This document explores the integration of social media in higher education, highlighting its potential for enhancing student engagement, collaboration, and learning outcomes. Surveys indicate that students are eager for instructors to incorporate social media into their teaching methods, despite some professors' reluctance. It concludes with recommendations for practices that educators can implement and emphasizes the importance of teaching students to protect their privacy online.

1. R E S E A R C H O N A N D P R A C T I C E O F
S O C I A L M E D I A I N H I G H E R - E D
T E A C H I N G
Q . J . Y A O , P H . D .
A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R
D E P A R T M E N T O F C O M M U N I C A T I O N & M E D I A
L A M A R U N I V E R S I T Y

2. W H Y S O C I A L M E D I A I N
H I G H E R - E D C L A S S R O O M S
• A. Climb down the ivory tower
• B. The teaching-hospital model (learning by doing;
simulations are never real)
• C. Service learning (applying the learning to benefit the
community).
• D. Immersive education (JIED).
• Building reputation for the courses and the institution
(Coursera, EdX, etc.)

3. S T U D E N T S A R E R E A D Y
• McGraw-Hill (2015) surveyed about 1697 college students about the impact of
technology on their study habits and found:
• A. 81% used mobile devices to study
• B. 77% reported adaptive learning technologies generating a moderate or
major improvement in their grades.
• C. 72% wanted study technology feeling as tailored as social media feeds.
• D. 66% ranked it important for them to be able study on a mobile device.
• E. 62% reported technology making them better prepared for classes.
• F. 48% reported technology saving their time, up to five hours a week.

4. S T U D E N T S A R E R E A D Y ：
T H E C A S E O F U W
• The University of Washington (n.d.) surveyed its students annually, as part of
the ECAR study, and in 2015:
• A. 65.1% wanted to keep online academic and social lives separate.
• B. 63.4% reported multitasking with technology devices and services
prevent them from concentrating,
• C. 56% reported using social media, or Facebook particularly, as a
learning tool.
• D. 31% felt they would be more effective if better skilled at using social
media as a learning tool.
• E. 21% wanted their instructors to use social media as a learning tool more
frequently.

5. R E S E A R C H
( O B S E R V A T I O N S )
• Davidson (2011, p.101): “I supplemented this with more traditionally
structured academic writing, and when I had both samples in front of me, I
discovered something curious. Their writing online, at least in their blogs, was
incomparably better than in the traditional term papers they wrote for class.”
• Halavis (2011): “Finally, and in large part because of the outcomes above, the
comments themselves become an important part of the text of a course,
worthy of continuing discussion and commentary.”
• Churcher, Downs, & Tewksbury (2014): “I feel it (the course Facebook page)
was a good way to gain participation for those students that find it difficult to
participate in class.” “The more we are involved, the more we want to read and
learn, especially for people who need a more hands-on approach.”
• Rheingold (2008): “Moving from a private to a public voice can help students
turn their self-expression into a form of public participation. It is an important
and beneficial learning outcome, and it is also fundamental to democracy.”

6. R E S E A R C H ( E M P I R I C A L )
• Levin & Davis (2007): a virtual “third place” extended the
discussion outside the class, allowed shy-talkers to discuss,
generated deliberated thoughts, and honed writings, but
also imposed technological challenges.
• Novakovich & Long (2013): a comparison between a
section of students writing for their class and another
section of students writing for their course blog found the
latter writing more frequently, using more sources, and
receiving higher grades from the same outside grader,
possibly due to a higher level of engagement to meet a
higher standard. The number of feedbacks were negatively
related to the grade and publishing frequency.

7. • Ahern, Feller, and Nagle (2016) surveyed undergraduates
and found them creating Facebook study groups because
of the ease of access, use, and control and the
communication and interaction. They were benefited from
info seeking, communication efficacy & quality, learning
capability, and the sense of community.
• Zachos, Kollia, and Anagnostopoulos (2018) reviewed
77 articles, from 2010 onward, on social media usage in the
higher-ed processes, and found Facebook the most
popular, following by Twitter. Social media were used to
support, enhance educational process, and communication
and collaboration. Most studies agree on the positive
impacts, some revealed negativity (distraction, etc.).
Research (empirical, continue)

8. P R A C T I C E S : U N I V E R S I T Y O F
W A S H I N G T O N ’ S ( N . D . )
R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
• Use Twitter to host real-time remote class discussions.
• Encourage students to create course-specific virtual study
group on social media.
• Complete collaborative assignments over social media
(wikis, etc.)
• Create assignments completed on social media (blogging,
tweeting, etc.)
• Hold virtual office hours.

9. P R A C T I C E S : M O O D Y ’ S ( 2 0 1 0 )
S U G G E S T I O N S
• Create Facebook group or page for a course.
• Find reading materials from social media.
• Ask students to blog or tweet or make YouTube videos on
the course topic.
• Ask students to create a multimedia page or online profile.
• Use Blackboard to gather virtual meetings or invite virtual
guest speakers.

10. E X A M P L E : A C O U R S E -
B L O G A T V A N D E R B I L T

11. E X A M P L E : A P R O F E S S O R ’ S
F A C E B O O K C O U R S E P A G E

12. E X A M P L E : T W I T T E R A C C O U N T
F O R A C O U R S E A T T H E U O F
A L A B A M A

13. E X A M P L E : T H E Y O U T U B E
C H A N N E L O F Y A L E C O U R S E S

14. S O C I A L M E D I A : T H E P O L I C Y
F R O N T I E R
• Source: Pomerantz, Hank, &
Sugimoto (2015).

15. L E G A L C O N C E R N S
• Kevin Smith, Duke Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communication (his
own blog):
• FERPA requires no releases of student “educational records” (by default,
excluding the “directory info”)”in our keeping” without their written consent.
• Four steps to check:
• A. inform students at the beginning of the class;
• B. make it possible for students to use an alias or pseudonym;
• C. strongly remind students not to post private or copyright-infringing
info;
• D. consider an alternative way for students with severe concern about
social media to fulfill the same project.

16. C O N C L U S I O N S
• Social media is ubiquitous and here to stay.
• Although professors are reluctant to use social media
in classes, students are passionate about that.
• Using social media enhance students’ access,
participation, collaboration, self-expectation, and
performance.
• Teach students to protect privacy when using social
media. Digital world is also the world.

17. R E F E R E N C E S
•Ahern, L., Feller, J., Nagle, T. (2016). Social media as a supporter for learning in universities: An empirical study of Facebook groups.
Journal of Decision Systems, 25(1), 35-49. doi: 10.1080/12460125.2016.1187421.
•Churcher, K., Downs, E., & Tewksbury, D. (2014). “Friending” Vygotsky: A social constructivist pedagogy of knowledge building through
classroom social media use. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 14(1), 33-50.
•Davidson, C. (2011). Now you see it: How the brain science of attention will transform the way we live, work, and learn. New York: Viking
Press.
•Halavais, A. (2011). Blogging course texts: Enhancing our traditional use of textual materials. Learning Through Digital Media
Experiments in Technology and Pedagogy. Retrieved on April 23, 2019, from https://ats.bard.edu/courseblogs/.
•HASTAC Team. (2012). Guidelines for public, student class blogs: Ethics, Legalities, FERPA, and more. Retrieved on April 23, 2019
from https://www.hastac.org/blogs/superadmin/2012/11/30/guidelines-public-student-class-blogs-ethics-legalities-ferpa-and-more.
•Jacoby, B. (2015). Service-learning essentials: Questions, Answers, and lessons learned. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
•Levin, M. & Davis, D. (2007). Virtual “third places” and experimental learning: A case study of blogging in a marketing promotions
course. Journal of Advancement of Marketing Education, 10, 18-26.
•McGraw-Hill (2015). Report: New McGraw-Hill research finds more than 80 percent of students use mobile technology to study.
Retrieved on April 23, 2019, from https://www.mheducation.com/news-media/press-releases/report-new-mcgraw-hill-education-
research-finds-more-80-percent-students-use-mobile.html.
•Moody, M. (2010). Teaching Twitter and beyond: Tips for incoprating social media in traditional courses. Journal of Magazine and New
Media Research, 11(2), 1-9.
•Newton, E. (2012). Journalism funders call for “teaching hospital” model of education. Retrieved on April 23, 2019, from
https://www.knightfoundation.org/articles/journalism-funders-call-teaching-hospital-model-education.
•Novakovich, J., & Long, E. (2013). Digital performance learning: Utilizing a course weblog for mediating communication. Educational
Technology & Society, 16(4), 231-241.
•Pomerantz, J., Hank, C., & Sugimoto, C. (2015). The state of social media policies in higher education. PlosOne, 10(5), e0127485. doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0127485.
•Rheingold, H. (2008). Using social media to teach social media. The New England Journal of Higher Education, (summer), 25-26.
•University of Washington (n.d.). Social media in the classroom: Opportunities, challenges & recommendations. Retrieved on April 24,
2019, from https://itconnect.uw.edu/learn/research/ecar-social-media/.
•Zacho, G, Kollia, E-A., & Anagnostopoulos, I. (2018). Social media use in higher education: A Review. Education Sciences, 8, 194.
doi:10.3390/educsci8040194.