Social Media Use That Supports Learning

Social media is mostly understood as something that takes students’ attention away from what is happening in the classroom and deters students from their learning. If used properly however, social media has the potential of supporting student learning. Social media networks are culturally relevant resources where things can be created and knowledge can be shared. They are an accessible platform for students to obtain class materials and provides them with opportunities for a different kind of peer interaction.

One of the points that was brought up throughout “Becoming Facebook Friendly: Social Media and the Culturally Relevant Classroom” by Marciano was that Facebook can be used to provide students with information regarding assignments, upcoming deadlines, and testing dates. While I am not completely convinced that Facebook is the ideal social networking implement for the classroom, I do see how it would be convenient for students to have access to this kind of tool. Personally, I have used Edmodo as an online, classroom friendly, tool. I created a teacher’s account and invited students to sign up for their course with me. Once signed up, they would gain access to course slides and handouts, they could look at their course calendar to find important deadlines and test dates. Students were also able to ask me questions by either posting them publicly on the course page or sending me a private message.

Providing a space for students to connect to one another speaks to the importance of social relationships and allows them to seek information from their peers even when they are no longer in the classroom. I have used social media networks to connect with peers, discuss group assignments, and organize study groups. As teachers we can include Youtube videos to enhance our lessons, or bring people into our classrooms from around the world via Skype, or FaceTime. We merely need to keep timezones in mind! Social media networks also have potential for promoting deeper learning as students can continue to explore the course material together outside of the classroom, and connect with outside sources. Networks such as these also provides educators with professional development opportunities as they can connect with other educators.