Social Media

Social Media

Serena Matheson, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Definitions and background

Social media is understood as a set of technologies by which people can create, collaborate, and network and share content (Woodley & Silvestri, 2014). Social media technologies, also known as Web 2.0, are made up of many different types of communication technologies such as blogs, wikis, online social networking, virtual worlds, social bookmarking, wall posting, photo and video sharing, etc. (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2011). The first social networking site was introduced to the public in 1997 and has grown exponentially over the years (Ahn, 2011). What was once a one-way communication tool is now multi-tiered system of communication between peers (DeAndrea, Ellison, LaRose, Steinfield, Fiore, 2012). Social media applications can be found in online gaming, education, the business world, news networks, and in social contexts such as Facebook (Poellhuber & Anderson, 2011).

Over the last 6 years, Facebook and Twitter have exploded in popularity demonstrating the growth in social media usage (Evans, 2014). Young people today use social media as their main method of communication (Casey, 2013). Students are using social media to watch and create Youtube videos, to play video games against people around the world, to communicate with their peers, and to do assignments for school (Appel, 2012).

Affordances

Students are constantly learning and seeking information to create solutions for problems in the workplace, home, school, or to just satisfy a curiosity; social media is what students use to seek information and to share solutions (Dabbagh, & Kitsantas, 2012). With the use of social media, teachers are able to facilitate learning (Powers, Alhussain, Averbeck, & Warner, 2012). When teachers use social media in their delivery of course content, they “force students to be self-starters” (Friedman & Friedman, 2013, p. 6). It is with this networking and collaboration that students are able move from data collection to knowledge and understanding of content, based upon feedback from the greater, global, social network (Friedman & Friedman, 2013). In the past, students had to rely on the feedback of reluctant peers in and out of the classroom but because of social media, that is no longer the case (Dabbagh & Kitsantas 2012). With the surge in social media technological use, learning is no longer an activity that is done alone but rather the opportunity to connect with others and to ask questions and receive answers (Chen & Bryer, 2012).

Social media is “moving education away from a knowledge-object orientation towards process- driven approaches – not what to know, but how to know” (Tay & Allen, 2011, p. 154). Social media permit students to collaborate, which allows students to have conversations and get critical feedback from online peers who work together to meet common goals (Rambe, 2012). With guidance from their teachers, students are finding information, changing information into knowledge, sharing and getting feedback from peers (Powers & al, 2012). Students are motivated to do well because they are sharing their work with their peers; knowing their peers will see their work motivates students to do better work (Liu, Liu, Chen, Lin, & Chen, 2011). Social media puts students at the same level requiring them to be active participants in the learning and teaching process (Casey, 2013). When informal learning is taking place on social media sites, students get quality feedback allowing higher achieving and weaker students to do better which reduces the achievement gap between high achievers and lower achievers (Chen & Bryer, 2012).

Integrating social media into a problem-based learning approach makes for good pedagogical practice, “as the main interpretations of social media/web 2.0, highlight more social, student- centered, collaborative and production-oriented pedagogical strategies” (Buus, 2012, p.21). Students using social media are able to connect with resources such as people who give feedback and collaboration as well as “emotional, social, and academic support” (Woodley & Meredith, 2011).

Links

1. How Social Media is Being Used in Education by Katie Lepi

2. 10 Social Media Sites For Education by Lila Daniels

3. 6 Pros & Cons of Social Media in the Classroom by Aimee Hosler

4. Socia Media Cheatsheet For Teachers (And Other Bipeds)

5. Digitally Speaking / Using Social Media to Reach Your Community by William M. Ferriter

Works Cited

Ahn, J. (2011). Digital divides and social network sites: Which students participate in social media? Journal of Educational Computing Research, 45(2), 147-163. doi: 10.2190/EC.45.2.b

Appel, M. (2012). Are heavy users of computer games and social media more computer literate? Computers & Education, 59(4), 1339-1349. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2012.06.004

Buus, L. (2012). Scaffolding teachers integrate social media into a problem-based learning approach? Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 10(1), 13-22.

Casey , Gail. (2013). Social media in the classroom: A simple yet complex hybrid environment for students. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 22 (1), 5-24.

DeAndrea, D., Ellison, N.B., LaRose, R., Steinfield, C., Fiore, A. (2012). Serious social media: On the use of social media for improving students' adjustment to college. Internet and Higher Education, 15, 15-23. doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.05.009

Chen, B., & Bryer, T. (2012). Investigating instructional strategies for using social media in formal and informal learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 13(1), 87-104.

Dabbagh, N., & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal learning environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The Internet and Higher Education, 15(1), 3-8. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.06.002

Evans, C. (2014). Twitter for teaching: Can social media be used to enhance the process of learning? British Journal of Educational Technology, 45, 902–915. doi: 10.1111/bjet.12099

Friedman, L. W., & Friedman, H. H. (2013). Using social media technologies to enhance online learning. Journal of Educators Online, 10(1), 22.

Greenhow, C. and Gleason, B. (2014), Social scholarship: Reconsidering scholarly practices in the age of social media. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45, 392–402. doi: 10.1111/bjet.12150

Liu, C., Liu, K., Chen, W., Lin, C., & Chen, G. (2011). Collaborative storytelling experiences in social media: Influence of peer-assistance mechanisms. Computers & Education, 57(2), 1544-1556. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2011.02.002=12378

Poellhuber, B., & Anderson, T. (2011). Distance students' readiness for social media and collaboration. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(6), 102-125.

Powers, L., Alhussain, R., Averbeck, C., & Warner, A. (2012). Perspectives on distance education and social media. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 13(4), 241-245.

Rambe, P. (2012). Constructive disruptions for effective collaborative learning: Navigating the affordances of social media for meaningful engagement. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 10(1), 132-146.

Tay, E., & Allen, M. (2011). Designing social media into university learning: Technology of collaboration or collaboration for technology? Educational Media International, 48(3), 151-163. doi: 10.1080/09523987.2011.607319

Woodley, C., & Meredith, C. (2012). Supporting student transition through social media. American Journal of Distance Education, 26(2), 86-95.

Woodley, C., Silvestri, M. (2014). The internet is forever: Student indescretions reveal the need for effective social media policies in academia. The American Journal of Distance Education, 28: 126-138. doi: 10.1080/08923647.2014.896587