Social media is moving rapidly into the classroom — but we’re not talking about students tweeting and blogging during lectures. Rather, a growing number of faculty members are using social media to engage and instruct students.
In 2013, more than half of college faculty said they are using social media as a professional tool, up from about 45% in 2012. And 41% of those faculty members use social media as a teaching tool.
It is smart way to connect with college students. Young adults are heavy users of social networking sites. They’re also almost always connected. Among adults 18 to 34 years old, 89% use smartphones and 63% own tablets.
Blogs and wikis are the most popular social media used in the classroom, according to a new survey from Pearson and the Babson Research Group. The survey defines social media as web content with interactivity, and also includes podcasts and social networking sites LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Podcasts were the second most popular tool, followed by LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. This is the third year of the study, and usage has climbed steadily each year.
Here are some ways to weave social media content into teaching:
- Social media content can be used as teaching material, much like traditional reading assignments.
- Students can be assigned to consume the material and then interact with comments
- Going deeper, students can consume the material, comment and then engage. This could be creating new content or posting on social networking sites.
The majority of faculty report asking students to consume and comment on content. For example, students may be assigned to read a blog or wiki and then add content.
Faculty members do have concerns about social media in the classroom. Privacy was cited as the biggest obstacle, including preserving classrooms as a private space for discussion. Another potential problem is monitoring the authenticity of students’ work. Faculty reported similar concerns in the two previous surveys in 2012 and 2011. And, as expected, faculty said they worry that social media is a distraction for some students.
Beyond teaching, faculty said social media provides new opportunities to engage with students. Not all students are comfortable speaking up in class or attending office hours. But social media platforms open a new avenue for engagement. These faculty-student digital connections can be made in the classroom, and after-hours.