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Is Social Media a Fad or a Fundamental Shift in the Way we Communicate: Why Should you Care?

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Students use Social Media to Enhance Education

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All of us are busy at work. We can’t get everything done.

So the thought at the forefront of most everyone’s mind is, “Why should I care about social media.”

It is time consuming. Faculty wonder  if it will positively impact students or simply be another temptation for distraction.

Will the time spent on social media pay off in improved student learning outcomes and retention?

If social media makes a difference, which social media platform should you be on?

Can Social Media Improve Student Learning Outcomes?

Social media is too new to have conclusive research to demonstrate  that these tools will improve student learning outcomes. Yet, there is an abundance of research to suggest that engagement does have a positive impact on student learning.

The richness of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Blogs, YouTube, and LinkedIn can be used to increase faculty-to-student, student-to-student, and student-to-content engagement.

Engagement is what gives social media tools the power to impact student learning outcomes.

Can Social Media Improve Retention?

Again, the research is not there to demonstrate that social media tools can improve retention. However, social media tools can be used to influence many factors that have been shown to have an impact on retention. These factors include but are not limited to learning communities, faculty mentoring, institutional commitment, social support, and social involvement.

Students are Already Using Social Media to Enhance Their Education

Research suggests that students use social media to enhance their education. Social media are used and loved by both the traditional and non-traditional students. Generation Y, also known as the Millennial generation,  (those born in the 1980s and early 1990s) feel that it is their right to use social media tools.

Social Media Can Be Used to Break Down the Walls of the Classroom

Facebook and Google+ are great tools to help build community and institutional commitment. Twitter, Blogs, and YouTube can be used to build learning communities and strengthen writing skills. All of these tools can help students collaborate on projects.

Faculty know that students are more likely to communicate with them using social media than they are to visit them in their closet/office. If you haven’t noticed, young people do not use the phone or email as their preferred method of communication.

Social media is not a fad, but a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.

Thank you for your comments.

You may also be interested in reading:

Faculty Should be on Facebook

Will LinkedIn Replace the Resume?

The Hazards of Being too Public in the Age of Social Media (Steve Tobak)

Social Media: Tools to Develop a Deep-Learning Approach

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Students use powerful social media tools to collaborate on projects.

Students can use social media to collaborate on projects.

Studies suggest that students expect and believe they can achieve in challenging subjects.

Students Believe They Can Succeed

Yet, a college student has many responsibilities including work, family, sports, and social life. These responsibilities compete for the student’s time, energy, and effort.

Many students want to succeed by simply memorizing a set of facts just long enough to do well on the test. This is a surface approach to learning. How can instructors engage students and help students grasp the importance of learning the material and applying the concepts learned in new and different situations.

Deep-Learning Approach vs. Surface Learning

Instructors encourage a surface approach to learning when they focus on the facts instead of engaging students in the content. By engaging students, instructors can build on the knowledge that students already possess.  Instructors who focus assessment on understanding and engagement encourage a deeper learning, and students are better able to apply the material in the real world.

But practically, how can instructors engage students in the course material? Many feel that the case approach to learning is the best way to develop deep learning.

The Case Approach

The case approach to learning allows the use of real-world examples that develop a deep-learning approach rather than a surface approach to learning.

But the case approach generally lends itself to group work. College students often have difficulty meeting with their groups and meeting deadlines.

While this has been one of the biggest challenges to the case approach, the new and powerful social media tools are helping to make communication and engagement easier and enjoyable for students.

Social Media Platforms Offer a New Way to Communicate

Students are able to contact their group members with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and other social media platforms. They can work on projects together and share information online without having to rearrange their class or work schedules.

How are you using social media in the classroom to engage students? Thank you for your comments.

Additional reading:

Achievement Goal Orientation of Community College Mathematics Students and the Misalignment of Instructors’ Perceptions (Velma Mesa)

Teaching Policy Theory and Its Application to Practice Using Long Structured Case Studies: An Approach that Deeply Engages Undergraduate Students (Christopher Walker)

Social Media and the Presidential Election

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Rick Perry’s YouTube Video “President Zero”

Can Presidential Candidates Tweet Their Way to the White house?

This presidential campaign may become known as the 140 character campaign because the candidates are furiously getting their message to the people using social media such as Twitter. Twitter comments must be 140 characters or less, but you can also include a link to articles of interest to your followers.

Candidates also rely on YouTube, Facebook, blogs, and Google ads.

Social media give candidates power to bypass traditional media and take their message directly to the people.

Candidates must say exciting or controversial things to create chatter on social media. Currently, Cain is stirring up the most buzz on social media according to Engage. For example, last week on Facebook over 560,000 posts were related to Cain. This is one reason why Cain with his 9-9-9 plan has increased by 12 % since the polls in September.

But getting the most social media followers does not always translate into winning an election. Many of Paul’s followers are young people who love social media. Paul has over 20,000 subscribers to his website and over 2.2 million video views; yet he is only 9%  in the polls just ahead of Newt Gingrich at 8% and behind the leaders Romney (26%), Cain (25%), and Perry (13%). According to Pew, Paul has received the most positive and consistent support from bloggers.

As impressive as Paul’s social media following sounds, Perry has surpassed Paul in the social media race. The governor from Texas boasts 2.4 million video views to his YouTube video which calls President Obama “President Zero” referring to the number of jobs that have been created in the Obama administration.

Back in September Perry led the polls at 32%. But his ratings in the polls fell after his poor performance in the first debate and continues to fall as he faces issues about immigration and race.

President Obama has spent millions of dollars investing in social media. But President Obama does not rely on social media alone.  His campaign manager, Jim Messina, has organized thousands of volunteers who have made millions of phone calls and visits to voters.

You may also be interested in reading these articles concerning the effects of social media on the presidential election: