Journal #3

Journal #3

Social Media in the Learning Setting: Opportunities and Challenges

Tara Coffin & Janice Fournier, UW-IT, Academic and Collaborative Applications

               

  Reflecting on this article was very interesting. Although I come from a new generation of teachers and most of us should be pretty tech savvy (that is because we grew up with the technology) I already had a big idea of how social media could be beneficial for education. As the article states, many students these days not only feel very comfortable with the idea of social media as an educational outlet, but are very professionals in a sense on these types of websites.

                Ideas such as digital office hours could be a great alternative to answer questions in a broad sense. I believe with this idea, you can post up questions and answers on a social media website and not only address that one students initial question, but be able to inform the rest of the class at the same time as well. Also the idea of a closed group on social Medias such as Facebook can give many students the opportunity to not only express opinions but scaffold ideas off of each other as well. This could ultimately help shape critical thinking activities.

Q1: Can using social media have its downsides as well?

A1: Yes, social media can also have its down sides. This is because sometimes closed groups can get out of control and you have to make sure it is strictly used in a professional manner. This is because is handled unprofessionally there could be some backlash from other teachers, parents, or administrators.

Q2: Is Facebook the only social media you can use?

A2: No, other social Medias can also be used such as twitter to post questions or answers! Any social media that allows you to engage and interact with students would be looked at as acceptable