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"Social media" is probably not a new term to you if you are a distance educator. To me, I heard of social media, social networking technologies, social learning, and other similar terms at various educator's conferences, educational technology Webinars, Web 2.0 training sessions, and more. Presenters normally name some examples when talking about social mediasuch as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google Docs. However, I found that my understanding of the concept of social media was still vague.This article attempts to clarify the concept and help yougain ideas on how you can use social media tools to enhance youronline teaching.
with Google Docs. Each study group can also create a presentation through a Web conferencing tool such as Wimba. With the popularity of blogging and micro-blogging, it is not uncommon for faculty to use blogs as additional teaching/learning resources. Faculty may publish academic journals or articles on his/her own blog and students may post discussion comments on them in the threaded comments area. Many professors use Twitter to have students "tweet" all their academic-related activities. The word limits in micro-blogginghelp students stay focused on a topicin a concise way when they are tweeting. Discussions can become an extension of learning in theonlineclassroom, andthey can help students keep up with what is happening in the real world. Some faculty have even used Twitter to remind students of homework, upcoming events, and other important items. Students can immediately receive these reminders through their mobile phones if they have the correct setup in their Twitter accounts. Academic research can also benefit from using social media tools. In particular, social bookmarking is extremely useful for literature reviews and collaborative research. Many professors teaching graduate-level classes found that Diggo, a research tool and knowledge-sharing community,is an attractive tool to assist students with their own research projects.By using the highlighting and sticky notes features of Diggo, online reading becomes much easier. Students can review and respond to the reading notes from their classmates and the instructor. As a result, reflective thinking and collaborative learning are highly encouraged with this tool. Diggo also allows studentsto build or join communities to connect with people who share the same academic interests,leading them toeasily share and locate more resources that are relevant to their research topics. Itcan also be a good idea to use more than one social media tools in a class. At Duke University, a professor incorporated a few social media tools into his online teaching of an introductory film class. The professor asked students to watch relevant video clips, tweet lecture topics for discussion, make weekly postings on blogs, and comment on each other's work. With creative integration of social media tools in a class like this, students can participate more and be more engaged in the learning process. In addition to online teaching, many universities use social media to showcase their educational projects. For instance, Stanford University showcases faculty and student projects on its Facebook page by publishing videos, pictures, and other relevant information. Current
students can search, access, and gain inspiration from these posted projects for their own work.
Summary
In summary, there are clear advantages to using social media in distance education. With social media services, online teachers and learners can experience new and better types of communication and interaction, and they canbe more connected to each other than ever before. Social media tools help online learners feel less isolated. With social media technologies advancing, distance education will continuously evolve with the trend. NOTE: This article mentions only a few examples of social media technologies. These references should not be taken as an endorsement of any particular tool, technology, or company. If you are thinking of implementing any of these tools into your course, check with your academic administrator for suitability. CSI team members are available for consultation on the use of some of these tools if you have questions or concerns.
Resources
Best Online Universities LLC. (2009, August 11). 13 enlightening case studies of social media in the classroom.Message posted to http://web20teach.blogspot.com/2007/08/twitter-tweetsfor-higher-education.html. Mayfield, A. (2008). What is social media? Retrieved December 20, 2009, from http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_ . Michigan State University Center for Teaching and Learning. (2009, April 16). Social media in the classroom. Message posted to http://ctt.educ.msu.edu/2009/04/16/twitter-in-theclassroom/. Social media. (2009, June 12). Retrieved December 23, 2009, from http://onlineanddistancelearning.com/socialmedia.
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