Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/55943
mation. Its power is based on "the wisdom of crowds"— the idea that, if enough students edit and contribute to the document, the final product should be much better than one created through multiple, separate drafts. Free software to create and manage a wiki is available from multiple sources. To find the best tool for your course, search online for "free wiki software." A detailed list of wiki software is also available at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ wiki_software. I teach a technology entrepreneurship elective where the entire class must work together to identify a technical prod- uct or service that doesn't yet exist and establish how to take this product or service to market. In one class, students chose to create a universal key with biometric security that could open every lock in a person's life. While teams of students were assigned the lead on particular elements of the project, everyone worked together on the final document. Instead of sending various drafts around, we created a wiki that kept a single, current version for all the students to edit. Better yet, I could observe the process: I received automatic updates when changes were made and saw which students made the most substantive edits. Research — The quantity of information available via Google and other search engines is impressive, even if the quality is often less so. But the information landscape now is growing to include access to information as it's cre- ated. For example, Twitter allows writers to send out short entries, or "tweets," of up to 140 characters, generating a steady stream of information on current topics. On Twitter, students can follow traditional print and media sources, as well as more scholarly posts like the McKinsey Quarterly and Knowledge@Wharton. Anyone can go to Twitter and type in a search term without creating an account, just to see what others are posting on that topic. For example, I recently took a small team of students to South Korea for a global consulting project. My students could read my own blog on Korea, www.koreality.com, but I also wanted to expose them to a wider range of information. I asked them to type "Korea" in Twitter's search engine and re-tweet useful tweets or links to the other students. I did the same when I traveled with another student group to Singa- pore, blogging at www.singaporeality.com about topics rang- ing from the country's healthcare system to its restaurants. Community Building — Social networking sites are a big part of students' lives, with many students posting informa- tion on Facebook that they wouldn't want their professors to see. But you also can use social networking sites to create a sense of community. If Facebook doesn't seem appropriate, try Ning.com, where you can create a course-specific social networking group. Although the formerly free site recently began charging for its services, a professor can set up a private social network on Ning for as little as $2.95 per month. Once you've set up the group, you can send invitations to students to join and limit access only to those in the course. On Ning, students can post items related to the course that wouldn't be of interest to their broader network of Facebook friends. And you don't have to wade through the pool of less-focused ideas that students post to their personal pages. Ning also can be a great place to experiment with other social media tools. Use Ning to try your hand at writing blogs or Twitter-like messages. Post content in multiple formats to see which ones work best to engage students in discussion. A colleague of mine used Ning in an organizational behav- ior course to poll students' attitudes on various issues related to employee evaluations. Students could see the responses of the other students and write comments, which generated a back-and-forth discussion that an in-class show of hands never could. Mistakes to Avoid "Chaos is the score upon which reality is written." —Henry Miller By now, I hope you have decided there is a place for one or more social media tools in your courses because you believe they will enhance the learning process. You could continue using the same syllabus you used five years ago, but you're not. It's no different with technology. Staying technological- ly current is good for you, and it's good for your students. In fact, I'm convinced that students now expect profes- sors to use technologies that go beyond PowerPoint and Blackboard. And they likely will appreciate the fact that you are looking for new ways to reach them in and out of the classroom. But as powerful as social media can be, they also present some pitfalls. By keeping the following suggestions in mind, you'll keep the technology under control and your students on task: Focus on your strategy, not the technology. Like black- boards and textbooks, Web 2.0 tools are aids to the learn- ing process. Use them to enhance the course, not just to say you use them. For instance, outside of class, use social BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 47