Social Media

Social Media

Serena Matheson, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Constraints

Social media gives us the ability to work together collaborative to produce a product, and build a knowledge base of information however, before that can occur, it is necessary to ensure that teachers and students are effectively using social media in the classroom by the teacher and the students. Students use social media in their private lives but that does not mean that its use translates to them knowing how to use social media effectively in the classroom or that students have the desire to mix learning environments with social media (Tay, & Allen, 2011). Social media makes it easier to be part of collaboration without actually collaborating with the group. People will often meet online and divide the work equally among the group members and complete the tasks without getting feedback from other group members (Tay, & Allen, 2011). Research shows that students are not using social media technology in their studies to the full extent of its ability. This means that it is necessary for teachers to ensure that students are made aware of its capabilities as a learning technology for the classroom. (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012). According to Powers, Alhussain, Averbeck, and Warner, the challenge for educators is that “technological innovation needs to be enacted alongside pedagogical innovation” (2012, p. 242). In order for educators to get the desired results, teachers must become facilitators who help their students see the connections between social media resources and education (Evans, 2013).

Social media also has the potential to cause concerns legally, ethically, and socially, making it necessary for institutions and workplaces to put into place strict mandates surrounding social media use in their codes of conduct (Woodley & Silvestri, 2014). Schools systems are hesitant in allowing the use of social media for learning in the academic realm because “the “copy-cut-and-paste” generation frequently exploits the powerful affordances of Web 2.0 technologies to re-organise, edit, remix, recreate, repackage content for republication, thus plagiarising texts with impunity” (Rambe, 2012, p. 133).

Schools and universities are grappling with problems with student’s misuse of social media use in their private lives. Students do not seem to realize the negative impact of this type of social media use. Employers are requesting social media passwords to check out potential employees. Without realizing it, students are risking current and future employability from inappropriate social media posts (Woodley & Silvestri, 2014).

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

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