Research on Social Media Use in the Classroom...

Pearson Learning Solutions, a leading learning and publications organization, conducted a very interesting survey in 2011 entitled, Teaching, Learning, and Sharing: How Today's Higher Education Faculty Use Social Media. If you haven't taken time to read the results of this survey, please do so...there are some very useful facts that were uncovered and you might be able to use some of these facts to bolster your case for social media use in the classroom (Link: http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/educators/pearson-social-media-survey-2011-bw.pdf).

More personal insights on social media as a platform for learning

As I continue on this blogging journey, I continue to ask myself, "Why has social media become such an integral part of society and why do institutions of learning still continue to raise such concerns about its use as part of the learning process?" It is research such as that presented above that helps us as educators to answer such questions.

I look around me in my daily life and observe the way in which my family, friends, and colleagues use social media. Through these observations, I have gained a true appreciation for this media platform and continue to seek out ways in which we can strengthen its use for the greater good as part of the classroom activities we carry out each day as educators. Furthermore, I look at how companies continue to embrace social media to reach larger audiences and to help their customers make better, more efficient use of their products and services. Just today, I was booking a flight on Expedia.com and noticed how that company now has a tool through which you can post the details of the travel you just booked as an event on Facebook...a sort of virtual calendar through which you and your friends can view your travel plans. What a smart tool! Not only does this help you become more organized by allowing you to store your travel details in one central location, but it allows your friends to see your travel plans (should you choose to share them) and mirror your travel plans should they have reason to join you on your trip. Very smart marketing, Expedia.com!

So, through that activity alone, I see numerous learning activities for my business students. Time management, marketing, social media marketing, and the list goes on. Teaching students how to appropriately use social media platforms in their chosen careers as well as their personal life presents several different educational opportunities. Plus, doing so sets them ahead of the learning curve when it comes to their future colleagues. As noted in the survey presented above, while nearly two-thirds of higher education faculty note that they have introduced materials or engaged in learning through social media outlets, the vast majority of social media use in the classroom is through video outlets such as YouTube.

I hope today's post has given you both some much-needed research on the subject as well as the motivation to step outside your comfort zone and find ways in which to pull social media outlets into your classroom activities on a more frequent basis. Both you and your students will rise to the occasion and hopefully come out pleasantly surprised with the outcomes achieved. Also, I hope you now keep your eyes peeled for all the places throughout your daily life in which social media has crept its way into the mainstream!

Happy instructing and feel free to share a new and innovative way in which you have pulled a lesser-used social media outlet into your classroom as a learning tool!