You Have Many Ways to Connect With Students … Which Ones Make Sense?

Social technologies?

With the interest in Twitter and Facebook, colleges and universities are understandably interested in participating. But what are your students ready for? How do they want to learn about you? Do you know?

It’s easy to jump off into the deep end of the pool with the popularity of social technologies. Many are free, and in 15 minutes or less in some cases, you can have your college or university in the middle of the social fray. You have many ways to attract and engage students … the key question is which ones makes sense?

Today, we announced some research we are doing in the adult learner market to better understand: 1)  how this student population wants to learn about colleges and universities through interactive marketing channels, and 2) how they participate online. We have ten research partner institutions from across the country involved in the effort.

The purpose of this study is to understand how adult-learners WANT to communicate with institutions at various points in their decision process, from initial awareness, to registration or application. We will also look at how this student population participates in online activities ranging from posting social status updates and listening to podcasts, to using email. Understanding behavior as well as what students want may provide some guidance (or perhaps restraint) in the social ‘arms’ race.

The official study will be released in early 2010.  We will be sharing some early results later in the fall. At the time of this posting, some 4,000 adult-learners have responded to the survey. The results so far … are enlightening.