Okay, so it’s not quite 50 minutes and it’s not quite 50 tips, but our LinkedIn Group Teaching Social Media Marketing & Management held a Google Hangout on September 10 with these goals. Gary Schirr, Matt Kushin and Don Stanley and I convened to talk about best practices in teaching social media in the classroom. Hopefully, you’ll find something interesting for your pursuits in social media in higher education.

View the video here. 

25 Tips for Social Media in Higher Education

1. Flip the classroom – read and quiz at home, work on social in class.
2. Incorporate people (guests) from outside the classroom with Google Hangouts.
3. Everyone does rich content – blog or YouTube
4. Create a class site and blog where everyone contributes their content.
5. Monitor the social web – find real-world examples to bring in to class. Students often know about these events, making for great discussion on how they relate to your class.
6. Write 20 blog posts per semester.
7. Experience the full cycle of running and managing a blog.
8. Experiment with tools in the classroom. Look for ways to bring in the tools you use in to the classroom. For example, I’ve had students use spundge.com, a content curation tool, to collectively follow blogs and curate content as a way to stay on top of the conversation on social media
9. Use Hootsuite University in the classroom. (note the higher education program)
10. Individual passion project.
11. Class project that builds a digital marketing strategy for organizations in the community
12. Poll students regularly using Google Forms.
13. Use Google Hangouts to teach class
14. Bring digital marketing professionals to class and help with class-consulting projects
15. Don’t be afraid to fail with the things you try in class. The tools today have not been around for very long. By experimenting with them in our classes we create opportunities and learn from our mistakes.
16. Require your students to follow you on Twitter – and to consume content you tag with a class hashtag.
17. Every student required to use rich site PLUS 3 additional platforms.
18. Network online – blog and get yourself on social media. It will create opportunities for your classroom, such as those mentioned below.
19. Participate in events like professor Twitter chats, Google Hangouts, Linked In Groups. – there are tons of great educators out there excited to share their ideas and help one another out.
20. Look for ways to have your classroom participate in opportunities offered by companies – e.g., Google Online Marketing Challenge, Hootsuite University.
21. Get “out there” on social media – publish their work and potentially interact with leaders in their field. It will give them a leg up when they are searching for a job.
22. At the same time, bring leaders into your classroom through Skype or G+ Hangouts. It is easier than ever to bring in a guest lecture over video chat.
23. Start class with an interesting film/documentary to blog about.
24. Tweet feedback in the classroom.
25. Quiz regularly.

Thanks to Don for this quote…

Also, check out Matt’s write-up of the Hangout. Do you have anything to add?