STEPH SPRENGER
BIZ/TECH REPORTER

A Humber public relations instructor is researching student use of social media to improve the curriculum and make a name for Humber as a leader in social media teaching methods.
Instructor Andrea Tavchar will survey a sample of Humber’s public relations students and perform in-depth interviews to identify students’ comfort levels using social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
“Many of my colleagues at Humber are interested in my findings,” she said, adding her research is relevant in many disciplines because of the increasingly digital nature of most industries.

PR instructor Andrea Tavchar. (Steph Sprenger)

“This is the new world and more and more we need to be embedding technology in our teaching. It’s important to know how students are using it, to be able to teach what they need to know.”
For example, Tavchar said students in any field could benefit from following a potential employer on Twitter to prepare for a job interview.
Stacey Fowler, who does PR for Rogers Communications said, “It’s becoming more and more expected that students know how to use things like Twitter properly to promote a company and network.”
Despite pursuing a career that requires social media use, Tavchar found this year’s public relations diploma students were not nearly as comfortable using social media as the faculty expected.
“We were teaching under the assumption that they were digital natives,” said Tavchar.
“The reality is there is great diversity among students in their knowledge and comfort with social media and digital media. It was a bit of an eye opener.”
Public relations certificate student Shelley Burgoyne said as one of the most advanced social media users in the class, she noticed the discrepancy between the expectations and the actual competency of the students.
“Some of the coursework assumed we were the generation that had it all down pat, and failed to assess the skill level of the class,” she said.
Tavchar said the research will be done in time to inform next year’s curriculum.
She intends to present her findings at the Digital Media and Learning Conference at the University of California, San Diego in February.