This document discusses the use of social media in education. It defines social media as online tools that allow users to interact, share information and ideas. When integrated properly into virtual classrooms, social media can enhance learning experiences and student engagement. The document outlines several social media tools like social networks, blogs, wikis, bookmarking, and multimedia sharing and provides potential educational uses for each. It emphasizes that social media promotes collaboration, makes materials accessible, and supports discussions. Guidelines are provided for appropriate and effective use of social media in education.

1. An Introduction for Instructors
Robin Beavers
DETT611
4/20/2013

2. Social Media is an online application that
allows users to interact, create, share,
collaborate, and exchange information,
resources and ideas.
Social media tools promote communication
between groups, incorporate new tools for
creation of knowledge, enable communication
between many students, and provides sharing
resources” (Joyce& Brown, 2009)

3. “When properly integrated into the virtual classroom,
social media can offer innovative learning experiences
and enhanced learner engagement” (Zhang, 2010).
Social media is learner-centric and collaborative by
nature.
Social media makes course materials easy to access
and it supports asynchronous and synchronous online
discussions and interactions.
The most popular sites are free!

4. Can be accessed with mobile devices. Students can
check in from their phones or tablets 24/7.
Affords both collaborative an individual tasks.
You create an informal way to learn outside of the
virtual classroom.
It promotes the acquisition of technical skills that your
students need for success beyond school.
IT’S RELEVANT!!

5. As with anything you must set guidelines for
use.
Follow your objectives set for the class. Focus
on learning not the media tool.
Create activities that promote creativity, critical
thinking, interaction, collaboration, assessment
and feedback.

6. There are many different types of social media. When
used wisely they can benefit all learning types by using
text, audio and video. Social media includes:
Social networks
Blogs and Wiki’s
Social Bookmarking
Collaborative & Productivity tools
Multimedia sharing tools

7. Potential uses
Create a private page which restricts access to your class only,
which allows you to use and post resources and stay within
copyright regulations.
Facilitate discussions.
Upload announcements and assignment reminders.
 Provide links to other educational resources, including those
with multimedia links like video.
You can also have live chat sessions individually or in a group.
Sites
Facebook.com
Google.com
Social media networks are online tools for “creating social
networks and communities and supporting social
learning”(Hoffman, 2009).
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8. Social bookmarking is an online tool that lets users add,
edit, annotate, share, and bookmark various websites.
Social bookmarking allows both individuals or groups to
build a body of knowledge around a certain field, to
share that knowledge, and to find others who are
interested in that field (Tomkins, 2009).
Potential uses
Build a collection of bookmarks on a class topic
Share collected resources with class
Sites
Delicious.com
Diigo.com

9. Short for Web log, a blog is a Web page that serves as a
publicly accessible journal created by an individual ,
organization or group. A blog disseminates information
and allow others to comment on the posted information. Blogs
promote “creativity, reflection, social interaction and authentic,
or problem-based, learning activities”. (Coulter, 2006)
Potential use
Require students to maintain a reflective journal through the
course.
Students can create and share an online portfolio.
Post discussion questions ,assignments or informative links.
Sites
WordPress.com
Blogger.com
Technorati.com
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10. Twitter is the world’s foremost social media tool for
microblogging. Twitter allows no more than 140 characters
for each “Tweet”. It is concise, mobile, and targeted.
Potential uses
Post supplementary resources using a link to
student anytime.
Have students follow other instructors or
scholars in relevant fields of study.
Tweet assignment due dates or updates
anytime.
Have students follow one another to create
interaction for a topic
Site
Twitter.com
™

11. A wiki is a website that allows participants to create or
edit the site contents It is a “living collaboration whose
purpose is the sharing of the creative process and
product by many”(TeachersFirst).
Potential uses
Ideally suited for group work to produce a
collaborative body of knowledge.
Instructors can produce an annotated reading list
create a writing scaffold for a group project
help develop student’s abilities to evaluate
information ( Joyce& Brown, 2009)
Sites
Wikispaces ™

12. Collaborative & productivity social media allows
simultaneous editing of files making these tools ideal for
group projects.
Potential uses
Group projects; group members can create
and share spreadsheets, word processing
documents, or PowerPoint presentations.
Some media tools in this category (Skype)
include the ability to conduct video, voice and
conference calls as well as transfer files, send
instant messages or chat.Sites
Docs.google.com
Skype.com
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13. Media sharing tools allow for the creation, collaboration
and commenting on multimedia content. Individuals or
groups may create podcasts or videos. While other
social media is specifically for sharing art or music.
Potential Use
Upload your lectures for student viewing and commentary
Student can create individual or group projects
 You or your student can create multimedia portfolios to share
Share photos on a topic and create virtual pin boards.
Sites
YouTube.com
Slideshare.com
Flickr.com
Pinterest.com
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14. Check your institution’s social media policy.
Check your institution’s Copyright Policy.
Material on social media sites is public and may not
be covered by copyright law. Read each social media
website’s “Terms of Use”, “End User License
Agreements” sections for full disclosure (University of
Southern Mississippi, 2011).

15. Technology- Be mindful that not all students have
access to reliable broadband services. Also, some
social media tools require students to have extra
equipment like microphones or webcams.
Time- consider time restraints when incorporating
social media into your course.

16. Coulter, P., & Draper, L. (2006). BloggingIt into Them: Weblogs in Information
Literacy Instruction. Journal Of Library Administration, 45(1/2), 101-115.
doi:10.1300/J111v45n01̱06
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learning: mediation strategies applied to social networking tools. .
Retrieved from
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter124/joyce124.html
Lim, T. (2010). The use of Facebook for online discussions among distance
learners.. Turkish online journal of distance education (TOJDE), 11(4), 72-
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Sinclair Community College. (2010). Social media & web 2.0 Tags: blogs,
bookmarking, podcast, social media, social networking, tagging, web 2.0,
widget, wikis. Sinclair Community College Library. Retrieved from
http://libguides.sinclair.edu/socialmedia

17. Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers. (n.d.). TeachersFirst: Wiki
Walk-Through: The Basics. Retrieved from
http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/
Tomkins, A., & McLoughlin, D. (2009). Social bookmarking: creating and sharing
content in postgraduate learning. Proceedings Of The European Conference
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University of Southern Mississippi. (2011). 02.01.09 Social Media Provisional
Guidelines.The University of Southern Mississippi. Retrieved from
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provisional-guidelines
Zhang, J. (2010, January/February). DE Oracle @ UMUC. DE Oracle Main RSS.
Retrieved from http://deoracle.org/online-pedagogy/emerging-
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