Saturday, May 5, 2012

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Very interesting details in the social media in the classroom area. Dave Copeland, in a blog post on ReadWriteWeb (Link: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/for-social-media-in-the-classroom-to-work-instructors-need-best-practices.php), presented some very good information for those of us interested in using social media with out students in the classroom.

Many teachers and college instructors have dismissed the notion of social media in the classroom as a mere distraction and not worth the time to learn more about how this emerging technology can effectively be integrated into the day's lessons. To work effectively, we must set expectations of social media use in the classroom with our students so that they understand that social media is not just for fun but can be used in a manner that is productive and engaging. If we model appropriate technology use with our students, we can create meaningful learning experiences that result in a boost in learning outcomes.

If used correctly, social media can be used in a variety of classes. The way in which it is used or the social media platform used in class may depend on the specific content and/or the lesson at hand. Copeland presented ideas for social media use in a writing course, a film course, and an introductory journalism course. Of course, business courses are a natural for social media use. For example, an introduction to marketing course could use Twitter to tweet social media marketing ideas during a lesson on branding. The ideas are limitless - just be creative and you can come up with some great social media use ideas for your students.

If you have some effective lessons in which you have used social media to engage your students, please feel free to share them via a comment to this post. I'm excited to see how you have chosen to embrace social media use in the classroom and learn some new ideas from my followers!

Have a great Saturday and stay tuned for more personal finance and social media ideas tomorrow!

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