Introduction Enterprise Social Software (ESS) has demonstrated the ability to provide business value to the corporate world and institutions of higher learning alike. This is evident in such areas as reducing travel expenses, enhancing productivity through improved collaboration, streamlining processes among  administrative  staff, improving the classroom and research experience, and potentially fostering enhanced collaboration among allied universities and private research institutions. Frameworks such as Cisco WebEx Social provide the platform and associated  functionality upon which higher education can leverage. Yet the natural question arises as to whether ESS platforms truly enhance learning and provide a positive impact on teaching. Does it improve student satisfaction, increase passing and retention? After all, that is the primary mission in higher education at the end of the day. In order to answer that question, you need to first answer the question as to what best practices lead to effective teaching and learning - principles that lead to student satisfaction and higher retention rates. One of the interesting findings in this space results from a study begun in 2001 by the University of Maryland University College (UMUC). Its Institute for Research and Assessment (IRAHE) conducted a multi-phase project with hundreds of faculty and students to assess linkages made to both withdrawal and passing rates for students as a proxy for actual learning outcomes. This discussion takes a brief look at what we can learn from this study (and others) in terms of how ESS systems can make a differentiated impact on higher education - and specifically how one ESS platform, Cisco WebEx Social, can be utilized to accelerate learning and satisfaction. Overall Findings     Although concentrated on online learning, the UMUC study reveals a number of findings from its survey and interviews with hundreds of    faculty members. These include the following twelve principles: Making learninggoals and paths to them clear to students (e.g., giving a recommended order ofuse to students of course content and resources, including modules. Clearlystating the learning objectives in the syllabus, and spelling out a timelinefor meeting the objectives are two strategies that help accomplish this. Using deliberate practice, including multiple opportunities and different modes of learning until material and skills are mastered. Providing prompt,constructive feedback. Providing an optimal balance of challenge and support that is tailored to the individualstudents' readiness and potential. Some strategies that accomplish this are assessing students' skill at the beginning of the course and eliciting analysis from students about what worked or didn't work for them. Eliciting active,critical reflection on the student's growing experience base. Encouraging students to question the validity of their own or others' reasoning and usingrole-playing are both strategies that help accomplish this. Linking inquiriesto genuine problems or issues of high interest to the learners. Developing learners' effectiveness as learners. This includes reinforcing course concepts through different types of resources and establishing relationships betweentopics and experience, and learning how to be most effective in the online environment. Creating an institutional environment that supports and encourages inquiry. A key strategyfor accomplishing this is emphasizing interaction between instructors and students as well as among students. Best Practices Related to the Design of Courses In addition, below are some correlations made by this study between students' expressed satisfaction and certain instructional strategies related to the design of courses- where high student satisfaction was met when: The instructor spelled out a timeline for completing successive steps toward meeting the objectives The instructorprepared and required repeated practice on each objective of the course Instructors were prepared to provide support related to individual student needs Student skills wereassessed at the beginning of the class Students were made aware of course resources, including the instructor's own expertise, learningmodules, etc. Grading criteria were clearly stated in the syllabus and clearly expressed, including through use of rubrics; reminders were provided on a regular basis; multiple forms ofassessment were used Opportunities were provided for collaboration with others, including alternative explanations ofexperience, sharing of experience and perceptions, discussion, well designed group activities, etc. Learning tasks were presented in terms of problem solving, not only as accumulated knowledge, and multiple approaches to problem solving were encouraged Students were encouraged to draw on their own experience as part of their learning and to incorporate their own goals into the work of the course The course was wellorganized and had a logical format The course lecturesand discussions were supplemented by activities such as role-playing andsimulations Students were encouraged to consider alternative interpretations of their own or others' experience Correlations with Student Success and Retention There were some strong correlations between withdrawal and passing rates and certain strategies. A lower withdrawal rate for students was associated with numbers 1, 7, 8, and 9. Higher passing rates were associated with 7, 8, 9, and 12. Impact of Social Software   Therefore, how can ESS impact the effectiveness of higher education given these best practices? Certainly traditional  Learning Management Systems (LMS) can address some of these principles - such as numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10. However, there are other principles that are difficult to implement using traditional LMS systems. ESS systems can not only meet these same principles, but others (e.g., 3, 7, 8, 9, and 12) that require collaboration and feedback - especially in a real time and a discussion-oriented approach. Such systems go beyond providing the mechanical aspects of presenting content, performing grade management, and other LMS functionality. Cisco WebEx Social Usage of Higher Education Best Practices The table below summarizes how Cisco WebEx Social functionality implements these best practices:                   Best Practices Principle                                      Mapping of  Quad Functionality   Timeline for steps  to meet course objectives   Event  calendar portlet for a class calendar of class events (e.g., assignments due,  tests, academic term deadlines, etc) Post for the  course syllabus - which contains the timeline. The post is shared with the  community and is visible to the student's activity stream and watch  list.   Repeated practice  on each objective of the course   Posts and  documents to publish course assignments, homework, and quizzes Commenting by  faculty and fellow students to evaluate assignments   Provide support  related to individual student needs   Provide feedback  via commenting on assignments and discussions Communicate  feedback in real-time via chat/IM, instant meetings, phone calls, and voice  mail   Student skills  assessed at beginning   Create an  assignment via post where students perform self-assessment Student  introductions in discussion forum where the discussion topic is for each  student to reply   Students aware of  course resources   Provide links in  Link portlet to point to posts with course resources Post to  document course resources - and linked on the home page iFrames to  provide web site access on a page   Grading criteria  clearly stated with frequent reminders   Post to  document the grading criteria and assignment rubrics News portlet  for class announcements and reminders Microblog by  the faculty to announce reminders   Collaboration with  others …sharing experiences, discussion, well designed group activities...   Activity  streams for updates by followers Watch list  for content following Real-time  collaboration via chat/IM, instant meetings using Cisco WebEx, phone calls  using Cisco Call Manger, and voice mail Discussion  forum for topics of interest Commenting  built-in to all of the above Blogs for a  one-to-many sharing of ideas Wikis and  posts for collaborating on content development Groups to  segment class when assigning group assignments   Learning tasks  presented in terms of problem solving, not only as accumulated knowledge, and  multiple approaches to problem solving    encouraged   Commenting  incorporated into posts and discussion forums - where class assignments  require thoughtful commenting as part of the grading rubric. Thus, the  expectation is set that students need to comment on one another's work. Posts to  document individual learning tasks   Students  encouraged to draw on their own experience as part of their learning and to  incorporate their own goals into course   Commenting  incorporated into posts and discussion forums - where students are  required to draw on their own experience as part of a thoughtful comment. Students post  their own goals for the course and share with their professor (and optionally  fellow students)   Course well  organized and a logical format   Posts to  document the course objectives, timeline, grading, and resources Community  dedicated to each class and customized to meet needs of the class - while  utilizing a template to provide a base level of commonality across all  classroom communities   Course lectures  and discussions   supplemented by  activities such as role-playing and simulations   Quad instant  meetings using Cisco WebEx. These can be utilized to role play and execute  external simulations or other applications. Can be archived and replayed for  later use.   Students  encouraged to consider alternative interpretations of their own or others'  experience   Commenting  incorporated into posts and discussion forums - where students are  required to consider alternative interpretations of their experience.  Students are incentivized   by the  grading rubric to provide alternative interpretations in their comments.   Summary In summary, the WebEx Social ESS framework provides a platform whereby higher education can not only meet the use cases of traditional LMS systems, but also the best practices that make a big difference in student satisfaction and retention. When the functionality of such an ESS tool is combined with thoughtful ways of maximizing their use, then learning will be maximized. Thus, the faculty member is challenged to consider how to use such functionality as commenting, discussion forums, and real-time communications (i.e., IM/chat, calls, instant meetings) when designing individual course  assignments and other learning activities. Lastly, it is important to note that it is equally important to implement a sound adoption strategy to implement such ESS systems. The effectiveness of any ESS system such as Cisco WebEx Social requires a thoughtful strategy that promotes the necessary cultural change. The tool, while important, cannot by itself transform a siloed culture to one that embraces collaboration.  While this discussion does not address these adoption issues and how to establish and measure Critical Success Factors (CSF), they are nonetheless critical to achieve the desired learning objectives above. ... View more

Given the well-publicized incidences of security and privacy issues in the Enterprise Social Software (ESS) public arena, it is instructive to consider the applicability of traditional security controls in corporate / institutional implementations of ESS. Afterall, one of the primary aims of ESS is to promote openness, to break down barriers and encourage mindshare. Can these two mentalities truly co-exist? It is an interesting question and one that is not entirely easy to answer when you get down to specific issues. I believe that the short answer to this is "yes"; they can co-exist, but there are nuances to the traditional privacy paradigm, for instance. What is a best practice around "opting out" for instance in the corporate ESS implementation ? This blog purports to propose how to evaluate an ESS system and to implement security and privacy governance best practices in a corporate ESS setting. Of course, the "devil is in the details", but hope to spur discussion around the practicalities of implementing each area. Data Classification           Implement data security practices      based upon overall corporate data classification policies. ESS system      should support the ability to implement           such policies. For instance, the ESS system could implement "hidden" communities to protect sensitive information and not allow searches to           include such content unless you are authorized.      2.  Role-Based and Rule-Based Access Control Model           Enforce role-based security to control access to information on a need-to-know basis. As ESS systems exist to promote openness in the           sharing of data, the deployment model should encourage      open access (perhaps the default)- while providing the mechanism to highly restrict           access when required. The system should provide a mechanism to develop custom rules to handle specific use cases.      3.  Secure Development      Practices           Apply best practices in secure application development and      testing when deploying custom portlets or gadgets. ESS developers should           undergo training in developing secure applications. Test suites should include vulnerability testing to validate that common attack surfaces are           accounted for.      4.  Security Compliance           Provide a process whereby security compliance and incident reporting of content can be provided. Compliance "officers" should be able to           edit, hide, and/or refer content back to the      originating author. The underlying ESS software should  provide a framework whereby high-level                compliance regulations can be enforced via role or rule-based access controls- for instance in industry-specific or country-specific           implementations.      5.  Security Awareness Training           In your overall security awareness training, include additional training relevant to social networking      6.  Social Networking Conduct Policy           Develop a corporate social networking conduct policy and extend      to your internal ESS system      7.  Secure Operational      Procedures and Policies Provide an end user terms of use and license acceptance. Also provide a mechanism for end users to "opt out" of information they do not want to receive       or disclose. However, this must be balanced by the needs of the corporation where some information should be distributed to everyone       (e.g., executive blog or department head imparting important  information). As a minimum, users should be able to filter out some content with high volumes of information (e.g., activity feeds) Implement an access policy on who has physical or logical access to your ESS system data. Password policy for your  ESS system should follow similar best practices as other applications Limited access to privileged  accounts at an OS, database, and application level. Maintain a  separation of duties for support personnel Implement ESS network infrastructure best practices - encryption at the transport layer (e.g., HTTPS), security lockdowns on routers, switches, use of VLANS, network segmentation, etc. Logging and notification of  security events Define and implement data retention and disposal policies (in conformance with regulatory requirements). ... View more