Spring 2011 and Social Media in class, highlights.

Students seem to enjoy the use of social media in class, facebook has been far more popular with them in comparison to twitter.
From a marketing teaching point of view facebook does allow more fun and enjoyment to them while learning, as they love to post some great ad’s as well as interesting quotes from famous marketing and management gurus, as well as relevant articles and websites.
I have found a good use of twitter in the way of making announcements to the class about, upcoming events as well as exam guidelines etc. to keep them updated and eager to find out what might be happening. In addition students also directly tweet me via @Imrankwantlen and that enables me to retweet any interesting items for the rest of the class to view on my profile page.
Class participation has become far more interesting and exciting for them then before, and can also be easily verifiable and quantifiable me while finalizing their grades.
Good Luck to all my students for the rest of the semester.
Imran

About imranraza

Marketing Professor, Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Areas of interest, Consumer Behavior, Advertising, Retail Management and Contemporary Issues in Marketing. Sports and Hobbies, Squash, Golf, and Contract Bridge.
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85 Responses to Spring 2011 and Social Media in class, highlights.

  1. Nikki Prassadd says:

    First to comment of course! =D but i would like to say that i totally enjoyed Marketing 1199. Facebook and Twitter were good assets to this class to help us with our learning. I totally appreciated that we had a chance to mix our class with our favorite Social Media and get to learn and also have fun. I would recommend that Imran that you would take social media to your next classes and recommend it to other teachers to take the chance to do the same!
    It was a Pleasure being in your class!
    -Nikki =D

    Like

  2. Trevor Makela says:

    I had never used Facebook or twitter before imrans consumer behavior class.

    I found the use of Facebook to be fun and helpful for sharing ads and updating the class with quiz and test information.

    Twitter was not used to it’s fullest potential. Imran my friend, you need to do a tweet a day or something!

    Overall it was refreshing to be able to ae my iPhone to the full potential by browsing fb and twitter and taking notes at te same time.

    I will continue using twitter(under an alias) but not my Facebook. On Facebook i get ignored by people who are supposedly friends, but on twitter I can be ignored by famous people.

    Like

    • imranraza says:

      Thankyou for your relevant comments, I will take into consideration your comments about Twitter and try to tweet on a more regular basis, to make it more interesting and relevant for students.
      Goodluck!

      Like

  3. Pamela says:

    I’ve also enjoyed using Twitter and blogs in my classes. Please add your voice to this interesting discussion that was started by a BBAMM student on professors’ use of social media. http://kdarvasi.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/profs-need-2-b-on-twitter-educational/

    Like

  4. Steven Phan says:

    Steven Phan wishes more teachers used facebook and twitters to make classes less boring and more fun. Regardless if we learn something or not. I also find twitter kinda useless but I use it anyways because I think I need to let the world know about my activities.
    -steven phan

    Like

  5. Stephen Hutchinson says:

    Imran I loved all the youtube videos and the use of facebook. never before have I had such an interesting and enjoyable class. 5*****

    -Fail with respect and dignity

    Like

    • imranraza says:

      Stephen I am so glad you loved our use of youtube and facebook, I enjoyed the use in class immensely as well, and will continue the use of these two Social Media tools in the future as well. Do keep in touch with furthur comments on Social Media use in the classroom.
      Goodluck!

      Like

  6. Alex Koch says:

    I have enjoyed using facebook and twitter in marketing 1199 as well as 1299. I find it very useful when hints for upcoming tests are tweeted and enjoy seeing good advertisments posted by other students, this makes class more interesting

    Like

  7. Chelsea Ker says:

    I am more of a facebook user than twitter, although I may have account and have follow you, I don’t have any interest in using twitter on a daily basis. With facebook I feel that I have a more one on one interaction with friends, as to twitter there are limitations and must be straight to the point. Stats show that there are 500 millions active users to facebook, and about 6 million twitter users. Although I will give the benefit of the doubt that twitter is fairly new and a huge difference is obvious.

    This is the first course that use’s social media as an interaction between the prof and students, in which I appreciate. Since times are changing and technology is out there, education should be adapting to new forms of learning. Whether it be having participation marks by sharing links on facebook walls or using twitter, utilizing popular sites enables students to relate to education and hopefully grasp theories easily. I thank you Imran for being the first prof to use social media and I hope other marketing prof’s will follow in your footsteps.

    Chelsea Ker

    Like

    • imranraza says:

      Thankyou Chelsea for your feedback, I agree that twitter is quite different from FB and I will find a use that is more appropriate and relevant to it’s format.

      Like

  8. Lenore Craig says:

    I really enjoyed the use of advertisements, in class. It really helps us connect the real world with our textbook and helps us see the relevance of what we’re learning. Seeing these concepts in reality really help solidify the concepts in our minds.
    Thanks for the great semester Imran!!

    Like

  9. Daniel Bucyk says:

    The use of social media in class was helpful. I appreciate you tweeting hints and tips for class. I typically don’t use twitter but I like the function that combines tweets into Facebook, that way I don’t miss out on information. Thank you for an entertaining yet productive class! Very enjoyable.

    Daniel

    Like

  10. Renae says:

    Hey imran,

    i really did enjoy having social media in the class it helped alot with learning marketing, since i check my facebook more than my email it was nice to be able to see your updates about the class on your status. I had tons of fun this semester and your teaching methods are great! your a good teacher and easy to get along with.

    Thanks, Renae Candusso.

    Thanks, Renae Candusso.

    Like

  11. Vanessa Nguyen says:

    I think social media in class is very entertaining, but I think it will be even better if you can explain more concepts used in the advertisements we watch in class. Facebook is a fast way to communicate with students but I prefer using emails for my school work. To sum up, it’s creative to bring social media in class but we have to adjust it to fit in the school environment.

    Like

  12. Ken Feng says:

    I enjoyed this article about Facebook allowing students to learn in a fun way. In my opinion, I think Twitter is less fun to learn because I personally do not enjoy Twitter. I think Facebook is much more convenient and has a variety of different ways to learn rather than just following people.

    Like

  13. Yes, I agree with Imran, Facebook has been much more useful for the class – seeing all of the commercials. These are very helpful in learning about ad copy, concepts, art, production (like the Old Spice behind the scenes one).

    I also agree with Imran regarding Twitter. I would really only use it personally for announcements, like important places where I am going to be.

    Like

  14. Gavin Toor says:

    The use of social media in Marketing 1199 was a great addition. It allowed us to have a little more fun in the class than we would normally have. A lot of companies use it to advertise. Facebook was more enjoyable than twitter for me however because of your class i gota twitter now. Had a good time in your class.

    Like

  15. Harman Dhanju says:

    Hi Imran, I really enjoyed learning in your class. You took me out of the whole boring learning scheme. Your classes are exciting, fun and promote a healthy learning environment. I look forward to learning from you in my upcoming marketing courses. God bless.

    Harman Dhanju

    Like

  16. Christina Corvin says:

    Absolutely loved the fact that you embraced technology in this class Imran!

    I didn’t really have a preference between Facebook and Twitter, but I definitely used Facebook a lot more just because it’s one of the first things I check when I’m on the computer. Using social media kept the class interesting and gave everyone a chance to share things that others may never have be exposed to before, which is great.

    Thanks for an awesome semester Imran, hopefully more profs will adopt your innovative ways. 🙂

    Like

    • imranraza says:

      Christina, I am so happy to know you loved the use of technology in the class, and that the use of socialmedia kept the class interesting. Your comments are very useful to me to improve my teaching.
      Please do comment in the futre as well.
      imran

      Like

  17. Hersh Minhas says:

    Learning through social media sites such as twitter and facebook made the class more interesting and involved. It’s not every day that an instructor encourages the use of Facebook before class to help in his/her teachings. Seeing advertisements rather than just reading about them made the concepts easier to understand. Facebook I felt was also more popular with the class, but the twitter application helped students prepare for exams. Thank you for a great semester Imran I learned a lot about consumers in the market place and the social media sites we used made the learning a lot more fun and easier!

    Hersh Minhas

    Like

  18. Kelsey W says:

    The use of social media was helpful throughout the semester. Twitter I did not find helpful as it was not used much. I found many of the articles and ads posted on facebook interesting. The wall posts and tweets about exams and assignments are definitely helpful when getting ready to study.

    Like

  19. Palek Trehan says:

    I loved the use of social media in this class! It was totally relevant to the course. Prior to taking this course, I was on Facebook but not Twitter. At least, now I know what Twitter is all about and how it works.

    I think other school of business instructors should also use social media web sites for class participation.

    Just one suggestion – It would be more effective to create a separate Facebook page for each of your sections because this way, we’ll know that the videos that are played in class are actually posted by my class members; and the chances of our posts turning into a class discussion would be higher as well.

    Thanks for a great semester,

    Pal

    Like

  20. Karen Basra says:

    The best Marketing 1299 teacher! I liked how we used our favourite social networks during class, using Facebook and Twitter was a lot better than having a moodle class site. It was also a bonus that we received class participation marks for posting things up, this was especially great for students that feel too shy to participate during class. Using these types of social media networks kept class interest. For the future I would suggest maybe placing more hints for quizzes and testes on Twitter to get everyone in the class on it.

    Like

  21. Manpreet Gill says:

    Imran I’d first off like to say that I really enjoyed your class. You allowed us to explore ourselves and search for ads that applied to concepts from our class. I learned alot while doing this. I think this is a really good way of teaching students, it keeps the class lively rather than just a dry lecture. Overall, I love the way you teach!!

    Like

  22. Daynah says:

    Using social media in the classroom environment was definitely a refreshing change from all my other classes. I enjoyed using a means of communication I was familiar with rather than the communication programs our universities provide. However, Facebook does tend to be a little distracting. In the future maybe less class-time spent on Facebook would be more productive. I also agree with some of the other students in saying that Twitter was less effective, especially for people within our demographic. I feel this form of social media is geared towards professional networking, different from the casual social networking that most students participate in.

    Thank-you Imran, for introducing a new mode of networking to the class, it was useful and very effective.

    Like

  23. Brandon Geerts says:

    I enjoyed the use of facebook in my MRKT 1199 class, I found it beneficial as well as very engaging. I didnt use twitter but did see the tweets as they would be posted to facebook. It was much easier to see what information was posted in regards to our class, instead of using moodle. I would recommend that you continue to use facebook and twitter. Thanks for a good half semester Imran.

    Like

  24. Arsha says:

    Implemeting facebook and twitter into the course was a great idea. It created conversation, debates, and analysis of the commercials and their message. I never had a twitter account before but because of this class I now have one, which I was meaning to get around to but this pushed that decision. I really liked how the main project was broken down week by week so we get to really understand all the sections and put it into real life situations. Social media was used by the students and our project contact on a regular basis.

    Like

  25. Gavin Buttar says:

    The use of social media in class, helps students to communicate with teachers betters, and allows us to be more open. Even though i never used twitter, i thought it was cool idea to integrate it into the class curriculum. Also the small hints, and reminders helped as well. Thanks for a very fun and interesting class.

    Like

  26. Heather Scragg says:

    I think that the use of Facebook (not so much Twitter) was effective in helping us to understand social media and how it can relate to consumer behaviour, marketing and business as a whole.

    It was a fun way to start the class and to keep us engaged while we were not in class. In terms of using it as participation grades I think it was useful to ensure that we were active in the class. It’s the first time I’ve seen this done and I think that Facebook is a much easier way to stay in contact with the class as not many students actually use their Kwantlen email accounts other than for Kwantlen material. Facebook however, most students check multiple times daily.

    Heather

    Like

    • imranraza says:

      Thanks Heather,
      Good to know facebook is an effective way to keep in contact with students, and a fun way to start class.
      Do keep posting comments on my blog.
      imran

      Like

  27. Palek Trehan says:

    I loved the use of social media in this class! Totally relates to the course. Prior to taking this course, I was on Facebook but not Twitter. At least now I know how Twitter works.

    I think other school of business instructors should also use social media for participation.

    Just one suggestion – It would be so much more effective to have a separate Facebook page for each section because this way when videos are played in class, we know that they are from our classmates; and the chances of our videos turning into class discussions are higher as well.

    Thanks for a great semester,

    Pal

    Like

  28. Gary L. says:

    the social media is really a big part of this couse, and really keep us udate way easier than moodle. i really enjoy checking school activity through facebook, it make me feel more casual, and more relaxing~ also a good place to share info and ideas

    Like

  29. Victoria Lipskaya says:

    Both social networking sites are absolutely great to use for marketing classes. First of all, they represent one of the important marketing tools used by so many businesses out there. Second, I agree with many other students who say that it’s an awesome way to start a class, as it gets everyone’s attention and make the class time a little less boring. Besides, both facebook and twitter are great to use for different announcements because most students visit these sites more often then their Kwantlen email or the course website. I would like to thank Imran for his creative idea. It was fun and informative at the same time.:))

    Like

  30. Michael Lourdes says:

    I would like to say that i found consumer behaviour a very interesting class. Learning about the reasons behind, and motivations with which people make purchasing decisions will be a vital tool to carry forth in my career.

    The facebook and twitter applications of this class taught me how social media is a power not to be ignored. It is a valuable marketing avenue that we often block out as if we feel we aren’t being marketed to. But when we think we aren’t noticing it, i think we are noticing it the most. A great avenue for free advertising exists in looking at pictures of your friends, you subconsciously notice what they wear drive and travel to for example. very powerful. Great Class

    Peace out Imran

    Michael Lourdes

    Like

  31. Inderjit Bhatti says:

    it was a good idea to use facebook and it got me going on looking for new ads that i have never seen on tv and i got so much new info of that and then i posted it to you and rest of the class it was good to see some interesting posts from other students as well. One thing i did find out because of social media was Food Inc. which is a must watch for everyone. Social media makes you more aware of whats around you and it was great that we used it for educational purposes.

    Like

  32. Neelam Hamid says:

    Hey Imran,

    I think the use of social media in this class was very helpful as it engaged the students outside class as well. Today, almost everyone is connected through the world of facebook and twitter, and when we got to use that in our class it was not only fun, but we also got a chance to experience different learning style. I also signed up for twitter during the semester, however I enjoyed using facebook more than twitter as I am more familiar with facebook than twitter. Marketing is kind of a class where we also learn the online and web marketing, so therefore we learned the different aspects of advertisements and consumer behavior through the social media. I think it was easier to communicate with you and my fellow students as well through facebook as not a lot of people check their emails on a regular basis. I would recommend you to try using this with your other classes as well and I hope that other teachers also start to communicate and engage students through the world of social media.

    Thanks,
    Neelam Hamid

    Like

  33. Liam Chen says:

    Social media definitely needs to be incorporated into school curriculum. Even using Moodle could be useful. We have all this technology, yet some teachers opt to dismiss it. The use of Facebook may not be the best idea, since some people regard Facebook as a social website, not so much one for studies and work. For example, some of the status updates on Facebook may be pushed down the list by other peoples’ uploads. Those are just some of my observations. Personally, I liked this method of networking. Simple and easy to access.

    Like

  34. Fenny Hsieh says:

    I like using Facebook to interact/participate with classmates/teachers because we can post Youtube videos on interesting commercials and get instant feedbacks. Comparing to moodle, when students post anything on the forums, other students may not see it or if they do it would be 2-3 days after. I don’t like to use twitter as much because its very hard to understand how to use it and it has very few functions.

    I had a enjoyable & fun time listening to your class! Thanks Imran!

    Fenny Hsieh

    Like

  35. Benson Sung says:

    Facebook and Twitter were invented by students to keep people connected with other people via social media. Status updates, Comments, and posts were all the ways that people could stay and feel connected with one another when they aren’t sitting together. By incorporating these with students you can always feel like you are always teaching students something, which you are.
    Continue to use this in the future, it will help other students.

    Like

  36. Jessica Wu says:

    Using facebook and twitter is very fun since now everyone is on facebook or twitter. I found that post important information or reminders on facebook is very convenient. However, i think social media is not 100% reliable and email is also very good for answering or asking important questions. I also found the some students do not use facebook or twitter so it might not be as useful to them. I like the use of social media because students get to share their favourite ads and ask questions people can always see in a short time.

    Like

  37. Shalea Narayan says:

    I thought using Facebook and Twitter was very beneficial in MRKT1199. It was great and very convenient to see your posts reminding us what is due for next class etc. I also enjoyed watching all of the funny commercials my classmates and other students post on your wall! You should definitely keep using the social media and I think it would also be a good idea to get some other teachers to start using it too.

    Like

  38. Paige Heuser says:

    I have to admit that I am having a hard time getting into the hype of social media. I definitely agree to its usefulness in quickly getting information out to family and friends, or for businesses to keep customers up-to-date or aware of marketing events or specials, but I just can not get into it. I have not ventured near Twitter, but I do have facebook and I am the first to admit to not knowing what I am supposed to do with it. I certainly don’t want to bore people with my daily movements or thoughts, and I can’t understand why some people leave up-dates that simply say “At work.” …Does everyone need to know that? I feel like I am being unfairly resistant to the process and I know that social media is the new media wave… I need to jump on if I want to have a chance.

    I was resistant to this process as a class initiative for participation, however I also feel it is necessary for others like me who are not used to or comfortable with social media to explore the waters a bit and look at the big picture.

    I think this is a different but effective way to involve the class and test some students comfort levels in posting their thoughts and not being afraid to share their opinions. I do know that I won’t survive in marketing if I do not embrace this outlet and become familiar with it, so I appreciate how, for me, using this social medium in class can only make me a more “in-the-know” person. Thanks!

    Like

    • imranraza says:

      Thankyou Paige for your detailed comments, they provide me with a lot of insight on how some students might feel about social media and how I can go about approaching the subject in the classroom.
      Thanks very much.
      GoodLuck for the future.

      Like

  39. Jessica Wu says:

    The use of social media is very convenient since everyone checks facebook and twitter everday for many times. i enjoyed looking at the ads people posted on facebook, they are very interesting and helpful for studying marketing. I also think email is very useful for important school infromation because not everyone uses social media in school so they might not be as useful to them.

    Like

  40. Amber says:

    Facebook has become my Portfolio site for photograph, I keep posting the pics that I like, from there, I can see which one is the most likable one and see commens from others. It has been a great tool for me to keep updated with the world and see what is in people’s mind. Thanks Imran, for using facebook in our Advertising class, it make me feel that we are all on the same stage. Together, we will make a big different!

    Amber

    Like

  41. Ilyes Daoudi says:

    Social media in your advertising class was used to great affect! Actually seeing good quality ads was a great supplement to the course material. Perhaps only using facebook would make sense as most Canadians seem to only use facebook

    Like

  42. Amaan says:

    Thank you for a great semester.

    I think the potential for social media is so great! Using Facebook/Twitter/Blogs to share valuable insight, articles, and concepts is an effective and efficient use of these tools. It also challenged me to look at marketing/advertising specific blogs and articles to learn principles outside of the textbook.

    I think the Facebook postings should be more relevant and should express an opinion – posting an advertisement for the sake of posting is not a good use. I think if Facebook is used to post valuable articles, express opinions, and even seek clarity on unclear principles, the benefit would be far greater. In looking up things to post on Facebook, I have come across great websites and blogs which are marketing-specific and will help me keep up with happenings in the industry.

    Thanks,
    A

    Like

  43. Edwin Martinez says:

    Imran,
    I must say, this class has been one of the most interesting and practical forms of education that i have received to date. Aside from the hands on project that we are doing, seeing the different posts on FB from around the world has allowed me to become a little more excited about the advertising world. It’s exciting to see that they (advertisers) use almost EVERYTHING that we are learning about actual advertisers are using. Thank you for this experience and i certainly do wish that other instructors follow your lead.

    Thank you,

    Edwin Martinez

    Like

  44. Kevin Garcha says:

    Social media has been awesome for this class, it was a great learning experience for all of us. Staying connect is key in this world because you loose connection with people being busy with work, school, and other daily activities. Keep up the good work and I’m sure future students will love the class, minus the midterm/final which is kinda difficult. Try switching it up a bit and not have so much T/F because honestly that stuff gets boring after 20-30 questions. Other then that it was fine, so good luck future students!

    Like

  45. Craig Colwell says:

    The use of facebook for this course of advertising is an excellent use of social media. I dont agree with the use of twitter, however since it doesn’t seem as popular in our demographic. It seems like Twitter is more of an American trend, especially when following celebrities. Since students are on facebook everyday and since the return of use is very high it proves an effective tool for this class. I enjoyed the posts from other students, there was a wide variety of ads. Some of which were comical and some more serious and to the point. I think facebook would be worth introducing to other teachers in similar social media based classes such as this.

    Craig Colwell

    Like

  46. Charlevains Oscar Boun says:

    Hi Imran thank you for the great semester, i really enjoyed your class. I think all marketing teachers should use online social media for class participation mark. Thanks for the wonderful semester.

    Oscar

    Like

  47. kevin says:

    I think that social media is becoming more and more popular and will continue to do so in the future. I agree that facebook is more popular than twitter and this is probably do to the more interactive nature of it. However, twitter does have its upsides as well, and is good for receiving information quickly. i perosnally didnt use much of either site before this class, and i thought it was a creative way to make up the class participation grade.

    Like

  48. Adam Durham says:

    Hello Imran,

    Looking back I can appreciate the contribution of social media to the learning environment. Initially, I thought Facebook was an extreme distraction to any classroom and that Twitter exchanges poor grammar for instant gratification and self indulgence. I don’t feel Twitter adds anything that the kwantlen class website hasn’t already, however Facebook does allow multiple posts that are easily viewed. If i could make a suggestion, it would be to maybe pick an ad(s) from your wall and go a bit more into depth and use them as a segway into a class lesson….also turn off the chat function. Thank you for the semester, it was a lot of fun!

    Adam Durham

    Like

    • imranraza says:

      Thanks Adam, for your very useful comments, like the one about using an ad. as a segway into class discussion, and turning off the chat function so that we may not be disturbed in class.
      GoodLuck for the future.
      imran

      Like

  49. Christy Ma says:

    I think it is a good way for teacher to have interaction with students via social media especially on Facebook. I enjoyed the “Facebook time” in class because we can see all the ads other classmates posted and sometimes is quite interesting to see ads from other countries from students outside of Canada. But then, i don’t really like twitter. It is more complicated to use and harder to communicate messages by tweeting. I think blogs like this one will do better. Advertising is a great course and i enjoyed being in your class as well. Hope to see u again in other classes 😉 Thankyou

    Like

  50. Etta Kwong says:

    Hi Imran. Thank you for making this class so fun and amazing. It makes my life so much more easier when everything is done through the use of social media. Especially facebook, because that is where I spend most of my time on. Also, it makes it such an engaging experience when we can go through everything that we post during the beginning of every class. I really enjoy attending this advertising course. Thank You

    Like

  51. Californication says:

    Imran, the use of social media has been an extremely effective tool both in-class and at-home. It makes it easy to screen poor ads by having students post ads that they found interesting, attractive or appealing. Furthermore, it offers a more diverse point-of-view having each student from different background post their own personal favourites.

    I’ve been looking into using Google AdWords on a website that I created after creating buzz around a Facebook page that I created. After launching the page on March 12 (about 3 weeks ago), it has generated over 650 “Likes”, has over 90 000 monthly viewers, over 20,000 page visits, and over 350 000 post views.

    I have built a website, and if you use the standard 1% click-through rate for AdWords, it looks like I should be able to generate a nice little chunk of income at .20 cents per click. Thanks for the year, and I’ll keep you updated as the site progresses! I launched the site 3 days ago, and by transferring my Facebook followers to the website, I have generated over 1,700 views.

    Barry

    Like

  52. Kirill Ballos says:

    I really enjoyed the way social media was integrated into the class. It made any communications and discussions with the professor and other students much more simple. However like others have commented, it would be nice to see separate facebook pages for different class/courses. Aside from that I only have positive things to say about the use of social media in your class, it’s nice to see a teacher try and adapt to the students lifestyles and preferences.

    Like

  53. Mathilda Granbacka says:

    Using Facebook is a lot easier than Twitter. The hashtags and @marks are too confusing. In Finland no one uses Twitter, but everyone has a Facebook account. Posting video’s on Facebook was a good idea, and we were able to see different kinds of ads and even from different cultures.

    Like

  54. Etta Kwong says:

    Hi Imran. I had leave you a comment this morning. Im not sure why the post did not show but just to let you know that I really enjoy being in this advertising class. We have embedded the use of many social media tool which I find it really helpful because facebook is where I spend most of the time on daily and it makes it really convenient for me to get assess and information about the course while Iam outside of my home. Good job in teaching the course. Thank You

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