Social Media in Education

Describe the Instructional Technology Trend.

Social media in education uses tools like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, chat rooms, and other manner of interactive, social tools to facilitate instruction and collaboration. By giving students an environment that lets them communicate with a minimum of friction, they are able to ask questions of themselves and the instructor, and to increase each other's understanding. By getting them more engaged, they are able to take more ownership of their own learning.

How do you think this trend is going to impact learning/education?

Social media has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the internet in the last ten years. Millions of people are on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Given that so many students (and teachers) are already using social media, I think a lot of its uses will be relatively seamless--by which I mean, social media is becoming so ingrained in daily routines of teachers and learners, they will begin to use it for regular communication, class discussions, study groups, collaboration, and several other uses. The use of social media nomenclature like hashtags is becoming more and more universal, which helps students and teachers classify ideas and content in real time.

Furthermore, companies are now adding social functionality such as synchronous chat to their applications to help facilitate group collaboration. I've done several projects in the EIST program that required the use of platforms like Google Docs, which features a chat window that enabled conversation between me and my group members.

Another use that bears mention is social media's use for disseminating information. This can include sharing photos, posting opinions, or creating videos. You can interact with students or other professionals via comments sections that keep the discussion going.

As an instructional technologist, what do you need to do to keep up with this trend?

I need to not only continue to use larger networks like Facebook and Twitter, but to also monitor emerging networks. For example, Ello purports itself to be a social network that puts a premium on protecting personal data. This would be very important for educators, as student privacy is a hot-button issue for many administrators and parents.

Provide two resources for reading that provide more information on this trend and explain why these readings stood out to you.

• Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media: This New York Times article covers the benefits of using social media. Among them, the idea that some shy students may open up and contribute more online than they would face-to-face, even when it's for a face-to-face class.
• Emory University Social Media Professional Certificate: This is a real thing that exists, and it costs $2,500. I'm generally pro-social media in class, but I’m not sure how I feel about a professional certificate for social media. While the program is geared toward social media managers in the corporate world, the fact that a prestigious university is expending so many resources to teach about using social media gives me pause. I find myself questioning whether someone couldn't learn the same things just by experimenting with social media rather than spending $2,500.

A Video from the web about the trend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJiKT2cRLCc

Re-use information that you shared for your main post in the discussion forum (educreation, voki etc)

N/A