Social Media and ALES204 Students

In academia there continues to be a lot (a lot!) of discussion about the pros and cons of allowing (or enabling?!) students to use social media in class. There are quite a few (the majority it seems) of professors and teachers who think students should NOT use laptops or smartphones in class. They are a distraction is the oft' touted reason. Well students of #ALES204, you know I think differently! And, in many of our lectures I've tried to highlight why it is so important that we all learn to become digitally literate. It is more than just using Facebook, but learning to use it for specific purposes (like to promote oneself for a job) and learning to make some aspects of our profiles private. We're also learning that tweeting about research-related information can generate new connections - possibly even with future employees.

So, it is with this in mind that I share with you an infographic sent to me from Jenica Rhee. It is called The Digital Promise. What do you think?

Employability & Social Media Use

Students should find this infographic very informative!

Infographic by Reppler via Mashable.

Lecture 8: Facebook for Business

Today is the last lesson of the week focussing on using Facebook as an opportunity to brand ourselves as great potential employees. We are going to make an online cv that people can "like" and "share." Having this online business presence will illustrate a few obvious elements including:

• your professional profile
• your up-to-date education/work experience etc.
• your online presence

Also, think about some of the not so obvious aspects that you can show via your online cv:

• your creativity
• sense of humour
• you know how to create memorable content
• you know how to harness social media for a business purpose

NOTE: If you are wary of posting certain information online, please come and see me, and we will create a "paper" version of the assignment.

Lecture 8: Facebook for Business (E- C.V.)

View more presentations from Jessica Laccetti.

Note: Remember, this assignment forms part of your e-portfolio. It will not be graded separately BUT if you look at the rubric, you will see what you need to complete.

Note: Image found at Meghan Oliver 

DUE DATE EXTENDED to Monday September 26th, 17:00 

Module 3: Facebook for Business

Students, as a comment to this post, leave a link to your blog with your flickr photo of your professional Facebook profile.

In the words of fellow student Jenny Brown, this is what the assignment requires:

1) "Create a page" on my existing Facebook profile that is like an e-Resume 2) Take a 'print screen' picture of the page with the basic information wall showing
3) Save this photo in Flickr and post it on my blog
4) Write 2-4 paragraphs on my blog pertaining to my facebook page
5) Post a link on the class blog that connects you to my blog post with the flickr photo

Remember, this assignment forms PART of the e-portfolio and as such, needs to follow those guidelines:

At the end of the term, you will have written at least five blog posts.  In each blog post (EXCEPT the first Introductory post) you must:

1. Include at least one image
2. Include at least one external link (somewhere out in the WWW)
3. Include at least one reference to a fellow student’s blog post (you must link to the post, i.e. internal link)
4. Be on topic (i.e. related to our class work).
5. Each blog post should be at least two paragraphs but no more than four.

Additionally, throughout the term you must comment on at least five blog posts written by fellow students in this class. You can find links to the students’ blogs on the class blog, under the Module 2 blog post (http://ales-204.blogspot.com/2011/09/module-2-science-journalism-online.html#comments). Comments, like all the writing and interaction in this class, must remain appropriate in level (writing style, mechanics and punctuation) and collegiality.  In your final blog post for this project you will need to include links to the five (or more) comments you made.

Additionally, here is a rubric for the profile itself:

You can also watch this video on how to use the print screen command to take a screen capture of your Facebook  page/profile.


Information on how to upload images to flickr can be found on flickr help but here are the basics for uploading:

How do I upload my photos?

We provide a range of uploading tools for both Windows and Mac that will help you get your photos on Flickr.

You can also email your photos to your Flickr account. You have your own unique email address that you can use to add your photos to your Flickr photostream or to upload photos to your Flickr photostream AND automatically post them to your blog. Configure your email upload settings here.

If you'd rather not install our tools, you can use a web form to upload on the upload page. To use this form, look in the navigation menu at the top of the page under "You."

Facebook Page/Profile Assignment in Angie's Words

View more presentations from Jessica Laccetti.

 This article will be of interest, "12 Ways to Use Facebook Professionally"

Note: Image from Gigaom