User:Hwells12/Social media in education

READY FOR GRADING

Social media[edit]
Use of social media in education has helped some educators mentor their students more effectively.

Rather than compete with, or deny access to social media sites, some schools have embraced them, and are using them to further students' educations.

Parents, students, and teachers are using social media to connect and communicate inside and outside the classroom. Programs like BlackBoard, School loop, Top Hat, Moodle, Slack (software), and canvas have created platforms to enhance the learning experience by increasing communication between all parties. These sites are not necessarily social media websites, but their added communication features such as forums create an experience that is similar to that of social media. Studies have shown that 96% of students have internet access, as well as access to at least one social media site. Teachers are moving away from the no phones at school rule, and are implementing them into their courses to keep students attention in class. Teachers are at risk when using these platforms, Teachers use of social media outside of the classroom is not always protected by the teachers union. Teachers are taking risks when choosing to communicate with students outside of the classroom, especially when they are private conversations through social media. Transparency is the key to communicating with students. Teachers are choosing to use Twitter as a way to talk to their students because it is a social media site where the posts and comments are open to the public.

The reason for the usage of social media has been seen from a study done by Fezilelsik in 2013. It discussed that social media helps faculty to provide good examples and understanding regarding visuals. It has a positive role in providing news updates to students and informs them about course activities. Zehra Mohsin, Falak Jamil, and Bhamani study focused that students usually waste their time when they work on their social media profiles. Hamade in 2013, in a study, provided that social media is positive in providing better linkage in family and friends and helps to be more social in socio-political grounds. '''With those social media sites come political and historical memes and videos that inform students about the specific topics. Social media is important for students to learn and be part of a community when they are posting about a certain topic or using a hashtag to join a movement.'''

According to a study done by Lisa Marie Blaschke Weisberger's hypothesis is supported by research by Junco, Heiberger and Loken (2011) and Blaschke, Porto and Kurtz (2010), proved to say that the use of social media can increase learner engagement levels (student-student, student-instructor and student-content) and promote the development of cognitive and meta cognitive learning skills, such as reflection, critical thinking, construction of knowledge and understanding of one's individual leaning process

Apps and services[edit]
The recent developments in technology have changed how and what students learn in a classroom. The internet gives students access to more resources than ever before, in terms of both research and learning tools. Students are taught to be more critical in life overall when they have to decide which sources are credible or not when doing internet research. Students can also engage in active learning by using devices to participate in their field and service learning by working with organizations outside of the classroom to solve problems and create new projects. Students can also use their devices to access learning management systems like Blackboard and Canvas. Students are able to complete their work anywhere as long as they have internet service, which grants them more freedom outside the classroom. '''Given the recent COVID-19 pandemic and most of the schools being closed applications like Zoom and Microsoft Teams are being used for student to learn and give them that "classroom" feel. There are some cases that students feel that being in the virtual classroom setting being on Zoom is a distraction but others who feel they are able to engage in school more than they would in person'''

Other apps have been developed that combine learning tasks with elements of social media. Quizlet is a new tool that helps students study in a new way. Quizlet allows users to create flashcard sets that are always available to study. It also takes these card sets and automatically generates practice tests and other activities to help students study, which they can share with other users. There is opposition to learning websites such as Quizlet because some people believe they make it easier for students to cheat, claiming that students can use their phone during the test to look up answers and can pass off other students work as their own '''by which they are not wrong. There are apps that you can take a picture of your question and get an answer at the tip of your fingers.'''