Business Research for Social Networking - Report Example

Research report for Entrepreneurship: Social Networking Table of Contents p.3 2. Introduction p.4 3. Context: Scope of Social networks in promoting online education : p.5 a. Economic : p.5 b. Political : p.6 c. Social : p.6 4. Literature review : p.7 5. Discussion : p.10 6. Conclusions : p.12 7. Recommendations : p.12 8. References : p.15 9. Appendix : p.16 Abstract This business report conducts a preliminary investigation of social networks to know the possibility of conducting online education or distant education. It should be noted that shortage of qualified teachers is a big problem in American and European continents. In fact a substantial portion of the teachers working in these regions are from Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, China etc. Moreover, online education or distance education is gaining huge popularity at present because of the enormous developments in conducting online classes in the virtual world. Since scholars or teachers from different parts of the world are available on social networks, it is easy to establish online classrooms based on the convenience of the teachers and students. Social networks can provide an answer to the problem of rising tuition costs. It can help students in getting quality education at an affordable rate. It can also help students to develop an integrated personality and a wider spectrum of international outlooks. At the same time, the possibility of misusing social networks for spreading political thoughts cannot be ruled out, while using it as an online educational channel. Introduction The popularity of social networks has opened many channels for business activities. Product manufacturers are service providers are using social networks quite regularity to promote their products and services. Even Google like big IT companies are currently shifting their focus to the social networking business. In fact social networks did succeed in reducing the distance between people who are physically staying at distant parts of the world. Even though social networks were started for the socializing purpose, at present they are used primarily for business purposes (See appendix for more details). The huge customer base of social networks offers plenty of business opportunities to entrepreneurs. The aim of this research report is to explore the possibilities of conducting online education through social networks. Millions of teenagers and scholars are using social networks extensively on a quite regular basis at present. America and European countries are currently struggling to fill the teacher vacancies in schools and colleges because of the shortage of manpower or professionally trained teachers. These countries are currently employing teachers from overseas countries. Students in these countries are struggling to get proper guidance and tuition support from teachers. Social networks can definitely help such students in getting also explores the economic, political and social dimensions of using social networks for online education. Context: Scope of Social networks in promoting online education Economic “In a climate of increasing enrolment, reduced funding, and unfunded mandated state and federal programs, urban and rural school districts find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain qualified teachers”(McCaw et al. 2002, p. 8). Shortage of qualified teachers is a big problem in many countries at present and that is why the importance of online education or distant education is increasing at time goes on. Advanced computer and internet related technologies are helping teachers and educators to conduct online classes just like offline classes. It should be noted that videoconferencing like technologies helps online teachers to communicate with students face to face in the virtual world. One of the major advantages of online education over offline education is its wide reachability. In other words, online educators can teach students staying in any parts of the world. High tuition fee is a big problem in American and European countries. In fact governments in these countries are helping students to complete their school and college education. Online education is a blessing for students in cutting down their educational expenditure. Recession has already created big problems in all parts of the world and people are looking for opportunities to reduce their monthly expenses as much as possible. While seeking education through social networks, students can definitely get valuable lessons at an affordable cost. Political The influence of social media in social and political lives keeps constantly growing (Marzouki et al. 2012). It is often said that the recent revolutions in Egypt and Libya were caused by social networks. In other words, people in these countries realised the extent of oppression they were facing in their domestic countries, while communicating with their friends from overseas countries through social networks. In other words, people staying in democratic world gave necessary motivation and encouragements to the people in totalitarian countries with the help of social networks. While social networks are used for online education, it is quite possible that ideas and political thoughts from the external world may intrude into the domestic circles. However, such intrusions of political thoughts should be considered as a blessing rather than a curse. It should be noted that spreading of political ideologies through social networks helped people in Libya and Egypt to escape from autocracy. In short, online education through social networks may help students to recognize the evil political thoughts prevailing in their domestic country and fight against it. Social Majority of the prominent organizations in the world are currently operating cross culturally or internationally. Moreover, these organizations are keen in keeping a diverse workforce in their workplace to exploit the expertise of employees from all parts of the world. in other words, diversity in business and workforce is a must for organizations to survive in the current heavily competitive and globalized business world. Communication problems and cultural conflicts are some of the biggest headaches facing by HR managers while dealing with a multicultural workforce. These problems can be reduced up to certain extent with the help of online education with the help of social networks. It should be noted that social networks are places where diverse people interacts each other. Suppose an Indian teacher provides online education to an American student through a social network. The American student would definitely get some tips about Indian culture, mannerisms, traits, verbal and nonverbal communication means etc from his teacher. These tips would definitely help him in future, if he gets an opportunity to work in an organization with Indian employees. Literature Review In India although online tutors have not widely practiced social networking to educate, the prospects are vast. In 2008 we witnessed a 150% growth in demand for online tutorials in comparison to 2007. Already a $27 million market, brokerage firm CLSA Asia Pacific Markets predicts that this figure will rise to $280 million in the next four years (Mehra, n.d.). The above statistics clearly reveals the potential of social networks in promoting online education. In fact India is a country in which lack of manpower or qualified teaching professionals is not at all a problem. Yet, online education through social networks has great potential in India. As in the case of India, the scope for online education through social networks, is increasing everywhere in the world. American and European continents are struggling to find enough teaching professionals to cater the needs of schools and colleges. In these countries or regions the potential for online education through social networks could be much more than that in India. Ann Flynn, director of education technology for the National School Board Association, says incorporating social networking tools into educational curriculum is the way forward. “Learn it because I said so isnt effective right now. We need to use the Internet to involve students in project based assignments in the real world, taking place around the world,” she says (Sorrentino, 2013). The article; Educational Leadership, written by Vivien Stewart in 2007, argues that current world is entirely different from past world. In his opinion we are living in an extremely globalized world at present. In order to succeed or compete in this globalized marketplace, organizations need employees with knowledge of foreign languages and cultures to market products to customers around the globe. The author says that U.S. high school graduates will be forced to undertake activities such as; Sell to the world, Buy from the world, Work for international companies, Manage employees from other cultures and countries, Collaborate with people all over the world in joint ventures, Compete with people on the other side of the world for jobs and markets, Tackle global problems, such as AIDS, avian flu, pollution, and disaster recovery etc in future (Stewart, 2007, p.8-14). These findings clearly underline the necessities or importance of getting a globalized education in a globalized world. It is impossible for students to travel different countries to get diverse education or globalized education. At the same time, it is easy for them to get such things with the help of social networks. Daft (2009) pointed out that “The growing global interdependence of education creates new advantages”( p.8). Current world is extremely globalized and hence it is necessary for the students to get more insights into domestic topics as well as international topics. In other words, along with what is going on in the domestic circuits, it is important for the students to know about what is going on in the international circuits. “Learning is a process of information transfer and reception”(Information and communication Technologies in teacher education, 2002, p.18). Information transfer and reception depend not only on verbal communication but also the nonverbal communication means. While conducting online education through social networks, students may get valuable lessons as well as nonverbal means of communication of other cultures. These things would definitely help them to excel in their future endeavours. Moreover, in normal classrooms, it is difficult for special needs children to get individualized education. However, in online classrooms, it is easy for the teachers to give individual care to each student. “The chronic shortage of special education teachers, there is a need for universities and districts to identify additional ways to meet the unique needs of this population of students”(Robbins, 2010, p.166) “The major objective of current education should be “to develop a sense of right in relation to the surrounding world in the minds of the student. This involves helping him to be aware of the world and its ways that affect him, without developing a craving for becoming a part of its system”(Goals for education, n. d). Online education with the help of social networks may help the students to develop an integrated personality. Abstract thinking could be greatly enhanced while social networks are used as an educational platform. “Student perceptions of cognitive presence and teaching presence do not differ between face-to-face and online classes and that discourse facilitation is a key to engendering critical thinking or cognitive presence” (Hosler & Arend, 2012, p.217)  Increasing educational cost is a big headache in providing quality education to all. Race To The Top (RTT) is an educational program implemented in 2009 by Obama to raise the levels of education in America and also to the revitalize the economic growth. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The law had a very simple mission: kick-start an economic recovery through strategic investment. Deep within the law were a number of key education initiatives, including Race to the Top (RTT), which was a way to invest in the nations education system and spur efforts to reform schools. To apply for a grant, states had to submit a detailed application and the Department of Education rewarded points if the application met certain criteria and policies (Boser, 2012, p.84) In fact Obama has introduced RTT to correct the mistakes of No Child Left Behind or NCLB policy introduced by George Bush in 2001. Neither NCLB, nor RTT seem to be addressing the real issues in American educational sector at present. “The Department of Education estimates that the U.S. as a whole spent $667 billion on K-12 education in the 2008-09 school year alone, up from $553 billion in 2006-07” (Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ Who’ll blink first: the unions, or the White House?, 2009). However, statistics have showed that the quality of education in America is still sinking. “Rising tuition and student debt and new federal regulations concerning “gainful employment” have focused debate on the costs and value of education” (Hertzman & Maas, 2012, p.53) Discussion According to Meredith (2012), “Social media offers an exciting new area for our discipline to produce research and pedagogy that is in high demand by students, industry constituents, and other disciplines. Business communication scholars should focus on social media as an important stream of study”(p.89). One of the greatest advantages of using social networks for educational purpose is the two way communication. It should be noted that majority of the other media are enhancing only one way communication. Social networks have the potential to provide video and audio chat facilities so that the teacher and the students can interact freely in the virtual world as they do in the real world. “Research shows that clues in the nonverbal "channels" of communication (how something is said) are often more important than words alone (what is said)” (Exploring nonverbal communication, n. d). While using social networks for teaching or learning purpose, students and the teachers will get the opportunity to use verbal and nonverbal means of communication effectively. Social networks can provide flexible learning. In other words, both the students and the teacher can fix the timing of lecture or learning. It is not necessary for the student or the teacher to carry the laptops all the time to communicate each other. Modern smartphones like iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S2 &S3 etc or tablets and iPads can help the teacher and students to communicate each other all the time. Many students stop their education once they get an employment. Such students are currently struggling to continue their education because of their professional commitments. Online education through social networks may help them to fix their own time for learning purpose. Educational costs can be reduced considerably while using social networks for the teaching and learning purposes. It should be noted that the standard of living in wealthy countries such as America or Europe would be extremely higher than that in India or China. Therefore, American or European students forced to pay much higher tuition fees compared to that in India or China. While using online classes with the help of social networks, American or European students can reduce the tuition fees considerably. Students can improve their employment potential considerably while their use social networks as a platform for education. As mentioned earlier, majority of the modern organizations are operating internationally at present and they are keen in keeping a diverse workforce. While working as part of a diverse workforce, employees may face lot of cultural conflicts. Such cultural conflicts are the results of lack of awareness about other cultures. Since social networks are utilizing the services of diverse teaching professionals, students will definitely get lessons of cultural traits along with the actual learning topics. It should be noted that an American teacher may teach students based on his knowledge in American culture whereas an Indian or Chinese teacher teach the students based on the perspectives of Indian and Chinese culture. A student who gets lessons from American, Indian and Chinese teachers would get cultural traits of America, India and China. In short, online education through social networks may help the students to integrate their personality along with the integration of their knowledge and skills. Conclusions Social networks have huge potentials in promoting online education. Tuitions fees can be reduced considerably when social networks are used for the education purposes. No other educational channels can match with social networks at least in providing diverse knowledge. The needs of getting diverse knowledge are increasing day by day in the current globalized word and social networks have the potential to provide it. Plenty of countries are currently struggling to find enough qualified teachers to teach their student community. Social networks can help such countries to correct this problem. In short, social networks as an online educational platform have great potential. At the same time, possibility of misusing social networks by overseas teachers for gaining political advantage cannot be ruled out. If used properly, social networks can bring more good than harm in the educational circles. Recommendations The idea of using social networks as a channel of education was developed after watching the huge popularity of current social networks. The number of registered users has already crossed the one billion mark for Facebook. Moreover, even Google like big IT companies are currently struggling to compete with Facebook in online business. Majority of the product manufacturers and service providers are currently using social networks for the advertisements and marketing purposes. Moreover, tuition costs in some countries are almost double than that in some other countries. All these factors encouraged me to explore the possibilities of using social networks as a channel of online education. Even though different kinds of information are flowing through social networks in every second, so far nobody explored its potential as a medium of online education. In other words, only hypothesises are there about the potentials of social networks as a channel of instruction. Only after doing online education through social networks, one can get awareness about the practical problems. Thorough research is necessary before using social networks as a medium of distant education. As stated earlier, social networks have the potential of causing political problems in a country. When a Chinese teacher use social networks for teaching American students, he may try to cultivate principles of communism in the minds of American students. Same way, while an American teacher teaches Chinese students, he may cultivate the ideas of democracy in the minds of Chinese students. In short, social networks can be misused to gain political advantages. This area needed to be researched thoroughly before giving a final word about the potential of social networks in enhancing online education. Fixing of tuition fees could be a problem while using social networks as a channel of education. Exchange rates are fluctuating all the time and hence the teacher may get a variable amount instead of fixed amount while giving his services to a foreign student. Such problems should be discussed before the beginning of the class. Credit cards and online payment services such as Paypal or Payoneer can be used by the students to transfer the tuition fee to his account to the teacher’s account. However, lot of problems, such as credit card forgery and identity theft are currently taking place in the virtual world. Students should use secure payment channels to transfer tuition fee to the teacher’s account. References Boser, U. 2012. Race to the Top: What Have We Learned from the States So Far? A State-by-State Evaluation of Race to the Top Performance. Center for American Progress. 2012 Daft, R. L. 2009. Organization Theory and Design. Cengage Learning, 2009 Exploring nonverbal communication. N. d. [Online] Available at: http://nonverbal.ucsc.edu/[Accessed 12 February 2013] Goals for education, N.d. [Online] Available at: http://www.anabaptists.org/ras/goal4edu.html[Accessed 12 February 2013] Hertzman, J L.& Maas, J. 2012. The Value of Culinary Education: Evaluating Educational Costs, Job Placement Outcomes, and Satisfaction With Value of Associate Degree Culinary and Baking Arts Program Graduates. Journal of Culinary Science & Technology, Jan-Mar2012, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p53-7 Hosler KA& Arend BD, 2012, The Importance of Course Design, Feedback, and Facilitation: Student Perceptions of the Relationship between Teaching Presence and Cognitive Presence. Educational Media International, v49 n3 p217-229  Information and communication Technologies in teacher education, 2002. UNESCO. [Online] Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001295/129533e.pdf[Accessed 12 February 2013] Marzouki, Y; Skandrani-Marzouki, I; Béjaoui, M; Hammoudi, H & Bellaj, T. 2012. The Contribution of Facebook to the 2011 Tunisian Revolution: A Cyber psychological Insight. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking.May2012, Vol. 15 Issue 5, p237-244 McCaw, DS.; Freeman, R & Philhower, S. 2002. Teacher Shortages in Rural America and Suggestions for Solution. Rural Research Report. Volume 13, Issue 8, Spring 2002Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. 2002 8 pp.  Mehra,L. N.d. Enabling Online Education through Social Networking. [Online]Available at: http://www.cisco.com/web/IN/about/leadership/enabling_onlineeducation.html[Accessed 12 February 2013] Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ Who’ll Blink First: The Unions, or the White House?. 2009. The Wall street Journal. 30 July 2009. Pulizzi J. 2012. Forecasting social media trends. HVACR Distribution Business. January 2012. Robbins, LA. 2010. Which Is More Effective in Educating Teachers to Work with Children with Autism: An Online or Face-to-Face Format of Instruction?. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Kansas. 2010 p.166 Stewart V. 2007. Educational Leadership. The Prepared Graduate. April 2007 | Volume 64 | Number 7. Pages 8-14.  Sorrentino, J. 2013. Online Education: Study Shows Social Networking a Boon for Education[Online] Available at: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/online_ed/ [Accessed 12 February 2013] Appendix (Pulizzer, 2012, p.28) Read More