Impact of Social Networks on Education - Literature review Example

Impact of Social Networks on Education Name Tutor Course Institution Date Social Networks and Education Introduction The role played by the numerous social networks is slowly gaining prominence and usage in all institutions in the society. The same thing is happening in the educational institutions where these networks are helping in improving education while presenting several drawbacks to the institution. Recent statistics have shown that more than 800 million people visit YouTube on a monthly basis. According to Cisco (2011), the usage of the internet in educational institutions has continuously increased to almost 100% since 1997. Most commonly used social networks are Facebook, Google plus, LinkedIn, Twitter, flicker, Orkut and several others that are more common in specific environments. Some of these social networks have multimedia content and include networking sites such as YouTube, blogs, Metacafe and Vimeo. These sites provide educational information and contents. They can be used for research, communication and interactive discussions and debates. The paper discusses the role that these internet based networks play in the educational sector. Literature Review How social networks help in education The roles that social networks play in order to ease and improve the educational process include communication. With the widespread availability of internet especially in developed countries, students are able to communicate with each other through private discussions on Facebook groups, hashtag comments on twitter and posts on group pages on Facebook, Google plus, LinkedIn. They can also use these sites to have classwork forums that are interactive. This will help students to learn from each other (Tan et al, 2013). Secondly, as stated by the report by the WCER (2011), social networks help students to have a sense of belonging and self-worth. When notices, class announcements, invitation to events and communication on class matters are done through social media, more students are informed compared to when the communication is limited to face to face communication which sidelines shy and antisocial students. It fosters personal interactions and friendships which are vital for the educational development of every student. In addition to these, social networks are important in development of creative skills of students and children. Multimedia sites such as YouTube provide videos that will help students to develop their ideas and understand their classwork well. Lastly, these networks are useful in career development. When students interact with the vast and diverse people that are on social networks, they are able to understand different career paths and hence choose their career paths with understanding (Chelly et al, 2012). The positive effects of social networks in education The greatest benefit of social network in education is the fact that it allows for educational analysis. This happens when there are interactive forums that students participate in. The teachers can also be part of the forums or look into the comments and suggestions and consequently conclude on the strengths and weaknesses of their students. The information acquired should be used by the teachers to improve the academic ability of the students. If teachers are part of the educational groups on social networks, they can also post comments, assignments and assignment solutions which all students can access. Secondly, social networks are an avenue used by students to develop organization and leadership skills. This is possible when these groups plan sports events or community work projects together on the group page. Thirdly, there is a lot of educational resources that can be shared between different schools through collaborations of their respective groups. Many of the educational resources are shared to bring a positive impact on schools. An example is the Skype network which can be used for schools in different countries. Fourthly, social networks have eased the education process. According to Chelly et al(2012, p. 238), most schools have created a virtual campus that is used by students to access grades and courses, look at their performance statements, submit assignments and chat with other students and their teachers. This process eradicates paperwork and long queues in order to access student information. Lastly, multimedia content on social sites like Facebook and YouTube are useful in presentation of information in a fun and interactive way. It helps students to understand better as well as gain improve intellectual skills. Drawbacks of social media on education Despite the fact that social networking has significant effects on the educational system, it also has negative effects. Firstly, since social networking allows students to access information without being in class, it has affected the physical teacher student relationship. Since students can access lecture materials on the social media, some may opt to miss school which affects their real social lives. It is important that educational institutions ensure that students do participate in daily class sessions (Daly, 2010). Secondly, everything that is on social networking sites can be hacked and private information becomes public knowledge. These privacy concerns are on the rise. A news article in the New York Times by Jaccarino (2011), reports that in 2011 more than 600000 Facebook accounts were hacked on a daily basis. Although this is a small percentage it is a great risk. Apart from this, strangers can create fake profiles and pose as students and use the social interaction platforms to prey on students in non-educational ways. Thirdly, as stated by Tariq et al (2011), social networks may become an addiction for students and adults. Too much use of the social networks presents a distraction from the educational work and students may lose their concentration in education. Since these networks are accessed in any physical location, students may be busy on twitter or YouTube during class time or study time. More addictive things are online games, instant messaging, advertisements and online activities. This addiction leads to antisocial students that are poor performers educationally. Fourthly, information acquired on these social networking sites is not always reliable. This covers information on people’s profiles on Skype, Facebook, twitter as well as educational material posted in educational groups and multimedia sites like YouTube. If the student that is in the research process is not wise to differentiate educational content, they might be misled by human err of someone else. This happens when a student relies on information from a blog that presents controversial information. They can also access adult content if it is not blocked by the internet supplier or Information Technology departments in schools. Overuse of social networks affects the wellbeing of the student. When a student is always on the internet playing games or watching online materials, they will lose their social life because they will be communicating with virtual friends, sleep poorly, eat poorly and be less involved in physical activities. It also presents a risk on their health due to sitting for long hours. These health problems include risks to obesity, eye problems, weak sleeping patterns and eating disorders. Clearly, these pleasure moments are a risk to the education of the students (Tariq et al, 2012). Recommendations on the use of social networks in education After looking into the role, benefits and drawbacks of social media it is important that adequate measures are put in place in all educational institutions to ensure that the drawbacks are reduced to minimum and the advantages are exploited. The first recommendation is that the minimum age must be enforced. As explained by Tariq et al (2012), the minimum age in the international scene is 18. However, in Pakistan there are underage people that are active in social networks like Facebook and orkut. This is because there is no authority or third party to enforce this minimum. Therefore, it is important for a third party to look at what minors are doing on social sites. Parents also have to ensure that their children, who can easily access sites like YouTube and Facebook are looking at the right content. Information technology departments of educational institutions should enforce blocking of inappropriate sites such as those that contain adult content. The third party might also be apparent and guardian who should enforce parental control in the homes and encourage their children to be active in outdoor activities to avoid teenage addiction (Oswuagu, 2009). Secondly, the role of communication is important in ensuring that students access the right educational content. They should be encouraged to consult their teachers and guardians when they come across controversial educational information. Teachers should also be trained on how to integrate social networks in learning effectively without mixing their personal and professional lives. This may require the need of information technology experts or discussions between teachers as they look for ways to enhance education. Thirdly, the students should also be warmed of the privacy and content dangers presented by social media especially that of fake profiles so as to ensure that they are not affected negatively by cybercrime. The educators must have discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of social media so as to effectively enhance the learning process. With a clear understanding of the social networks, students will be able to develop practical reasoning skills when using the internet for research and learning (WCER, 2011). Trends in Social Networking Role in Education With the increased availability of internet in educational institutions, there will be an increase in the roles played by social media. One of these is the Social Media Learning (SML) which is explained by Claros et al (2013, p. 570) as a platform that is aimed at increasing the role played by the interactive multimedia content in education. Social Media Learning is aimed at using social interaction for collaboration, reuse of multimedia content and interaction of internal and external content to improve the education process. In this case, students and educators are involved in developing a multimedia learning mechanism that can be accessed by students. A second trend that is currently growing in educational institutions is the integration of online, collaborative and hybrid learning which is generally termed as blended learning. According to the NMC report (2014), there is an integration of online learning, classroom learning and a combination of the two. This allows students to only be present in the learning Centre when it is necessary because they are able to communicate via the social network. It also gives the students more private study time compared to when they have to attend class daily. Thirdly, the students have stopped to be viewed as consumers and have become creators. This is being achieved by allowing students to explore their creative aspects instead of being receivers of the content delivered in class. More universities are allowing students to be involved in the real experience through coming up with projects and creation of practical ideas. This involves the availing of adequate space for the practical setting. An example is the assessment of an architectural site by architectural students so as to come up with the design, history and specifics of the site (Klopfer, 2010). Lastly, it is noted that training in faculties is also growing. This will limit the fact that some lecturers and teachers are not interested in using social media in the teaching system. In addition to this some of them may be willing to use the media but do not have enough knowledge on how to integrate it successfully. These faculty trainings are slowly helping them to understand the use of social networks, through informal learning or through professional development (NMC, 2014). Conclusion The social networking sites are very significant in the current society and the role it has to play in the educational sector cannot be underestimated. Despite the fact that it presents several disadvantages on the education process, adequate measures can be put in place to enhance the effectiveness of the method. At the same time, there must be clear communication between teachers, students and parents to ensure that students are accessing the right content and doing the right thing on the social sites. Institutions should also integrate these sites in the teaching system with caution and adequate training. 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Klopfer, E., Osterweil,S., Groff, J. & Haas, J 2009, Using the technology of today in the classroom today, The Education Arcade, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. NMC, 2014, Horizon report> 2014 Higher Education Edition, New Media Consortium. Texas, USA. Osuagwu, N.G 2009, Facebook addiction: The life & times of social networking addicts. Philadelphia: Ice Cream Melts Publishing. Tan, L., Ponnam, S., Gillham, P., Edwards, B. & Johnson, E 2013, Analyzing the impact of social media on social movements: a computational study on Twitter and the Occupy Wall Street movement. IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining. Tariq, W., Mehboob, M., Khan, A. M. &Ullah, F 2012, The Impact of Social Media and Social Networks on Educationand Students of Pakistan, IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 4, No 3. WCER Research highlights, 2011, Benefits and drawbacks of social media in education, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, summer 2011, volume 22, no. 4. Read More