It's no surprise that high school and college students spend a bulk of their time texting and tweeting. But who would have thought that social media would make its way into the classroom -- as an invited guest, no less? Developing community Forget the "no cell phones rule" -- these days, laptops and iPhones are a mainstay of the classroom.
This blog has followed social gaming juggernaut Zynga's progress for a couple years now. One of its most popular gaming apps is FarmVille, which runs on Facebook and touts an estimated 70 million players, making it one of, if not the, most popular games ever. Testaments to the game's popularity abound.
I opted to post this here as we are debating the use of Web 2.0 tools in education. Farmville dominated Facebook games for a number of years, and educators made use of this trend to enhance their teaching. Though it has not been developed for educational purposes, I know even teachers of business studies who used it in their classes with students 13+ of age.
This example should encourage us to make use of what is trending and popular with our students to our advantage!
The Social Networking section of the 2013 State of America's Libraries Report from the American Library Association provides information about the use of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other Web 2.0 technologies in libraries including the increased use of gaming technology.
Special Report prepared by Faculty Focus. Survey on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn usage in higher education. Facebook was most popular social media site of those surveyed. Survey showed a divide between those who embraced social media and those who have not.
Great! I didn't know you can create a Facebook quiz! I really have to check that out. I also thought having a chat with celebrity authors, etc. is a wonderful idea.
Dear Norm, thank you for the article. Some very interesting things are using polls on Twitter (great for student feedback/opinion), creating YouTube video lessons to replace the classroom lecture with a video lecture in a f2f class, and using a blogging website on collaborative group projects.
TT1921 (M Oyeleye)
Prof. Garrett, What a great article to read! I was intrigued with this question, which I have tweaked a bit - "How can we as educators make the best use of Twitter or Diigo to help connect our students with amazing, inspiring personalities in the various fields we teach"?. Please, I will be interested in any response or comment on this?
This article describes the use of social media as a bridge between students, teachers, and the online course. Many students are currently using social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The challenge for instructors is to learn how to leverage that as as an opportunity to create value for the student, the course, and for the instructor. The growing trend of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is commonplace among many campuses and it is now becoming common for institutions to require students to supply their own technology tools.
Social network sites can be used for learning in Bloom's Taxonomy stages of: remembering when locating, 'liking', or recognizing; understanding when subscribing or tagging; and evaluating when justifying a decision, collaborating or networking via the site ( Churches, 2009).
Myspace, the social media site that started it all, announced a new facelift Tuesday. The redesigned Myspace, which turned 9 this year, is now focused more on music and is even more integrated with Facebook and Twitter. According to the site's teaser page, the company is "hard at work building the new Myspace, entirely from scratch."
This is the latest episode of our new podcast series on the future of higher education. You can subscribe in iTunes, Overcast, or Stitcher. Perhaps you've stood in the front of a classroom, looked out on the room full of students distractedly checking email or Facebook, and thought: They're just not that into this.