SOCIAL MEDIA FOR TEACHING AND

LEARNINGAnastasia Trekles, Ph.D.

Office of Learning Technology

Why Social Media? Social media and Web

2.0 technologies can extend learning into new and exciting areas

Web 2.0 can touch every level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, from Remembering to Creating

Even better: social media is FREE and easy to access – and usually familiar to students as well

See http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom's+Digital+

Taxonomy

Advantages of Social Media

Everyone is using it – it’s almost guaranteed to reach its audience

Free of cost Naturally creative

and intuitive interfaces

Enable easy sharing and disseminating of information

64.4% of faculty use social media for personal reasons

44.7% use it for professional reasons

33.8% use it in their teaching

Facebook and YouTube are the most common social media in use by educators

Blogs, wikis, LinkedIn, podcasts, and Twitter are used a little less often

With social media, students can… Compare and share

notes and resources Debate and discuss Contribute more

equally Learn from one

another Learn from experts

and others in the field Get exposed to new

ideas, cultures, and languages

The Flip Side: Potential Pitfalls

Social media is, of course, social by nature!

Posts are not always private, although they can be made that way

Students (and others) can say and do things we’d rather they didn’t

Luckily, severe incidents are quite rare, and easy to avoid

Social Media Can Make Learning Fun Post important announcements and actually get

them read! Create group projects like collaborative projects,

scavenger hunts, and round-robin discussions Allow students to showcase their unique talents

and interests through pictures and video Build a community of learners by encouraging

students to share and ask each other questions Encourage students to connect in more

meaningful, convenient, and personalized ways

Facebook Allows for private,

members-only groups to be created

Also allows for public pages to be created for a class to use for announcements and other one-way postings

You don’t have to “friend” your students – that’s a personal choice

You can create a “school-only” Facebook account strictly for your class activities

About Groups: https://www.facebook.com/about/groups

About Pages: https://www.facebook.com/about/pages

Great infographic on Facebook in college classrooms: http://www.schools.com/visuals/college-professors-on-facebook.html

Twitter Lots of neat discussions

can be had in 140 characters or less!

Don’t believe it? Check out http://twitter.com/FieldingEngl102

Keep students engaged and interested with short tidbits, helpful hints, and online resources

Use hashtags to keep conversations related and easier to follow

About Twitter: https://support.twitter.com

Twitter for Teachers: http://www.schrockguide.net/twitter-for-teachers.html

Ways to use Twitter in academia: http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/

Twubs – great for following hashtags: http://twubs.com

Google+ Google has a large

number of social-infused features, including the popular Hangout tool

Also, consider Google Docs as a collaborative tool or an alternative to Office

Google Drive (formerly Docs): http://drive.google.com

Hangouts: http://www.google.com/hangouts

Google’s Education page with tutorials and more: http://www.google.com/edu/teachers/

Pinterest Pinterest as a teaching

tool? You bet! Pinterest can take

information on any topic and make it visual, user-friendly and easy to categorize and share

So many resources are already available – students can easily browse and repin things they find

Similar sites include Scoop.it and Learni.st

Pinterest Help Center: https://en.help.pinterest.com/home

The OLT Pinboard: http://www.pinterest.com/pncolt/technology-to-the-rescue/

How colleges are using Pinterest for education: http://teachthought.com/social-media/how-colleges-are-using-pinterest-in-education/

YouTube YouTube provides a great

platform for students to share and publish as well as learn

We all know there is a tremendous amount of valuable content out there – just search and you’ll find something good!

Armed with smartphones or other camera devices, students can easily create and upload their own work

Great for reviews and study groups, presentations, and group projects

YouTube Education University channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/HCScmg5b9x0xQ

10 YouTube Channels to make you smarter: http://mashable.com/2013/04/04/youtube-education/

Using online video in the classroom: http://www.edutopia.org/youtube-educational-videos-classroom

What’s integrated into BlackBoard? Blogs – for student thoughts to be shared and

commented on Wikis – for fluid student conversations and

group document editing Collaboration – “chat room” and whiteboard

function similar to Adobe Connect (requires Java)

Kaltura – media sharing tool for videos you upload (yours or someone elses)

Mashups – integration from YouTube, Slideshare.net, and Flickr available

Caveats and Parting Thoughts Social Media can be a terrific tool for

learning But, it can be a little “messy” – there’s a

lot to negotiate, and a lot to keep up with No tool is perfect, either Requires patience and a willingness to

try something different, or think about an old activity in a new way

Thanks!

Staci: atrekles@pnc.edu Alex: acrisw00@pnc.edu Twitter: @PNCOLT http://pnc.edu/distance for all

workshop notes, links, and training needs

Resources Overcoming Hurdles to Social Media in Education:

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/overcoming-hurdles-social-media-education

Great blog on social media in higher ed: http://blog.reyjunco.com Social Media resource round-up:

http://www.edutopia.org/social-media-education-resources Six ways to use social media in education:

http://cit.duke.edu/blog/2012/04/six-ways-to-use-social-media-in-education/

Friedman, L.W., Friedman, H.H. (2013). Using social media technologies to enhance online learning. Journal of Educators Online, 10(1). Retrieved from http://www.thejeo.com/Archives/Volume10Number1/Friedman.pdf.