The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Twitter Hijacking Leads To Strange Message To Campus Community

No, Towson University is not suggesting anyone try a new weight loss plan. The university's TowsonUNews Twitter account was hijacked late last week, leaving some 6,121 people wondering why Towson was suggesting via Twitter that they try this new weight-loss diet. Towson media specialist Gay Pinder sheepishly acknowledged Monday morning, that, yes, she clicked on one of those "people are saying nasty things about you, click here to find out what" links late last week. That's why the notices showed up on so many people's Twitter feeds. Read more at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/baltimore-insider-blog/bs-ae-towson-weight-20120423,0,6033917.story

When College Students Text In Class They Learn Less

A university professor in Pennsylvania has completed a study and written a soon-to-be-published paper on the effects of text messaging by college students during class.The results? Students who send and receive texts during class have a hard time paying attention to lectures and risk not learning as much as they would if they weren’t texting and were paying attention. Read more at:
http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2012/04/new_study_shows_college_studen.html

Startup Success Has Higher Ed Wondering How It Can Capitalize

For all their similarities - visionary student founders, explosive marketshare, tremendous valuations - there is at least one difference that their respective alma matters are likely to take note of as the Facebook IPO grows near. While Stanford netted a $336 Million dollar pay-day from Google's 2004 IPO, Facebook's looming IPO will leave the trustees of Harvard with little more than a cameo in last year's Oscar-nominated film. While university investment in startups outside of technology-transfer is fairly new, college campuses have long been a breeding ground for new businesses. Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-reid/facebook-ipo-universities-startups_b_1329370.html

MOOCs Have The Potential To Democratize Higher Education

The big names have been a big draw. Since Udacity, the for-profit startup running the course, opened registration on Jan. 23, more than 90,000 students have enrolled in the search-engine course and another taught by Mr. Thrun, who led the development of Google’s self-driving car. Welcome to the brave new world of Massive Open Online Courses — known as MOOCs — a tool for democratizing higher education. While the vast potential of free online courses has excited theoretical interest for decades, in the past few months hundreds of thousands of motivated students around the world who lack access to elite universities have been embracing them as a path toward sophisticated skills and high-paying jobs, without paying tuition or collecting a college degree. And in what some see as a threat to traditional institutions, several of these courses now come with an informal credential (though that, in most cases, will not be free). Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/education/moocs-large-courses-open-to-all-topple-campus-walls.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26

MLA Adds A Citation Format For The Tweet

The Modern Language Association likes to keep up with the times. As we all know, some information breaks first or only on Twitter and a good academic needs to be able to cite those sources. So, the MLA has devised a standard format that you should keep in mind. It's simple. Also, I just love the "Tweet" at the end. However, it's curious that no URL is required, especially given the difficulty of Twitter search for anything not said in the past day or two. Read more at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/how-do-you-cite-a-tweet-in-an-academic-paper/253932/

University Administration Commits To Social Media To Reach Community

Friend limits for personal Facebook profiles may have stymied Texas A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin from engaging more personally with students, but Loftin believes he’s found the solution to this problem: Twitter. “Social media allows a university — particularly one as large and diverse as Texas A&M — to communicate with and connect to a wide range of audiences instantaneously,” said Cook, who took to Twitter earlier this year to defend the university’s famed 12^th Man trademark. “Here at Texas A&M, we have made a commitment from the president to many of our colleges and divisions to embrace social media to not only drive conversation, but participate in it as well.” Read more at:
http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/2012/02/21/texas-am-president-r-bowen-loftin-solves-facebook-dilemma-with-twitter/

A Social Media Infographic For Higher Education

Schools are on a short list of organizations that have been notoriously slow to adopt emerging tech. But within the last few years, as social media becomes more integral to students’ lives, educational institutions are finally catching on, and catching up. When it comes to higher ed, there are not only opportunities for digital learning, but digital marketing too. Some schools have taken the reigns on both sides, with mixed results. The infographic below takes a look at how schools have fared with social media over the last few years — what platforms are best, where they’ve succeeded, and the challenges that lay ahead. Read ore at:
http://mashable.com/2012/02/03/higher-education-social-media/

Higher Ed Should Not Be Responsible For Students' Acts Of Digital Piracy

Congress is considering an Internet piracy bill that would hold colleges, including the University of Colorado, culpable if students use school networks to illegally download music and movies. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, proposed an amendment to the Stop Online Piracy Act that would have made sure legal responsibility fell only on the individuals who violate copyright laws, but it failed 9-23 in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Polis said cash-strapped universities shouldn't be required to police the Internet. The Polis amendment would have exempted colleges and universities from the cost of complying with the new restrictions and ensured that the individual who violates copyright law is held responsible. Read more at:
http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_19558599

Higher Ed Institutions Can Suffer From Their Students' Tweeting

Universities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to publicity scandals caused by the increasing number of students turning to Twitter to broadcast their thoughts. These college-aged tweeters are the second largest group of users when ranked by age and have recently made news for reflecting poorly on their colleges.Cousins said it is hard for universities to separate themselves from the actions of an individual student because the public often perceives the student as a representative of the institution. Read more at:
http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/ccp/student-tweets-causing-controversy-for-universities

IHEs Need To Move Fast To Avoid Being A XXX Institution

Yes, Colleges and Universities are snapping up .XXX Domains left and right. But no, they're not aspiring to be future AVN award winners. Instead, schools like Missouri and Washington University are buying up domains like missouri.xxx and washu.xxx to protect their names. Because there are no trademark or copyright protections for domain names, anyone who beats a brand or institution to a domain name has full control over it. Obviously, higher institutions of learning don't want to be affiliated by mistake with certain sub-cultures in the non-academic sense. Read more at:
http://gizmodo.com/5859296/colleges-and-universities-are-going-on-a-xxx-domain-shopping-spree