Essay On Impact Of Social Media On Learning Environment

Studies have shown that social media has a direct correlation to a college students social life. Teenagers in this time

By using social media this way in the classroom, students can unite with other cultures and societies to become more aware of the world.

Chawinga, W. (2017). Taking social media to a university classroom: teaching and learning using Twitter and blogs. International Journal Of Educational Technology In Higher Education, 14(1), 1-19. doi:10.1186/s41239-017-0041-6

Social networking and the amazing things capable on the internet are changing children of the 21st century. “A New Face for Schools” by Laura Lefkowitz is a great source for information on how social networking can help improve students academically. The article highlights how a “purposeful community” could help students learn how to act as a well informed group. The article goes on to say that schools should not fight social networking, but instead support it (“How ‘purposeful communities’ work”). Social networking could be used to help students in more ways than previously thought.

According to the video “ A vision of Students Today “ by Michael Wesch and “How Higher Education Uses Social Media” by Matt Silverman “ their is a link between social media and modern education system”. They both examine how social media and education relate to author other; in todays world people use social media for different purpose. In addition, the video and article by both authors mentioned before how we (students ) can use social media in higher education and how social media help us .

Social media has become a huge part of our lives and the younger generation is becoming more involved with this new technology. However, the use of social media has been a great debate in classroom settings. School districts have been conflicted with the two options: to teach along and incorporate social media into the classroom or to restrict the use of social media during school hours.

(procon.org. 1). Anyway, while we pond on that question, let us discuss why social media discourages students from studying or why students who uses social networking sites don’t do well in school. Besides the fact that students who use social networking sites use them to connect with their family, and long distance friends, proponents of social networking sites may argue that it helps students to do better at school, and that 59% of students with access to the internet report that they use social networking sites to discuss educational topics and 50% use these sites talk about school assignments, according to procon.org (2). However, since these sites are not one hundred percent accurate and reliable, how are we sure that the students who uses social networking sites are actually doing well in their academics and not failing when it is obvious non users of social networking sites perform better. As a matter of fact, what chance does a student who uses social networking sites stand to a student who spends their time outside classroom doing their homework’s, reading their class notes, textbooks, and novels, and spending their time on other things other than on social networking sites? In as much as many of us don’t see the harm social networking sites are having on our students, it is an undeniable fact

Social media also allowed students to work with new technologies. Because of this students are becoming more familiar with computers and other electronic devices. (Dunn)

A second factor, social media could also have a huge effect on education. The use of social networks such as facebook and twitter are very well known, especially by most college students. David Gewirtz realized that some of the people who see a personal social media website could be a friend, potential employer, and even a stranger. Gewirtz warned most students to monitor what they are posting online. He says “ You could be a teenager today who is 15 and say inappropriate things, and then as an adult looking for a job as a CEO.” He is sending people a warning to monitor what they post because what is on that website might potentially ruin a chance of employment. (Michelle 1-2). College

Are we becoming less human with the passing of each day? Have we become too dependent on technology, specifically social media? In this day and age, people have different views on social media. They question its true purpose and its effect on society as a whole. With that said, although there are many thoughts concerning the topic/trend of social media something that is undoubtedly true is that social media plays an active role in the lives of the majority of people. Whether in a positive or negative way, social media influences the lives of all people. However this paper focuses on the effect of social media on college students. It addresses both the positive and negative effects of social media on those in college; focusing on a student’s academic efficiency, social interactive skills, and overall productivity.

Jon Russell once said, “Social Media presents a huge opportunity for schools, universities and other educational organizations to reach out and connect with students and prospective students”. With no doubt, social media has influenced the way students are educated today. For those of you who do not know the exact definition of social media, the social media means ways of sharing information, opinions, images, videos using the Internet, especially social networking sites. Because of the Internet, people started finding ways to socialize through social websites and exchange information. Popular social network on the Internet such as YouTube became a sensation for me ever since I became a student in college. Today social media can be used for educational purposes. The ways social media is changing education has affected how the students express themselves, behave, and interact with each other.

Many students agree that social networking is an essential tool in education today. Feedback has become a vital tool amongst students and teachers in networking whether it’s Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter (Carey, n.d.). In a recent study, it stated that 59% of students who belong to “social networking sites” admitted that when there on the Internet they explore topics to communicate about such as college preparation and occupations. Another study shows that 50% of students use social networking to improve on their studies and teachers have found that this has helped students become more successful in their reading and writing vocabulary (“Social,”

As we are aware, students use social media during their spare time. However, we live in a world today that social media can make a great impact on eLearning. Social media can become useful if educators know how to use them correctly. There are several social media sites out there that help integrate technology. While many educators get frustrated when students have their phones and other devices out, this is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of this and allow them to learn with their devices. “Social media can be a useful tool to use for educational purposes” (2016, para.1). Educators can create a Facebook group page for the class. It is important that learning remains fun. The educator can post something funny that will encourage students that learning is still important and can be enjoyable. If a student is absent one day, the educator can easily post notes and anything that was taught in class for that day. Creating threads has become very popular. This is a great way to start a discussion and students can interact with one another. Students can easily blog for points. Blogging is a creative way for student assignments. It should be encouraged. Pinterest can be utilized by pinning educational sources and youtube for a flipped classroom concept. These platforms can require work, but will be worth it. Being able to find the right learning tools to fit into an educators teaching methods is the key to success. It gives them a chance to take advantage

In addition to this Poore (2013) argued that the new social media has reformed the traditional media resources such as the usage of newspapers, books and magazines have reduced due to the availability of information on online resources such as Moodle and WebCT. Hence, it also provides intellectual benefits such as children can learn how to analyze, interpret and synthesize the information. Okoro (2012) acknowledge that integrating social media technologies into higher education can enhance ongoing communication between teacher and student which helps in promoting collaborative learning activities. His findings laid stress on effectiveness of teaching and student learning outcomes with an appropriate example of understanding the usage of electronic media in making strategies and practicing skills in business

While it was not possible to determine if using the site and increased academic self-efficacy users were seen attending more orientation programs and users were seen to help each other adjust to campus life(DeAndrea 18-19). Teachers are seeing different benefits from using social media. One benefit is more engagement from students, a theater class at the University of North Carolina used a video game to enter a social universe set in Shakespeare’s Globe theater. The class would act out plays in the virtual setting, the professor noticed more engagement and excitement from the more quiet and shy students(Blankenship 40). Not all teachers, and students, are receptive or willing to integrate social media into the classroom. One argument against implementation is that not all students have the ability to access the Internet when not on school grounds and requiring the school to provide technology outside of the classroom would be impractical or impossible to achieve(Blankenship 41). Another argument that is used is that social media is its impersonal nature “the best ideas often come from sharing an actual space with someone” (Blankenship 41). Educators are still researching social media’s place in education and the classroom is one of the best places to experiment.