This week I had the pleasure of participating in the ad:tech san francisco Conference. I joined Janet Eden-Harris, VP of Web Intelligence, J.D. Power; Cindy Roche, VP, Site Experience, TripAdvisor and Steve Kerho, VP of Analytics, Media and Marketing Optimization, Organic in a panel discussion titled, “Media Boot Camp: Know Thy Customer: Hard Data + Fresh Insights”.

We have never had access to more real-time, in-depth data about what customers think and how they behave in an increasingly multi-platform, integrated world. Despite access to a greater amount of data, the consumer has never seemed so elusive and translating this consumer data into insight and applying that insight to in-market results has never been more challenging. For this session, we discussed how we handle key challenges including:

• What social media and user-generated content should you listen to and how can you use this information
• How do offline and online media influence consumers and what are the latest trends in maximizing engagement and activation through the interplay of offline and online media
• What new quantitative and qualitative data-mining techniques are dynamically uncovering breakthrough insights
• What are the emerging best-practice techniques for tightening the connection between insight and decision-making
• What insights do marketers want and need but can’t yet get?

Key take-aways:

In terms of product development and customer outreach my advice would be to iterate with the ongoing input of your site users and measure the impact of your programs quantitatively and qualitatively. Social media allows us to get a deep understanding of our customers by allowing us to connect with them in a deeper level. What education technology enthusiast blog about us, what academics Twitter about us and the feedback we get directly from our student users are the core of our development strategy. Social media provides a feedback loop that goes beyond the feedback email, but in order to effectively leverage social media we must have a cross-platform listening and participating strategy.

Here is the link to the video and slides of the SIIA Panel Discussion we attended yesterday. You can also get the slides at Barry Graubart’s Content Matters blog. The Panel moderators included:

@graubart Barry Graubart VP, Product Strategy, Alacra
@ppealman Phill Pearlman, Director, StockTwits
@harrisj Jacob Harris, Senior Architect, New York Times Digital
@pop17 Sarah Austin, Founder, Pop17

Some key take-aways:

• Twitter is not about “what are you doing?” anymore. It’s about “What would you like to share?”
• Twitter community growth seems to be parallel to on and off line growth
• Twitter is starting to get more professional and brands are finding unique ways to extend their offerings through the micro-blogging platform
• Although the demographic of Twitter is more professionals, 30-50, there seems to be a significant increase in younger, college age people joining Twitter
• The power of Twitter as an information dissemination tool lies in the Re-Tweet (RT)
• If you keep your tweets to 120 characters, you make it easier for people to RT your content
• Twitter is the social RSS
• Instead of using tinyurl.com, use bit.ly for as your URL shortener, which allows you to track number of clicks
• Twitter is great for SEO

GradeGuru on Twitter

@GradeGuru serves as a resource for students to connect with us and request notes specific to their courses, tests or assignments. If you’re a student and you have a biology exam tomorrow that you could use some additional support on, you can send us a message on Twitter via @reply or direct message telling us about your needs and we will reply with links to relevant notes and resources.

If you’re a education technology fan or a web 2.0 enthusiast, we’d love to connect with you too! We regularly discuss developments and news about the web 2.0 and education technology space.

Thank you for all that participated. A special thanks to Barry Graubart for leading the discussion and Jenny Hansen from SIIA for a wonderful event.

Noelle M. Stout is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at New York University. Previously, Professor Stout taught courses at Harvard University in Cultural Anthropology, Women’s Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Film and Media. We had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Stout to discuss her experience with education technology and the importance of collaborative learning in today’s universities.

What types of online and/ or social tools have you used in your classes thus far?

At Harvard, I created course websites where students would post weekly response papers and share ideas for class discussions. In my gender studies courses, I directed students to important online communities that often defined the cutting edge of social movements and theory.

What are your thoughts on the use of educational technology for higher education?

I think it makes important information seem more contemporary and relevant for students, who tend to spend a lot of time online. I’ve found that it also encourages new forms of collaboration, as discussions that start on course websites bleed into course meetings and students can build on one another’s arguments.

There is also an important gender dynamic, because female students often need more time to formulate their opinions whereas male students feel more comfortable shouting out answers. By giving students some time to decide what they think and participate in discussions in advance of class, when they arrive they’re ready to debate more confidently. Especially in the social sciences, learning to formulate an argument or opinion, to engage in dialogue, is a fundamental component of critical thinking.

What is your opinion on note sharing, student-to-student collaboration and group learning?

I think note sharing creates critical bonds between students and allows them to build on each other’s strengths in ways that raise the performance level of the entire class. It’s an incredible resource that allows students to learn from one another.

Do you see a role for collaborative learning platforms in supplementing your students’ research and in helping them understand the concepts you teach?

Definitely, by working together and recognizing different perspectives on the same material, students can better internalize the debates and theories presented in the course. As a professor, it’s much more fun to teach a class where students have a stake in the material and can contribute to building dialogue.

Do you think GradeGuru will have an impact on the learning experience and over all academic performance of your students?

I’m confident that GradeGuru will engage students in the learning process by building on their own current interests in social networking and group learning, which will make the course more relevant. It uses modern technology to bring century old theories and ideas into contemporary life. It also gives students new opportunities to excel as note takers, and offers them a public platform to demonstrate their skills. From my end, it cuts down on the work I have to do in terms of posting notes and frees me up to facilitate learning.

Would you consider using GradeGuru as a resource in your classroom?

Most definitely!

More About Noelle M. Stout

Professor Stout is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the rise of queer tolerance discourse in post-Soviet Cuba, based on nearly two years of field research in Havana. Her documentary film, Luchando, which chronicles the lives of gay sex workers in Havana, is also on the festival circuit. She recently published an article in the Journal of Latin American Studies that tries to bridge the gap between U.S. and Cuban women’s advocates’ perspectives regarding the rise of the tourist sex trade in Cuba.