Within the last few years, social media has become an essential part of the education system. Where preschools and schools are slow in embracing and using social networking channels, higher educational institutions and universities are faster in resorting to diverse applications of social networks. Universities have adopted podcasts, blogging, videoblogging, microblogging, direct messages, message boards etc. Major social media channels that institutions harness for educational purposes and creating opportunities are Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, foursquare. While YouTube has witnessed a whopping 86% of adoption rate, Twitter follows with around 84% and its reliability on blogging is measured to be 66%.
Following are some of the best universities that harness the fruit of social media in higher education:
West Virginia University
The university has made remarkable presence on multiple social networks including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and foursquare. The university manages to etch its impact in your mind further with added perks and useful tips like ‘Dos and Don’ts’.
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon has laid out its social media presence with bits of guidelines, tips and policies that help students develop best practices of social media use. The university focuses on building skills on campus communication.
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University is more open than constructive communications. The university has built Hopkins Interactive that caters to higher education students in connecting them to their school life and friends. The site focuses on “offering them open, uncensored information about student life on campus and in Baltimore.”.
Webster University
The Storify-based social media presence of Webster University is developed to aggregate content and helps revive events that took place during graduation studies among students and alumni, staff and faculty, and also family members of graduates. The social media platform of the university offers members to share posts, videos and attract comments from professionals. You can check out the entire social media activity using a Twitter hashtag ‘#webstergrad’.
Following INFOGRAPHIC shows how educational institutions are harnessing the power of social media.