
What a great post. I know others who teach in the hospitality industry and they rely heavily on the social media for a variety of things. It is so important to understand the connectiveness in the industry that can be both a opportunity and a challenge.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Social Networking is a wonderful toll to connect students leaving in the different parts of the world to share their unique experiences and best practices to find solutions to number of issues discussed in the classrooms. The concept of "six degrees of separation" explains that anyone on the planet can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of people who have something in common and online learning via social networking is a great example of that concept.
Karina,
I remind students the world can be a very small place with technology. It is amazing how many people connect to you from someone you both know. This is the power of social media for professional use.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Social networking sites are here to stay. These are the most convenient ways to stay connected and ‘plugged in’ to what is happening with family, friends and acquaintances around the world! Technology is marvelous if used correctly.
Regardless of the varying views about safety, etc., social networking sites allow us to connect any time of the day and night with anyone who has access to a computer and the internet! Users just have to use common sense. Anything shared remains ‘forever’. There is no way to erase comments / thoughts once posted at these sites.
Madhuchanda,
You are so right. I heard of new companies who now collect information within social media sights and give reports to employers. Much like a credit bureau. They go back about seven years on average. Isn't that scarey?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The six degrees of separation in social networking, means that I ask my friends and they ask their friends, and so on and then before you know it you and others know lots of people from all over that you would not have known.
Heather,
Isn't it amazing how "small" the world is! We have to make sure students understand the power and the purpose of social networking.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Simply that social networking demonstrates how interconnected we all are as a society. The old adage of "it's a small world" really rings true when we see how easily we connect to others through one or two contacts. Facebook is an excellent example of this.
Richard,
It is true. How do we make that case to our students and have them understand that facebook can impact their professional lives.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
That's a really good question, and I'm not sure I have a definitive answer for this, however one thing I am discovering is that more and more social networkers are using the social media for professional connections, hence using their real names as opposed to pre-Facebook, when they used "handles" – made-up cute names and numbers. Now with the change in focus to a more serious format, I think that it will spell the end-days for "trolls" who hide behind fake names and cause trouble. This seems to be fading –– or am I a hopeless dreamer?
Dear Hopeless Dreamer,
You are right. First the millenials believe they can say whatever they want because "we have free speech". This is problematic on so many fronts. We now make all of our freshmen take a professional development session to "professionalize" their social media. We also have all our business students create a professional LinkedIn account because of so many networking opportunities it provides.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I hadn't realized the power of LinkedIn until I ran an ad looking to hire an employee. I was amazed at the response. On the one hand it was great to get so many inquiries and resumes. On the other hand, it would have been better if a geographic filter could have been added, since I received inquiries from people all over the country and we really wanted to limit the search regionally. I assume LinkedIn is working out the kinks, but in the meantime, it is a great professional tool.
Amy,
I am going to share this with my students and I hope you do too. Social networking is vital to professional development and networking. We have to educate are students about the professional aspect of the medium.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Being just a few degrees away from bad information as well as good, puts pressure on students' critical ability (Bloom's last 3 elements. How does the instructor respond to that?
Where does an undergraduate, especially in the first semester or two, get the critical skills to identify the trustworthy in such a sea of information?
Stanley,
Expectations, expectations, expectations! Pressure isn't a bad thing; Earth's pressure gives us diamonds. :) Students need to see us modeling the skills and dispositions we want to see in our students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Lois,
Good question! I create a tutorial for students to watch. We used to have a course in digital and information literacy but we determined that students already have it. I am convinced this is not true.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
the 6 degree identify the steps involved in the framework of connecting with just about anyone on the planet, by using social media.
