What is social media in the 21st Century classroom and why is it important?
The term ‘social media’ is used commonly to represent a collection of online platforms and tools that are used to share content, profiles, insights, opinions, experiences, perspectives and media itself, facilitating conversations and interactions online between people. Osborne-Gowey (2015) shares that at a basic level, social media is a collection of websites and applications designed to build and enhance online communities for networking and sharing information.
Social media is becoming more commonly used within the twenty-first century educational setting. Whether this includes students socializing and networking on websites such as Facebook, Twitter or blogging sites (Blogger, EduBlogs, WordPress, etc), exploring on video sharing websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, or exploring a range of other platforms such as Flickr, Pinterest and Google+ (Conole, 2012). The popularity of these websites illustrates how people have embraced the idea of social media (Barnes, 2012).
Social media is becoming more commonly used within the twenty-first century educational setting. Whether this includes students socializing and networking on websites such as Facebook, Twitter or blogging sites (Blogger, EduBlogs, WordPress, etc), exploring on video sharing websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, or exploring a range of other platforms such as Flickr, Pinterest and Google+ (Conole, 2012). The popularity of these websites illustrates how people have embraced the idea of social media (Barnes, 2012).
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Social Media Tools - Sue Bedard on ThingLink
Social media requires minimal training, rather people learn from experiencing it. Social platforms have made life easier by quick sharing of almost anything a person wants to know about (Barnes, 2012). Humans are becoming dependent of these sources of socialization and this is why we are seeing it used more commonly in the educational setting.
Social media can be used in many ways to enrich educational experiences of students. Project Tomorrow (2013) shares that students working in twenty-first century learning environments are using social media to connect, collaborate and create content in ways that are meaningful to them. Students are adapting these tools to create personalised learning experiences through online interactions.
Social media can be used in many ways to enrich educational experiences of students. Project Tomorrow (2013) shares that students working in twenty-first century learning environments are using social media to connect, collaborate and create content in ways that are meaningful to them. Students are adapting these tools to create personalised learning experiences through online interactions.
The roles of educators and learners have changed with the use of these new social tools (Blessinger, et al, 2012). There is a push for students to become independent learners and acquire the real-life skills that will help them once they complete school (Crockett, et al, 2012). Crockett, et al, highlight the need for teachers and students to effectively adjust the way they interpret the huge amount of information and technological tools available to them within their classrooms. They state that we live in a dynamic world of InfoWhelm, where content is growing exponentially in both quantity and complexity.
Both educators and students need to learn how to decipher the mass amount of information available through social media platforms and be able to put this content into the context of real life. The alarming rate that technology is moving means that information is obsolete quickly and new skills and facts need to be learnt (Barnes, 2012). We can see how quickly social media is used by exploring The Internet In Real Time resource below. |
‘We live in a world awash in readily available information. As a result, facts become obsolete more quickly, and knowledge built on those facts becomes less durable. This has forced us to reorganise our knowledge and how we deliver it, and its fundamentally altering the very fabric of our societies and irrevocably changing the way we work, play, communicate, and view our fellow citizens.’
Crockett, et al (p.33, 2012). |
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