social media: facebook and twitter for teaching and learning

Tanya JoostenInterim Associate Director, Learning Technology CenterLecturer, Department of Communication University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

I am a full time, online only student, with 6 classes I do forget things at times, but

I do check facebook daily, and there were 3 times where I was reminded about

something by being on facebook, and it saved my behind.

According to a survey by Joosten (2009), students reported that they need good

(67%) and frequent communication (90%) with their instructor and good communication with their classmates (75%). They also reported that they

need to feel connected to learn (80%) (http://tinyurl.com/yafu8qz).

According to PEW Internet study, “Teens who participated in focus groups for this

study said that they view email as something you use to talk to ‘old people,’ institutions, or to send complex instructions to large groups “ (http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2005/Teens-and-Technology.aspx?r=1).

Social media was such an effective tool because the students ALWAYS check

their phones for text messages but they do not always check their email.

Previously, we had communicated mostly through email while students were at

their clinical sites but the students did not read the email communication in a

timely fashion, resulting in many issues.

According to Bulik (July 8th, 2009) “…They

go to social networking sites 5 days per week and check in 4 times a day for a total of an hour per day” (para 7).

According to PEW Internet study, “…

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of online 18-29 year olds use these sites–similar to the rate among teens–with 45% doing so on a typical day” (http://tinyurl.com/33hynyx).

According to Joosten (2009), 71% of students want to receive text messages about their class (http://tinyurl.com/yafu8qz).

According to PEW Interent, “the typical

American teen sends and receives 50 or more messages per day, or 1,500 per month.”

It was convenient for me to be able to access this class in the privacy of my own

home, and I constantly use facebook so it was a good way for me to stay

connected to the class.

FB let me connect the learning inside the classroom with things outside the

classroom. I used FB to send my students interesting articles, news stories, etc

that I found in my day. It also helped my students to connect with me more, I

think, because I shared a little more about myself on FB, through the things I

posted.

I was able to better facilitate communication with students at 37 different clinical

sites. I was able to answer protocol questions for ultrasound examinations and

keep students up to date on class location changes and syllabus changes

professorjoosten.blogspot.com

Tanyajoosten.blogspot.com

twitter.com/tjoosten

facebook.com/tjoosten

juice gyoza | second life

MediumAsynchronous

Discussion ForumsSynchronous

Collaboration ToolsVirtual Worlds

Technology Text-Only, Static Images, Tables

Text, Audio (VOIP), Static Images, Video

Text, Audio (VOIP), Static Images, Video, 3-D

Cues Written Verbal, Emoticons

Written Verbal, Emoticons, Oral Verbal, Nonverbal: Paralanguage, Kinesics

Written Verbal, Emoticons, Oral Verbal, Nonverbal: Paralanguage, Kinesics, Proxemics, Haptics, Objectics, Environmentics

Feedback Delayed Immediate/Real Time Immediate/Real Time

Participants Limited to course size

Limited by task, invitees, and bandwidth,

Somewhat limited by bandwidth and task, open attendance

Media Richness Lean Medium Rich

Lean Rich

Didactic Experiential

Private Public

Recall Performance

Experiential

Didactic

RichLean

SimulationsRole PlaysField WorkShowcase

Content

62

63