Instructional Design Social Media

Social Media

Social Media can be a significant and effective tool to advance education and learning in schools, business, and really all other forms of society.  Much research has been performed to explain any consequences or advancements in learning and education due to social media.An article by Dr. Julia Rodriguez and Pearson Higher Education Faculty Use of Social Media report both provided excellent insight, examples, and advice on using social media.

The Rodriguez article discusses several issues that we as faculty in first year writing talk often about in our faculty meetings.One area is privacy.  We are very aware to be sensitive to the fact that 18 year olds can be very different than 30+ year olds in what they want published on a public social media forum which could influence many areas of their future one being careers and employment.  We encourage students to consider what they post either on their blogs or eportfolios. We also try to use private sites such as Mahara so only registered people can view the work.

Another area this article addresses is ownership.  Many copyright laws were written for print materials and did not even have electronic sources in mind.  Laws cannot keep up with social media so it is difficult to know what is legally acceptable but we know what is morally acceptable.  If in doubt, always attribute or give credit to source.

Future Impact

The trend of social media will continue to have an impact on learning and education.  Based on the advancements computers and technology have come in such a short time in recent years, it is hard to even imagine how much greater the impact will be. Social media is here to stay and increase in our lives. I imagine computers were first seen as inventions such as television sets when they first came out. The machines in and of themselves are not evil but just what is done with it can be. There is no turning back with social media as a form of learning and education.  I do not think anyone imagined online courses back when we were still using typewriters.  Now, courses and degrees can be offered through social media and computers.  Social media such as twitter and blogging are part of the future and in many arenas are expected as normal.  Social media will continue to make the world a smaller place. This article provides an excellent visual on how social media will be part of a learner's  future through developing skills that can be transferable to other professional and academic situations. http://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/learning-through-networks-is-the-future/ 


Keep Up

A personal challenge is becoming familiar with all the various programs and sites to create social media and electronic genre pieces. Not in a bad way, but to lessen any apprehension of computers I may have, I challenge myself to be involved with various electronic genres and stretch myself.  This course has definitely stretched me to go beyond my usual borders of paper into the electronic age. I find that the more I involve myself with different websites and such, the more comfortable I feel.  I want to be able to bring more social media and electronics into my courses and learn how to also add them to business and professional training and development. To do this then, I need to continue to take courses and independently keep current with programs and technology.  A tremendous help for me would be to stay connected through facebook, professional organizations and listservs, a group of colleagues who I can discuss trends and practice the various mediums.  The teach thought article mentioned above http://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/learning-through-networks-is-the-future/ can also be helpful to me as I continue to develop on a personal and professional level to sharpen my skills and attitudes toward social media as a learning tool.

I need to research more about how best to integrate social media for business or training and development.  I would like to talk with companies who use social media and view the examples and talk with employees to get their reactions and thoughts. 


Resources
Article
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/social-media-valuable-tool-teachers/
Interesting article since it provides both pros and cons for integrating social media into the classroom. 


Web URL
http://c4lpt.co.uk/learning-resources/social-learning-handbook/100-examples-of-use-of-social-media-for-learning/ 
Tremendous resource with many good ideas for earning professionals.  These were recommended from technologists around the world.

Video
https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together?language=en
TED Talk on the consequences of social media and if it really helps us to communicate with others or if it breeds more isolation.

Activity
I have not used blogging or posting very much in my courses but after developing this blog and posting our projects weekly and responding to others projects, I can see the value of this activity.        I have definitely done traditional paper response but doing online responses provides a different feel not only for the responder but also the writer receiving the response.  I like how others can see the responses and there can be a larger conversation.  This broader audience also allows others to get ideas from a variety and larger number of people- it is not limited.  The Rodriguez article mentions learning styles and social media use and that will be an area I will research more. I like how students used Twitter to extend the class conversation, had more engagement and achieved higher grades.  The study cited in this article was interesting to indicate that although faculty acknowledged the benefits of using social media, they did not always implement it.


Here is my link to my tackk presentation on social media and its uses in education, training and development, its advantages and disadvantages and differences and similarities among medium.

https://tackk.com/xf3ksl

Upon further research of social media, I would like to include this visual since it summarizes well the various social media outlets and how best they can be incorporated into learning and education.