USING SOCIAL MEDIA IN ASSESSMENT

Lorna Walker

Senior Lecturer

EXAMPLES OF ASSESSMENTS

eBay Principles of Marketing project

Marketing diary in blog form within Blackboard

Build a website using WordPress

Brandwatch social media analytics project

Assessment of LinkedIn and Twitter profiles

Social media strategy assignment

ADVANTAGES

Authentic assessment

Develops employability skills

Ensures students have some kind of digital presence (assuming outside Blackboard)

Interesting and engaging assignments

Helps tutor develop skills as well as the students

Easy to link to practitioner and academic research

ISSUES TO BE AWARE OF

Technical support issues Don’t assume that because students are digital natives that means they are skilled users

of social media Where is the line between feedback, technical support and free consultancy? Do you have the requisite skills to be able to run the assignment yourself? If you cannot provide technical help then who will?

Privacy / legal issues Social media is outward-facing which means that students’ assignments will be

accessible to everyone You may be requiring students to engage with a social network that they would not

otherwise be on You have a duty of care to ensure students don’t do or say anything on social media that

may come back to haunt them Who is liable if students do run into problems? You may need login details for some services yourself e.g. admin access to students’

WordPress sites Issues of IP and copyright – plagiarism can have much more serious consequences if it

takes place in the public domain Who owns what the students’ develop?

ISSUES TO BE AWARE OF

Cultural issues LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook aren’t always students’ networks of choice

Logistical issues Students may have to pay to access some of these services (webhosting, eBay listings)

Do you provide an alternative assignment for anyone who does not want to do this?

Academic issues What are the marking criteria that you’re going to use?

How can you assess students’ academic understanding alongside their practical skills? Reflective reports can help here.

Plagiarism – how do you know the student has done the work themselves?

Make the requirements of the assignment clear in advance e.g. you cannot use an already existing website, you have to set up the website in English etc.