Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyDustin M. Price

Full-time Instructor of Visual Art, CTL Tech Consultant Mott Community College - Flint, MIwww.dustinmprice.com

© copyright all rights reserved Dustin M. Price 2014

“My take on teaching and education is that it is not about the content and the facts. It is about the relationships and connections…This indicates to me the intense value of a teacher. The value is not in their ability to transmit facts, but in their ability to care for their learners. Good teachers can not be replaced by technology. What technology does is allow teachers to spend more time focusing on their learners and building those relationships.” – Alice Keeler

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyThis lecture will be focused on the following topics:

-An introduction to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

-Discussion of recent studies on the rising number of academics utilizing social media in the classroom.

-The issues or barriers to consider before employing social media in your classroom.

-What boundaries, limitations, or guidelines are necessary when using social media in an educational context?

-How various forms of social media can engage students in deeper learning practices.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyThis lecture will be focused on the following topics:

-Valid practices in using social media within higher education.

-While I do utilize some social media in the classroom I encourage you to be as critical and objective as possible when considering implementing ANY technology into the classroom.

-That being said I am not trying to convince any of you to use any of the technology we will cover today. Disclaimer: much of the documentation I have provided is rather one sided.

-My main goal is to provide you as much information on the sites themselves and how they are often utilized in pedagogy.

Introduction on Social Media in Pedagogy“AboutThe Facebook Page celebrates how our friends inspire us, support us, and help us discover the world when we connect.

MissionFounded in 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.”1

Has more than 1 billion users.

Has more private functions and control verse media like Twitter or Pinterest. Although, anything you post or any message you send should be thought of as public.

Introduction on Social Media in Pedagogy“1 in every 13 people on Earth is on Facebook

71.2 % of all USA internet users are on Facebook

In 20 minutes 1,323,000 photos are tagged

In 20 minutes 1,851,000 status updates are entered

In 20 minutes 1.9 million friend requests are accepted

In 20 minutes 2,716,000 messages are sent

In 20 minutes 10.2 million comments are posted

In 20 minutes 1,587,000 wall posts are written

48% of young Americans said they found out about news through Facebook

48% of 18 to 34 year olds check Facebook right when they wake up

50% of active users log on to Facebook in a dayAverage user has 130 friends

People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook”2

Introduction on Social Media in Pedagogy“Mission: To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.

Twitter usage:271 million monthly active users500 million Tweets are sent per day78% of Twitter active users are on mobile77% of accounts are outside the U.S.Twitter supports 35+ languages”1

Tweets are considered open for anyone to view. Your tweets are displayed on your profile page, on the home page of each of your followers, and in the Twitter public timeline.

“Tweet: A 140-character message.

Retweet (RT): Re-sharing or giving credit to someone else's tweet.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyFeed: The stream of tweets you see on your homepage. It's comprised of updates from users you follow.

Handle: Your username.

Mention (@): A way to reference another user by his username in a tweet (e.g. @mashable). Users are notified when @mentioned. It's a way to conduct discussions with other users in a public realm.

Direct Message (DM): A private, 140-character message between two people. You can decide whether to accept a Direct Message from any Twitter user, or only from users you are following. You may only DM a user who follows you.

Hashtag (#): A way to denote a topic of conversation or participate in a larger linked discussion (e.g. #AmericanIdol, #Obama). A hashtag is a discovery tool that allows others to find your tweets, based on topics.”3

Introduction on Social Media in Pedagogy“Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever. We're building Instagram to allow you to experience moments in your friends' lives through pictures as they happen.

We have adopted a follower model that means if you're "public" on Instagram, anyone can subscribe to follow your photos. We do, however, have a special private option. In this mode, a user can make sure he/she must approve all follow requests before they go through.

All photos are public by default which means they are visible to anyone using Instagram or on the instagram.com website. If you choose to make your account private, then only people who follow you on Instagram will be able to see your photos.”4

Introduction on Social Media in Pedagogy“Pinterest makes it easy to save and organize whatever you discover online. In our example, whenever you find a recipe you like you could save that recipe as a pin.

The pin is then displayed as a picture on a pinboard, creating a collection of different images as you add more pins.

Clicking a pin will link you back to the picture's original website, turning your pinboard into a series of visual bookmarks.

It also allows you to follow the pins saved by your friends and other users, or pinners as they're called on Pinterest.”5

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyWhy consider using social media?

-It holds possibilities for further encouraging student engagement with the curriculum as well as, fellow students and you.

-It can increase faculty/student communication and build a better sense of community.

-It allows for opportunities to inject curricular elements into “networks” where they will be. My students are on Facebook 10 times a day but hardly, if ever, check their MCC email.

-The majority of studies on this topic point to an ever increasing amount of faculty utilizing social media not only for personal and professional purposes but also in the classroom.

-Is there room for social media in pedagogy?

Introduction on Social Media in Pedagogy-There are 22, 386, 523 people following the top 100 social media schools on Facebook

-There are 4, 595, 480 people following the top 100 social media schools on Twitter

-There are 790, 887 people following the top 100 social media schools on Instagram

-Since Feb 4, 2003 (the launch of Facebook) the top 100 social media schools have garnered 5, 952 likes/follows per day

-Purdue University is the most active (school) poster on Facebook

-The University of Wisconsin is most active Twitter user

-Since June 15, 2006 (the launch of Twitter), the top 100 social media schools have garnered 1,585 likes/follows per day

-The top (school) users on Facebook are Harvard, Texas A&M and the University of Michigan

-The top (school) users on Twitter are Harvard, Yale, and StanfordSource: Katie Lepi via http://www.edudemic.com/universities-social-media/

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyWhy consider using social media?

-In 2013, 59% of “faculty agree that ‘the interactive nature of online and mobile technologies create better learning environments’ and that digital communication has increased communication with students.”6

-Social media “linking” and “discussions” can act as catalysts for inspiring students to explore issues and topics on their own and sharing with each other.

-The ease of using these social networks to send out real time articles, stories, happenings etc.

-Babson Survey Research Group and Pearson conducted a survey of nearly 8,000 faculty members in higher education. In this study they asked numerous questions regarding the use of social media within the classroom.

-Lets look at some of their findings.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyWhat issues or barriers are there? (in no particular order)

1.Instructor unfamiliar with the media, interface and possible uses for social media within the classroom.

1.You did not have Google, Facebook, Twitter or Youtube etc. as a student yourself.

1.Teachers may have the assumption that students share their private lives for all to see on social media sites (this for the most part is untrue).

2.College Polices on social media not being defined

1.Privacy of the educator and students

2.Control over content and accessibility

3.Liability

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyThe boundaries, limitations, or guidelines necessary when using social media in an educational context.

Facebook: (specific to Facebook but really best for most social media)

1. Have a personal Facebook account and a separate professional account.

2. Make sure all privacy setting are turned on and understood.

3. Let the students come to you.

4. Create groups for specific classes.

5. Add students to a student list or “Acquaintances List”

6. Unfollow student posts.

7. Archive ALL instant messaging.

8. Turn off your chat availability when you don’t want students knowing you are on Facebook.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyThe boundaries, limitations, or guidelines necessary when using social media in an educational context.

Facebook: (specific to Facebook but really best for most social media)

9. Let students know that you are only available between certain hours.

10. Don’t put any personal info on your page such as phone numbers, personal email accounts, birthdays etc. Or, if you do, make sure they are not viewable to the public.

11. Make sure your posts are going to specific groups and not just to the public.

12. Treat Facebook like a classroom. Anything that you wouldn’t discuss, say or put a picture of up in that environment does not belong on Facebook.

13. Tell students to put you in a “restricted” category on their end in the friends options. This way you don’t have to see spring break pictures. Also unfollow them!

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyThe boundaries, limitations, or guidelines necessary when using social media in an educational context.

Twitter: (specific to Twitter)“1. Choose the shortest Twitter handle you can. Tweets are 140 characters long and your Twitter name is part of those 140 characters. You want to leave room for your own messages as well as making it easy for people to rewet your tweets.

2. You have quite a few options when you tweet. You can just tweet, which basically means you are posting an update that all your followers can see.

3. You can tweet to someone specific. You start the tweet with that person’s Twitter name (which starts with @). That tweet will only be seen by the person you are tweeting or people who are mutual Twitter friends.

4. You can tweet to someone specific but put words in front of the person’s Twitter name. Anyone can then see that tweet.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyThe boundaries, limitations, or guidelines necessary when using social media in an educational context.

Twitter: (specific to Twitter)5. You can tweet multiple people at once by using all their names with a space separating each of them.

6. You can retweet.

7. You can reply to a tweet.

8. If more than one person is mentioned in a tweet you can reply to all.

8. You can block a user who is a spammer or someone you don’t want.

9. You can block a user and report spam.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyThe boundaries, limitations, or guidelines necessary when using social media in an educational context.

Twitter: (specific to Twitter)

10. You can send someone who is following you a DM (direct message). (If you are not following them back, they will not be able to reply to you through a direct message.)

11. These are the basic options. There are more. Take time to learn them.” Check out the privacy options in your settings area.

12. Never erase any direct messages and realize that everything you are tweeting is essentially public.

Now, Instagram and Pinterest are essentially public forums as well. I invite you to follow the links provided in the handout for more information and how to videos.

What are college educators doing with social media in the classroom?

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyFacebook:1. Follow news feeds. Have students follow news feeds relevant to the course material in order to keep current information flowing through the class.

2. Create groups. You can create groups for entire classes or for study groups with smaller subsets of students that allow for easy sharing of information and communication, without students even having to friend each other.

3. Schedule events. From beginning of semester mixers to after-finals celebrations, easily schedule events for the entire class using Facebook.

4. Share multimedia. With the ability to post videos, photos, and more, you can share multimedia content easily with the entire class.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyFacebook:6. Provide direct communication with instructors. Instructors and students can contact each other through Facebook, providing an opportunity for better sharing of information and promoting better working relationships.

7. Ambient awareness. Facebook provides an excellent opportunity for students and instructors to participate in ambient awareness, a way of getting to know those you follow on social networks in more meaningful ways.

8. Class Notes. Snap a photo of what the teacher wrote on the board or a copy of your class notes and post them here so everyone can share their visual notes.

9. Homework Help. Networking with one another can help students assist each other in working through problems.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyTwitter:1. Tweet about upcoming due dates or assignments.One of the simplest ways that teachers can use Twitter in the classroom involves setting up a feed dedicated exclusively to due dates, tests or quizzes.

2. Provide the class with a running news feed.Subscribe to different mainstream and independent news feeds with different biases as a way to compare and contrast how different perspectives interpret current events and issues

3. Use Twitter in the classroom to create a career list. Set up an interesting assignment requesting that students set up Twitter for education lists following feeds relevant to their career goals and keep a daily journal on any trends that crop up along the way.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyTwitter:“4. Track memes. As inane as Justin Bieber’s popularity is, at least an educational opportunity lurks around the corner. Instructors concerned with communication and sociology issues can easily find a number of different lessons on ideas engaging Twitter for teachers and fads spread throughout different media sources.

5. Coordinate assignments. Rather than keeping up with an e-mail train, students can use Twitter to collaborate on different projects and keep a quick reference on any changes.

6. Track a hash tag. More ambitious educators may want to incorporate Twitter in lessons that track hash tags for another interesting lesson in how trends spread and the various ways in which people use social media to communicate ideas.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyTwitter:7. Connect with the community. Partner up with local government or charitable organizations and use education Twitter to reach a broad audience discussing the latest cultural or educational events in the area and encourage others in the community to attend.

8. Follow the issues. Bring a little technology into debates by asking the class which issues they would like to follow. Subscribe to relevant hash tags and accounts from all perspectives and compile an updated resource cobbling together as much research as possible.

9. Post sample questions. Save paper by using Twitter to post up sample questions for upcoming exams for students to research and consider without ever having to put down their computers

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyPinterest:“1. Swap lesson plans. Pinterest is full of lesson plans that you can use and adapt to your own needs. You can also show off your own great ideas by pinning photos and blog posts on your own.

2. Locate amazing images for your lessons. Pinterest is a very visual resource, which is what makes it such a great place to look when you’re trying to find images for a lesson or a lecture. There are tons of material that is historical, contemporary, art historical, or just plain interesting to look through.

3. Have students pin project ideas. Pinterest can also be a great place to get students working. Teachers could have students pin ideas on a board that relate to a particular project they’ll be working on.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyPinterest:4. Use pinning as part of a lesson. Of course, pinning itself could also be an educational experience. Students could have to pin items that fit a certain set of criteria as part of a lesson.

5. Collect ideas for virtual field trips. Let your kids travel the world through the web when you find creative online field trips on Pinterest, or build your own through great images.

6. Make group work visual. Whether you’re working with your colleagues or helping students to work on a group project, Pinterest can be a great place to collaborate. Share images for presentations or links to papers, resources, and research.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyPinterest:7. Have students photo journal on Pinterest. There are numerous ways students can use Pinterest to journal. How about a series of photos captioned in a foreign language? Or documenting a trip they took? The possibilities are endless.

8. Find loads of printables. If you’re in the market for some printable games and lessons for your students, you’ll find tons of great stuff on Pinterest.

9. Pump up your science lessons with amazing experiments. Search through the pins on the site for some ideas that can help bring science to life for your students.

10. Get ideas on how to make learning more hands-on. There are pages and pages worth of pins all about hands-on projects for students. Take advantage of some to make your lessons more interesting and memorable for your students.”

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyInstagram:1. Student Work Showcase: Take photos of student work and showcase for your network to see. Have your students’ parents follow along, or engage with another classroom in your school to share work.

2. Guidelines: Make sure you have guidelines for the students so that the content they’re photographing is “clean” and school-appropriate.

3. Class Memories: If your class takes a field trip, offers a concert or other production, or celebrates a milestone event, photograph it to remember!

4. Historical Figures: Imagine how a famous historical figure would use Instagram. Have the students research a person and create what their Instagram feed would look like if it existed during their time. As an example, JFK might have posted photos of his kids, wife, boat, and places he traveled on State business.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyInstagram:5. Literary Characters: Have the students imagine how a relevant literary characters would use Instagram. What sort of photos would Jane Eyre or Sherlock Holmes be posting?

6. Reading Recommendations: Students can post photos of books they enjoyed reading for their classmates to explore.

7. Step-by-Step: This will work especially well for science projects, but is applicable in other areas too. Have students document a step by step process for a project they’re working on, with a description of that step in the caption.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogyInstagram:8. Scavenger Hunt: Challenge your students to find specific things or types of things in the world around them. This activity can be adapted for nearly any subject matter, which makes it an excellent activity for all age levels and classes.

9. Writing Ideas: Take photos that can be used as prompts for creative writing – such as a For Sale sign, an empty room, a busy train, etc.

10. Document Progress: Snap photos of students’ work at intervals during the year.

Introduction on Social Media in PedagogySuggestions:

Research possible social media

Join said social media and become comfortable with it before truly considering it for classroom use.

Explore all the studies and articles on the benefits and drawbacks to implementing social media elements in to the classroom.

Know that you are following the lead of countless educators.

Always err on the side of caution.

If you have any questions or ideas you want critical feedback on my office door is always open.