Professors at UBC are showing that when it comes to social media, old dogs can learn new tricks.

Political science professor Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega is one of many faculty members who have introduced social media as part of the class experience. Students tweet questions, comment on his class blog and contribute to discussion topics on his Facebook page.

“My goal as a professor is to help students build skills for the job market, using their fluency and literacy in social media to build professional networks for when they graduate,” he said.

Pacheco-Vega teaches public and environmental policy at UBC. He has a professional Twitter account, @raulpacheco, but also tweets as the popular Vancouver blogger @hummingbird604, where he has over 6700 followers. He is using his teaching as an opportunity to merge his online identities to benefit students.

“Using social media in the classroom helps me build that literacy for the students so when they go out in the world, they have these skills,” he said.

Pacheco-Vega is using his personal social media capital for online networking between students and other professionals in his field.

“With my double identity I am able to push a lot more of my students’ content to the outside world. Twitter has helped me spread my students’ message.”

Trevor Ritchie is a public policy student of Pacheco-Vega’s in POLI 350 and POLI 375 and enjoys how social media is enhancing his education firsthand.

“A lot of the focus on social media has been on its applications in public policy,” he said, adding, “I’ve learned a lot about how it can form grassroots opposition or support for proposed policies.”

Professors are also utilizing Twitter for instant feedback, allowing students to contribute to the class discussion without having to speak up in class.

David Ng, director of the Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory, sets up a live stream during his ASIC 200 class. Using the hashtag #asic200, students are able to communicate about the lecture in real time, which UBC student Dominika Ziemczonek finds “both informative and entertaining.”

“I wouldn’t be on Twitter without the class,” said Ziemczonek, who found out about ASIC 200 because of the website. She has now learned how to tweet and built a network of peers through online class conversation.
Ritchie also enjoys the real-time effect of Twitter in the classroom.

“Being able to instantly communicate with my peers and have differing viewpoints at my fingertips enhances my ability to understand the issues at hand,” he said.

Students are also incorporating academics into their regular use of social media outside the classroom.

“A lot of students use Twitter specifically outside of class to ask each other questions, share helpful links and set up study sessions,” said Ziemczonek.

UBC itself has become a tweeting machine, with over 50 affiliate accounts delivering daily updates to faculty, students and the neighbourhood.

The #ubc hashtag has been a trending topic across Canada and a simple search delivers results from the entire community.

Twitter can show the current score in a sports game, press releases about UBC’s distinguished research and faculty, students complaining during a class and even update you on the disgruntled residents of Gage during those midnight fire alarms.

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