Internet / Online

99 UK Students’ Unions on Twitter

Back in 2009, I compiled a list of all the students’ unions I could find on Twitter. I found just over 60. Twitter had already made quite a mark.

With the increasing popularity of Twitter, even more SUs have come on board. There have been a couple of name changes since then too.

My original list remains pretty popular, even though it was never updated.

Until now, that is…

I’ve checked the list for changes and additions to make sure it’s as relevant as possible today. There are now 99 SU accounts out there.

Students in Percy Gee Atrium (photo: University of Leicester)

Napier, Cranfield and Buckingham told me that they don’t currently have official Students’ Union/Association Twitter accounts. If I’ve missed any other SUs off the list, please let me know. Otherwise, I hope the list is useful.

If you want to follow all the SUs in a convenient Twitter List, I’ve put all the accounts together on the UK Students’ Unions list for you.

99 104
Students’ Unions on Twitter
(last checked January 2012)

Aberdeenhttp://twitter.com/ausatwit
Abertayhttps://twitter.com/#!/abertayunion
Aberystwyth https://twitter.com/aberguild
Anglia Ruskin http://twitter.com/AngliaRuskinSU
Astonhttps://twitter.com/#!/aston_guild
Bangorhttps://twitter.com/#!/bangorstudents
Bath http://twitter.com/BathSU
Bath Spahttps://twitter.com/#!/bathspasu
Bedfordshirehttps://twitter.com/#!/bedssu
Birmingham Cityhttp://twitter.com/bhamcitysu
Birmingham http://twitter.com/guildofstudents
Boltonhttps://twitter.com/#!/UBSUnion
Bournemouth http://twitter.com/sububournemouth
Bradford http://twitter.com/ubuonline
Brightonhttps://twitter.com/#!/subrighton
Bristolhttps://twitter.com/#!/ubunews
Brunel http://twitter.com/brunelstudents
Bucks New Unihttps://twitter.com/#!/buckssu
Cambridgehttps://twitter.com/#!/CUSUonline/
Canterbury Christ Churchhttp://twitter.com/christchurchsu
Cardiff http://twitter.com/cardiffunion
Central Lancashirehttp://twitter.com/uclansu
Chesterhttps://twitter.com/#!/chestersu
Chichester http://twitter.com/Chi_Union
City http://twitter.com/CULSU
Coventry http://twitter.com/cusu
Cumbriahttps://twitter.com/#!/cumbriasu
De Montforthttp://twitter.com/demontfortsu
Derby http://twitter.com/udsu
Dundeehttps://twitter.com/#!/dusa_theunion
Durhamhttps://twitter.com/#!/durhamsu
East Anglia (UEA)https://twitter.com/#!/UnionUEA
East Londonhttps://twitter.com/#!/uelunion
Edge Hillhttp://twitter.com/edgehillsu
Edinburgh http://twitter.com/EUSA
Essex http://twitter.com/EssexSU
Exeter http://twitter.com/exeterguild
Glamorgan http://twitter.com/GlamSU
Glasgowhttps://twitter.com/#!/gusrc
Gloucestershirehttps://twitter.com/#!/yoursu/
Goldsmiths (Uni of London)http://twitter.com/goldsmiths_su
Greenwichhttps://twitter.com/#!/sugreenwich
Heriot-Watthttps://twitter.com/#!/HWUnion
Hertfordshirehttps://twitter.com/#!/uhsutweets
Huddersfieldhttps://twitter.com/#!/huddersfieldsu
Hull http://twitter.com/Hullstudent
Imperial http://twitter.com/icunion
Keele http://twitter.com/keelesu
Kent http://twitter.com/KentUnion
Kingstonhttps://twitter.com/#!/kingston_su
Lancasterhttps://twitter.com/#!/lancasterSU
Leedshttps://twitter.com/#!/LeedsUniUnion
Leeds Methttp://twitter.com/leedsmetsu
Leicester http://twitter.com/PercyGee
Lincoln http://twitter.com/lincolnsu
Liverpoolhttps://twitter.com/#!/LGoS/
Liverpool Hopehttps://twitter.com/#!/LiverpoolHopeSU
Liverpool John Moores https://twitter.com/LiverpoolSU
London Methttps://twitter.com/#!/londonmetsu
London South Bankhttps://twitter.com/#!/LSBU_SU
Loughborough http://twitter.com/loughboroughsu
Manchesterhttps://twitter.com/#!/UMSUnion
Manchester Metropolitanhttps://twitter.com/#!/manmetunion
Middlesex http://twitter.com/mdxsu
Newcastlehttps://twitter.com/#!/LiveNUSU
Northamptonhttps://twitter.com/#!/northamptonSU
Northumbria http://twitter.com/Northumbriasu
Nottingham https://twitter.com/#!/UoNSU
Nottingham Trenthttp://twitter.com/Trentstudents
Oxfordhttps://twitter.com/#!/ousunews
Oxford Brookeshttps://twitter.com/#!/oxfordbrookessu
Plymouth http://twitter.com/UPSU
Portsmouth http://twitter.com/portsmouthsu
Queen’shttps://twitter.com/#!/qubsu
Queen Mary (London)https://twitter.com/#!/QMSU
Readinghttps://twitter.com/#!/rusutweets
Robert Gordonhttps://twitter.com/#!/rguunion
Roehamptonhttps://twitter.com/#!/RoehamptonSU
Salford http://twitter.com/Salfordsu
Sheffieldhttps://twitter.com/#!/sheffieldsu
Sheffield Hallamhttps://twitter.com/hallamunion
Sheffield Hallam (Officers)http://twitter.com/hallamofficers
Southamptonhttps://twitter.com/#!/YourSUSU
Southampton Solenthttps://twitter.com/#!/solentsu
St Andrewshttp://twitter.com/standrewsunion
Staffordshire
http://twitter.com/StaffsUnion
Stirlinghttps://twitter.com/#!/stirlinguni/
Strathclydehttps://twitter.com/#!/StrathUnion
Sunderland http://twitter.com/sunderlandsu
Surreyhttps://twitter.com/#!/Surrey_Union
Sussex http://twitter.com/USSU
Swansea http://twitter.com/SwanseaUnion
Teessidehttps://twitter.com/#!/teessidesu/
University Campus Suffolk
http://twitter.com/UCSunion
University College London (UCL)https://twitter.com/#!/UCLU
Warwickhttps://twitter.com/#!/WarwickSU
West Londonhttps://twitter.com/#!/wlsu
West of England (Bristol)http://twitter.com/uwesu
Westminster http://twitter.com/westminstersu
Winchester http://twitter.com/winchestersu
Wolverhampton http://twitter.com/wolvessu
Worcester http://twitter.com/WorcesterSU
Yorkhttps://twitter.com/#!/yorkunisu
York St John
https://twitter.com/#!/ysjsu

Sheffield SU (photo by ShaneRounce.com Design & Photography)

Sheffield SU (photo: ShaneRounce.com Design & Photography)

10 ways to get better Google search results

Google is no stranger to us, right? You may even think Google is a bit too familiar

Google is probably a big part of your life, one way or another. But when it comes to that single box on the home page, waiting for your keyword input, what do you type in? A recent US study suggested that many Google searches don’t dig deep enough.

“Throughout the interviews, students mentioned Google 115 times — more than twice as many times as any other database. The prevalence of Google in student research is well-documented, but the Illinois researchers found something they did not expect: students were not very good at using Google. They were basically clueless about the logic underlying how the search engine organizes and displays its results. Consequently, the students did not know how to build a search that would return good sources.”

Rather than type a word or two in the search box and hope for the best, there’s a whole host of ways you can make Google find you far better results to suit exactly what you’re looking for. Here are 10 simple ideas to get Google working even harder for you:

1. Go beyond the first page of results

When Google returns about a billion results, you’re not even skimming the surface if you stay on Page One. Dig deeper. You may be surprised at what you find. Used with the tips below, it works especially well, because you’ll be getting more targeted results. What used to return a billion hits may now produce a million. Or a thousand. Or a hundred.
But even if you get a hundred results back, that’s still ten pages of Google goodness going on. If you ignore Page Two and beyond, who’s to say you weren’t amazingly close to finding exactly what you wanted?

2. Find similar words with a tilde (~)

With a WHAT!? The tilde looks like this:

~

Yes, a tilde looks a bit like a curly moustache.
But wait, its powers don’t stop at imitating facial hair. A tilde also tells Google to put a thesaurus to your word. For instance, if you search for “study tips”, you get one set of results. But search for “study ~tips” and you get results for study tips, study skills, study techniques, study guides, and so on.

3. “Use quotes”

When you’re looking for an exact set of words together, put them inside quotes so Google searches for the phrase in its entirety rather than as separate words. You can still add other words outside quotes.

4. Use ‘OR’ in your search

With a few interchangeable words in mind, the ‘OR’ operator lets you search for one or more of the words you choose. Sometimes you want to search a core topic, but with several separate sub-topics. By using OR between each of the sub-topics, you don’t need to bother with multiple searches. [Make sure OR is in capital letters, otherwise Google considers it as the word ‘or’.]

5. Use Google Scholar, Books, and News

Google offers other services that give entirely different results, which can be especially useful when you do academic research.
Google Scholar searches for scholarly papers. You can search within a timeframe, limiting the search to just the recent academic papers if you wish.
Google Books looks at content inside, you guessed it, books. When you need a juicy quote or want to read more about a technical detail, this type of search is great. You can also study a book before you even have the physical copy in your hands.
Google News looks at current events, making it great for relevant links about what’s happening right now in your area of interest. You can even set up email alerts every time new articles are published.

6. Search over a particular time

On the left hand side of your search, click on the text that says ‘More search tools‘. New options will appear to let you search the past year, the past month, the past day, even the past hour. You can also search a specific date range if you like.

7. Filter more

Also on the left hand side of your search, you can select various filtering options on your results. One good (though not perfect) option is to search by reading level (basic, intermediate, expert). You can also look at a search timeline, which can be hit and miss, but arranged differently to the standard search results.

8. allintitle:

Want to search for words that are so important they have to be in the page title? Just add ‘allintitle:’ before your search.

9. intitle:

If you want to search for a specific word in the title, but also drill down further with words that’ll only show up elsewhere on the page, add ‘intitle:’ before the word you require in the title of the page. Type the other words as usual. Google will do the rest of the magic.

10. filetype:

What if you only want to search for Word documents or Adobe Acrobat files? No problem. For Word files, add your search terms and include ‘filetype:doc OR filetype:docx’. For Acrobat files, add your search terms and include ‘filetype:pdf’.

These search tips are quick and easy, especially after you’ve used them a couple of times. But Google search goes further than that. If these examples have got you hooked, check out Google Guide for a complete overview of everything available at your fingertips.

Happy searching!

When Facebook and Academics (Almost) Collide

Have you ever thought of Facebook as a learning community? I’m guessing it’s not crossed your mind that much…

What if a tutor started using Facebook for some of your academic work? Would you feel comfortable letting the professor in to your profile? Maybe not.

Anouk Lang undertook a project to find a way to build a learning community within a social networking situation, but without infringing on students’ more personal space.

Lang wanted to overcome the barrier whereby students were negative about using Facebook to study. Even those who weren’t so daunted, they usually got uncomfortable past minor administrative and timetabling communications.

Lang chose to experiment with a set of peer mentors, who formed a distance between the student and tutor. Final year students would talk with second years and pass on their own experiences and knowledge, acting as a bridge between the student and the academic.

Conversation was able to grow academically because “those giving this input and doing this moderation were still peers and therefore not sufficiently different or forbiddingly unknown to the extent that their difference would stand in the way of other students participating”.

Even better, Lang’s experiment didn’t bother with annoying applications. This stuck with the basics, like posting on walls and sending private messages.

Peer mentors started conversations informally, with friendly chatter; something Lang highlights as important for the process to work effectively:

“…getting this right can be a powerful tool in increasing the attractiveness of the group by strengthening its relational interests.”

Students were happy to ask questions. In turn, the final year student mentors were equipped to give answers, because they had been in a similar position in the past.

Better still, anxieties were quickly tempered by mentors. Situations wouldn’t have necessarily been addressed so quickly and effectively using other methods. Facebook win.

But what if Facebook got overtaken by another service? It wasn’t that long ago when Myspace was dish of the day

Lang explains that proper mentoring requires understanding of online social worlds in general. Methods of communication are key, rather than being an expert in Facebook or any particular service:

“The peer mentoring model is, then, a way of ‘futureproofing’ the resource, as students will be more likely than academic staff to know which technologies are most popular with their peers, and once a framework for online mentoring is established, the SNS can if necessary be migrated in future years to different sites or applications as students’ usage patterns change.”

Can social networking sites benefit learning and student support? Lang argues that they can, “if such sites are conceptualised not as virtual versions of classrooms but rather as places where individuals come to participate in communities of practice”.

Online services are simply tools. They can be used in a number of ways. You can’t effortlessly blend social life and academic work without feeling a bit uncomfortable. But, as Lang demonstrates, it is possible to keep enough distance to enable the social and academic to operate on the same platform without muddling together.

If you didn’t have to sacrifice your informal digital identity, would you be happy to be a part of a social networking learning community? And if you are already, how is it working out for you?

Choosing Bombardment

If life today had to be summed up in one word, a suitable choice of word would be ‘bombardment‘.

Bombardment means actions come before questions.  Bombardment means overwhelming detail overtakes information filtering.  Bombardment means that a rush to be first appears more important than sustained concentration and focus.

photo by underminingme

photo by underminingme

Our ability to be connected to so much all the time is both a blessing and a curse. Information overload isn’t a new thing, but it’s becoming a standard for most of us. The bombardment only increases, fuelling an even greater sense of now, Now, NOW. We try to find more time in the day to consume as much as possible. If we can speed up this and gloss over that, we’ll have even more detail to play with. Or that’s the thought, anyway.

Alain de Botton sums up how it’s easy to believe that more and now is best:

“The obsession with current events is relentless. We are made to feel that at any point, somewhere on the globe, something may occur to sweep away old certainties. Something that if we failed to learn about it instantaneously, could leave us wholly unable to comprehend ourselves or our fellow human beings.” [Source]

This simply isn’t true. But we’re blinded by the panic that we might miss something game-changing.

No matter how much we immerse ourselves, we’ll never catch everything. The game is changing all the time. You don’t need to be a part of everything in order to cope. You don’t even need to be a part of everything in order to make a difference.

I don’t particularly subscribe to the idea that things like the Internet rewire our brains in a scary way. But a lot of what Nicholas Carr says still makes sense.

Carr is author of “The Shallows“, a book which suggests that we’re losing our ability to concentrate and reflect. We’re training ourselves to skim over detail and accept interruption when we should be focused.

Carr explains why constant bombardment isn’t useful:

“The development of a well-rounded mind requires both an ability to find and quickly parse a wide range of information and a capacity for open-ended reflection. There needs to be time for efficient data collection and time for inefficient contemplation, time to operate the machine and time to sit idly in the garden. We need to work in Google’s “world of numbers,” but we also need to be able to retreat to Sleepy Hollow. The problem today is that we’re losing our ability to strike a balance between those two very different states of mind. Mentally, we’re in perpetual locomotion.”

Carr’s blog, Rough Type, is also a great resource. Recent posts include those on moderating abundance and how short is the new long.

I believe the ‘always on’ attitude is more a choice (perhaps unconscious) than a dangerous assault on the evolution of our brain. By recognising that it’s okay to switch off the noise, it only takes a bit of getting used to before you can once again distance yourself from bombardment and distraction.

If you’re used to realtime feeds and never-ending information beating at your door, the move away from it won’t be easy. But that’s based on habits, rather than an altered brain that is now unable to deal in any other way.

Steven Connor’s description of the present is a good explanation to why these habits aren’t easy to break:

“The present has become impossible not because it has become more ungraspable or fugitive than ever before, but because it has become more than ever available to itself, just as it has proportionately made other times available to it.” [From “Literature and the Contemporary“, p.15]

The subtitle of Nicholas Carr’s book is “How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember“. But I wouldn’t like to blame the Internet. Steven Connor’s description of the present seems more fitting, because all aspects of now are implicated.

This morning, as I was writing this piece, I had my Twitter feed rumbling past my eyes with regular updates. But I ignored it because I’m used to ignoring it when I’m concentrating on other tasks.

But I did suffer other distractions. Distractions that weren’t Internet related. But they did involve the present. And one distraction, ironically, involved Nicholas Carr.

Typing away, I heard the thud of post as it came through the letterbox. Among the post was the latest copy of the London Review of Books. I decided to have a flick through before continuing to write this piece.

When I got to page 9, imagine my surprise when I spotted a review of “The Shallows”.

My very first thought upon seeing the review was, “Thank goodness I’ve seen this now, before publishing anything. I may find something new that’ll change my point of view.”

My second thought came soon after: “Don’t be daft, Martin. This is exactly the type of distraction that shouldn’t matter. Let it go. Deal with it later. Don’t be distracted by it.”

I was distracted, not by the Internet, but by something posted through my letterbox. By the printed word. By a desire to consume something new, just because I knew it was there and had access to it.

The point is, the book review is bound to bring me new information, even if it doesn’t change my overall opinions. Everything we consume can have that effect.

Life is distracting. But it’s still within your power to reign in your concentration. You have the choice.

And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to read a book review. 🙂