[Air-L] Internet & social media curriculum and materials for first-year university students

[Kevin R. Guidry]

Colleagues,

This is a little bit different from the research- and 
publication-focused questions that are often asked here but it may be 
interesting to some of you:  If you could design a few relatively short 
exercises focused on "responsible use of the internet and other social 
media" for all (18-21 year old) undergraduate students at a university, 
what would you do?

I'm on an ad hoc committee formed by my university's Faculty Senate to 
examine and revise the First-Year Seminar (FYS) courses that all 
University of Delaware undergraduate students are required to take.  One 
of the specific items that the senate has mandated be included in every 
FYS course is "responsible use of the internet and other social media" 
so we have to figure out how faculty from any discipline can responsibly 
and effectively address this topic with first-year students.  We've 
drafted the following student learning outcomes:

1. Describe principles and specific examples of ways the Internet and 
social media can be used to both help and harm others
2. Demonstrate effective ways to responsibly use social media to 
positively engage with others and portray oneself with authenticity

There are many other important topics and skills addressed in these 
courses so the time available to focus on these specific outcomes is 
limited.  I think that if we aim to keep our recommended curricula to 
less than 60 minutes of in-class time then the faculty who teach these 
courses are very likely to adopt our curricula and materials.

Given the immense variations in resources, expertise, interest, and 
nearly everything else across the ~100 sections of the courses that 
fulfill this requirement, creating curricula and materials that address 
these outcomes is quite daunting.  However, it's also very exciting 
given the potential impact since this would reach nearly all of the 
approximately 18,000 undergrad students at our university.

We're very focused on basing our curricula and materials on empirical 
knowledge rather than personal opinion or experience. I'd very much 
appreciate any specific or general thoughts, recommendations, or 
resources you'd be willing to share!


Kevin