With so many of us using social media today, sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn make perfect targets for scams.

Here are our top 10 tips to stay safe on social media:

1. Use a strong password.  The longer it is, the more secure it will be.
2. Use a different password for each of your social media accounts.
3. Set up your security answers.  This two factor authentication is available for most social media sites.
4. If you have social media apps on your phone, be sure to password protect your device.
5. Be selective with friend requests. If you don’t know the person, don’t accept their request.  It could be a fake account.
6. Click links with caution.  Social media accounts are regularly hacked.  Look out for language or content that does not sound like something your friend would post.
7. Be careful about what you share. Don’t reveal sensitive personal information ie: home address, financial information, phone number.  The more you post the easier it is to have your identity stolen.
8. Become familiar with the privacy policies of the social media channels you use and customize your privacy settings to control who sees what.
9. Protect your computer by installing antivirus software to safeguard.  Also ensure that your browser, operating system, and software are kept up to date.
10. Remember to log off when you’re done.

IT Security: Our Shared Responsibility

We all have a key role to play in keeping our home computers and personal devices secure online. We also play a big part in keeping our businesses safe from cyber threats.  To learn more about Cyber Security Awareness Month, check out the  and the websites.

If you weren’t able to attend, here is a recap of the event.

To those that are interested in learning more about ‘getting social’ at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´, check out ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´â€™s site to see posts, articles, and tips that can benefit both you and your ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ social media accounts.

This month’s spotlight is on Social Media.

Social Media Usage

• Canadians spend an average of on social media
• In Canada, there are approximately . There are 2.31 billion active social media users in the world.
• ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ took to Social Media for it’s CU75 campaign. With close to a million impressions on Facebook and Twitter, it is clear that .
• There are two social media events happening at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ next month.  On June 1^st Mike Reynolds (OVPSE), Chris Cline (DUC), and Web Services are hosting a talk on . On June 2^nd and 3^rd Melanie Coulson (FPA) is offering a social media training.

Social Media Networks

• is the leading social media network with 1.59 billion active users.
• In 2012 for $1 billion two years after it launched.
• has 30.3 K followers and has sent out more than 13 K tweets.
• Social media brings in .18% of all traffic to the ITS website. The top social referrer: Twitter at 77% of all social media traffic.

The IT Behind Social Media

• Many popular social networks have started out as .
• to rank and personalize News Feed stories, filter offensive content, highlight popular/trending topics, and rank search results.
• Twitter recently to show tweets that are sorted based on relevancy, rather than only chronology, at the top of your timeline. They’ll also soon be .
• People for the fun of it, for forced shares, for forced followers, and for information. was in the news this week for a hacking that took place in 2012. Here are on how you can keep your account safe.

Social Media in the Classroom: A Student’s Perspective

Social Media can be an effective tool in the classroom for engaging students in course material and encouraging collaboration amongst students and instructors.

This month, Madison Pearce, a co-op student with Web Services, shares her experiences using social media in the classroom and offers a few suggestions to faculty members looking to implement social media in their teaching plans. 

5 Things We Thought You Should Know

1. Stats: In April, of the 1,978 tickets opened, 56% of tickets were resolved at first contact by the ITS Service Desk. Check out more stats like this in our latest
2. CANHEIT: This year ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ will be well represented at the Canadian Higher Education Information Technology (CANHEIT) conference with .
3. CCMS Update: Web Services have been working to continuously improve the CCMS and are now on of the new template. This point upgrade includes new thumbnail images, text editing enhancements, and bug fixes.
4. Research at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´: Wondering what that The 1,600-square-foot, two-storey solar-powered house is perched on a low hill at the north end of ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´â€™s campus? It’s ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´â€™s new.
5. Mark your calendars:  on Friday, June 17.

Like what you see?  

If you have an idea on how we can improve, .

Given the theme of this month’s Spotlight on IT, I wanted to share with you my experiences using social media in the classroom and offer a few suggestions to faculty members who wish to continue or start implementing social media in their teaching plans.

Facebook in the Classroom

At my first lecture the professor had us add her on Facebook for participation marks. Throughout the semester, students had to find an article, YouTube video, or current event online that was relevant to the content discussed in the previous lecture.

This course requirement was a helpful way to promote interaction with the professor and among classmates, as we could all openly engage with each other outside of class by commenting on or “liking” each other’s posts. In addition, by searching for and posting course-related content, students were applying concepts, theories, and ideas from the textbook and lectures to real life situations, which led to a deeper understanding and interpretation of the material.

Although great in theory, some students weren’t comfortable with adding their prof as a ‘friend’.  What might have been better was for the professor to create a group on Facebook and encourage people to join.  This group can then be closed or open, depending on the topics discussed.

YouTube in the Classroom

In the following year, I had a professor who enjoyed showing YouTube videos to apply theoretical concepts to modern day examples.  The videos were reasonably short, which allowed students to stay focused for the entire duration.  Each video was entertaining and creative, which generated a “fun” perspective to sometimes heavy, intense material.

When it came time to study for the final, my peers and I found concepts easier to memorize and understand because each video provided a visual aspect to what was previously presented as ideas and facts written on paper.

Twitter in the Classroom

In multiple classes, I have had professors and TAs share their Twitter usernames so that students could follow them as a means to ask quick questions with regards to the course. Students were also asked to tweet a fact, discussion question, or share comments about what they found interesting from the previous lecture, followed by the use of a specific hashtag provided by the professor each week. Through clicking each hashtag we were all able to see each tweet submitted from each student and view responses from the instructors and other students.

Twitter is an ideal application to use due to the fact that it is instantaneous and easy to use. Not to mention, Twitter teaches its users to be as thorough, yet concise as possible with the 140-character limit!

Three Things to Consider when Using Social Media in the Classroom

Social media has now been proven to assist with teaching and learning in higher education. According to by Dian Schaffhauser, “social media continues to offer great promise for enhancing learning in the classroom”.

If you are an instructor interested in using social media in the classroom, here are some things to consider:

1. Some students aren’t on social media. While this sounds rare, it is still a population that needs to be considered. If there are students that do not have Facebook or Twitter accounts, they should be offered another option that still allows for these students to interact with the instructor and their classmates. In most of my classes the only alternative offered was to write a paper, which to me does not offer the same benefits.
2. Diminishing professional boundaries. While it is important for a student to interact with their instructor, faculty members must address boundaries/guidelines prior to initiating their social media plan (i.e.: telling students they can only send tweets to the instructor if they are related to the course, or perhaps making another Facebook account that is separate from a personal one).
3. Take it offline. In Schaffhauser’s article (mentioned above) a professor had students create short video summaries of specific lecture and textbook content and upload them to YouTube for the professor and other classmates to view. Those who did not wish to upload a video online had the option to present in front of the professor during his office hours. This strategy takes the use of YouTube to a whole new level! As a student, I think it is important to be able to demonstrate what one has learned in a unique, creative, and relaxed way.

Instructors at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ that aspire to use social media in the future, or instructors that are currently using social media in their curriculum, may want to turn to the to access technology guides, teaching tips and tools, and to see why it doesn’t hurt to “get social” at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.

***

By Madison Pearce, a fourth year communications student at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ and currently doing a co-op placement with Web Services in ITS.

Here are our top 10 tips to stay safe on social media:

1. Use a strong password.  The longer it is, the more secure it will be.
2. Use a different password for each of your social media accounts.
3. Set up your security answers.  This option is available for most social media sites.
4. If you have social media apps on your phone, be sure to password protect your device.
5. Be selective with friend requests. If you don’t know the person, don’t accept their request.  It could be a fake account.
6. Click links with caution.  Social media accounts are regularly hacked.  Look out for language or content that does not sound like something your friend would post.
7. Be careful about what you share. Don’t reveal sensitive personal information ie: home address, financial information, phone number.  The more you post the easier it is to have your identity stolen.
8. Become familiar with the privacy policies of the social media channels you use and customize your privacy settings to control who sees what.
9. Protect your computer by installing antivirus software to safeguard.  Also ensure that your browser, operating system, and software are kept up to date.
10. Remember to log off when you’re done.

Did you Know? ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.ca is Getting a Refresh!

Four years ago, we redesigned the ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.ca home page and it has served us well by bringing in over 100,000 visitors each month.

However, four years is a long time in the digital world and we are happy to say that it’s time for a fresh new look.  Learn more about the carleton.ca refresh…