Social Media in Learning and Teaching - Literature review Example

A CRITIQUE OF THE LITERATURE ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK) IN LEARNING AND TEACHING 20 March Introduction Social media is fast growing in the world today with diverse understanding of what it actually entails both to the general populace and the learning world. With the internet revolution, online interactions have vastly increased in the recent past with platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and Pinterest among other social sites, offering individuals opportunities to socialize and interact globally. As Bruns (2008) says the World Wide Web has been radically transformed, shifting from an information repository to a more social environment where users are not only passive receivers or active harvesters of information but also creators of content. These types of media that are used to interact are what are commonly referred as social media, which is characterized by interactions, multi-directional communication flows and user generated content (Boyd and Ellison 2008). According to Chen and Bryer (2012), social media popularity has increased in recent years with Facebook being estimated to have had over 75 million users by 2001, while Twitter had 177 million tweets per day and YouTube exceeding three billion views per day. Although social media popularity is increasing by day, a small percentage of users are applying it to learning and academic purposes. Teachers are striving to find better ways of engaging students with social media technologies to supplement traditional methods of delivery. They are also looking for means of delivering education instructions through social media, hence devising new learning and teaching approaches that blend with technology and pedagogy. This literature review examines an understanding of using social media in learning, the merits and limitations of using social technology in delivering content and its impact on student development and identity. Previous studies have found that access to technology is inevitable hence the need to integrate it with education systems. Social Media in Learning and Teaching Modern day students have exposure to various technologies such as laptops, mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers that they use in accessing social sites. They engage in social networking through text messages, content sharing, and blogging among other services. According to Lenhart, Purcell, Smith and Zickuhr (2010), students use social media more in social interactions, relationship building, and direct communications more than they do for academic purposes. In colleges and universities, social media is becoming a communication tool between departments, administration, and students. Harris (2008) notes that admission offices in various institutions are using student blogs to showcase student experiences as recruiting tools for prospective students. Learning institutions are employing blogs as a pedagogical strategy to deliver content in various disciplines (Rudolph 2009; Wandel 2008). It is evident that the young generations orientation in social media is mainly communication, leisure and informal information gathering. Although there is the challenge of adopting social media for learning purposes, teachers and students can find means of engagement and collaborate with others in the learning process (Ebner, Lienhardt, Rohs and Meyer 2010). Chandra and Walters (2012) explain that students and teachers can make connections between different locations and outside the specified class time with other students or experts. Within the classroom environment, social media can enhance students collaboration in group tasks as well as drawing knowledge and skills of others to enhance their own. According to Duncan-Howell and Lloyd (2008), students can employ social media to provide feedback and support to fellow peers and share work with an audience beyond their teacher. These provisions will offer teachers the opportunity to monitor students’ progress closely hence provide timely response and guidance. Studies show that social media does not always yield the desired results for student learning. As documented by Grant (2009), students may be reluctant to comment on each other’s work on social media, completing a minimal level or not engaging at all. Completing joint works such as wiki writings prove to be challenging as students tend to be over protective of their work and remain hesitant when it comes to altering others work. Duncan-Howell and Lloyd (2008) argue that another shortcoming of engaging students in social media is that contact is limited to expressions of support rather than an extension of learning to high-level exchanges. Sometimes though, the results of using social media can be disappointing especially where face to face exchange is prominent thus rendering it redundant. Efficient use of social media for learning purposes requires exclusive approaches and precise pedagogical designs that will extend learning by offering new opportunities and preparing learners to apply social media in various tasks as will be necessary (Lee and McLoughlin 2010). For instance, social media enables students to connect with people beyond their classroom teacher who can add expert knowledge on the subject. According to Chandra and Walters (2012), engaging in social media as a model presents new opportunities for interaction through interactive sessions with the teacher. Through authoritative knowledge of teacher, exchange between teachers and students is enhanced hence legitimizing social media as the site for educational practice (Chandra and Walters 2012). They also note that interactions with social media can enable participation of students who are generally shy in class (Chandra and Walters 2012). Timely feedback from both students and teachers is also another benefit of using social media as students can modify their schedule with that of the teacher so that they can communicate easily and get responses immediately (Pifarre and Fischer 2011). The ability to review each student’s changes means that the teacher is in a position to monitor individual progress and participation. It also motivates students to prepare actively for the sessions, and as Zhang, Scardamalia, Lamon, Messina and Reeve’s (2007) studies found, teachers online feedback suggested new areas of inquiry and posed questions that stimulated the student’s higher thinking order. Social media can also prepare students to work collaboratively if preceded by careful preparation. In introducing social media in collaborative learning, it is necessary to explain the purpose of collaboration and its benefit. Lund (2008) though notes that in schools where students do work based on individual assessment, collaboration may become challenging in completing particular tasks. Introducing these approaches will require teachers to change their pedagogy emphasizing on small group work and individual abilities. Moderation and small group work assists in building trust when interaction involves individuals who are yet to meet physically. According to Maher (2009), trust is a vital element in achieving high levels of collaboration between teachers and students and can be obtained through an initial period of online socializing. Training in the application of social media in learning is essential, and students need careful preparation to support their collaborative skills (Wong and Hew 2010). According to Brady, Holcomb and Smith (2010), the choice of the technology to be applied should be carefully choosen so that it fits the pedagogical design. Assumptions should not be made about social media applying in particular tasks that have been designed for different methods of instruction. Incorporation of social media in schools becomes easier when the tasks have clear links with the curriculum in place. Social media tasks need proper articulation of the purpose and clear communication with the students. Joubert and Wishart (2011) argue that it is necessary for participants to understand fully the nature and purpose of the task hence participation is essential to achieve results. With the collaboration turning out to be necessary in applying social media in learning, a more student-centered model will actually facilitate learning than a teacher-centered model. In addition, social media will provide a forum for students to reach a bigger audience hence solicit for more feedback and discussion about their works. Another important aspect to enable successful learning with social media is extended time for an activity, which caters for long durations that tasks can take because of technological demands (Wisharts and Triggs 2010). Social media platforms are asynchronous and require turn taking hence students take turns to deliberate or give a response. Since turn taking is not as fast as verbal interactions, reactions can take long hence each activity will require extended period especially if collaborators are from different time zones (Austin, Smyth, Rickard, Quirk-Bolt and Metcalfe 2010) Conclusion It is evident from the literature provided that there are complexities and different aspects brought by social media in learning. Most studies focus on uses of social media by teachers to reach students thus need for the studies to compare cross board applications. Similarly, there is need for further studies to give clarity on contextual issues concerning student’s learning in and out of class. Students will always enjoy social media learning even if the results will not be appealing to the instructors, hence need for an account of different learning styles that can build on more engagement. The notable social media applications which are applicable in learning such as wiki, blogs and micro-blogs are not usually common among students, thus there is a need to provide necessary skills explicitly on how the applications work. Social media as a learning technology can therefore be legitimized through building an understanding and experience of the applications pedagogically. Scholars have found out that a proper social media learning design should consider how it will extend learning by offering new opportunities through expert interaction and timely feedback. Secondly, it should put students in a position to collaborate with others in social media to complete assigned tasks. Lastly, the design should consider employing social media in learning when there are clear outlines with the curriculum and delivery strategies. According to various studies the teacher is the central key to implementation of an effective social media learning model, through proper planning, designing tasks, application of their authority and their ability to use social media in ways that consider them educational. In short, social media use in learning is still at its infant stages and more needs to be done to ensure effective implementation in learning institutions. References Austin, R., Smyth, J., Rickard, A., Quirk-Bolt, N. and Metcalfe, N., 2010. 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Socio-Cognitive Dynamics of Knowledge Building in the Work of 9- And 10-Year-Olds. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 20 March 2015]. Read More