K.THIYAGU NEW FRONTIERS IN EDUCATION 2013

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PEDAGOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES IN EDUCATION

K.Thiyagu,

Assistant Professor,

Tamilnadu. India.

thiyagusuri@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Social networking services are increasingly being used by educators as

teaching and learning tools that supplement traditional classroom environments as

they provide new opportunities for enriching existing curriculum through creative,

authentic and/or flexible non linear learning experiences. From chat rooms,

discussion forums, blogs and wikis, services like Facebook, and/or virtual world’s like

Second Life, social networking tools are being meaningfully added to curriculum. The

use of social networking services in education has been shown to benefit education a

number of ways by supporting social learning, constructivist teaching practices,

authentic instruction, student centered learning, and on demand access to learning.

More research needs to be conducted into the use of social networking services and

other communicative Web 2.0 technologies in teaching and learning. This article

explores the pedagogical usage of social networking site and features of social

networking. This article also describes the challenges of opportunists to use the social

networking sites in education.

Keywords: Social Network, Face book, Pedagogy, Challenges,

Opportunities, Blogs, Privacy etc.,

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INTRODUCTION

Social networking has become one of the most important communication tools

among people nowadays. However, social networks exist on the Internet websites

where millions of people share interests on certain disciplines, and make available to

members of these networks various shared files and photos and videos, create blogs

and send messages, and conduct real-time conversations. These networks are

described as social, because they allow communication with friends and colleagues

study and strengthen the ties between members of these networks in the space of the

Internet. The most famous in the world of social networks are Facebook

(Facebook.com) and Twitter (Twitter.com) and MySpace (myspace.com) and others.

Electronic social-networking services such as MySpace and especially

Facebook have rapidly earned fame. The model of the web as a decentralized search

engine to search information or communicate with others is becoming obsolete. These

networks have offered many services, and one of the most important of these services

is blogs, where members can participate in these locations to contribute their idea and

discuss with other members. These sites and social forums are means of

communication directly with others socially and in the media. They are playing a big

and influential role decision-making at the events of the global world economically,

politically, socially and educationally.

FEATURES OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

The features of social networks are summarized as follows

Most social networks provide users with information sharing facilities such as

e-mail, chats, instant messages, videos, blogging, file sharing and photo

sharing,

Social networks have a database for users so that they can easily find friends,

form groups and share things with those with similar interests,

Social networks provide users with opportunities for establishing on-line

profiles and setup their own social networks,

Most social networks are free of charge,

Most social networks are reviewed and recreated according to user feedback.

Similarly, open source versions enable users to develop their own applications

to be integrated with sites,

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Social networks enable users to reset their own access and privacy; therefore

users decide what to share and to what extent they share,

Social networks focus on individual based personal online groups rather than

first generation online groups based on content, subjects or personal interests,

Social networks create a cooperative environment,

Social networks support active model participation role through social features

and chat facilities,

Social networks provide interaction,

Social networks provide users with a critical thinking environment,

Social networks support active learning,

PEDAGOGICAL USAGE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Social network is not just a great way for us to find old friends or learn about

what's happening this weekend; it is also an incredible learning tool. Teachers can

utilize Social network for class projects, for enhancing communication, and for

engaging students in a manner that might not be entirely possible in traditional

classroom settings. The following are the easy ways to use social network in our

classroom settings.

Class Projects

The following ideas are just a starting point for class projects that can be used

with Social network in the classroom.

Follow news feeds: Have students follow news feeds relevant to the course

material in order to keep current information flowing through the class.

Share book reviews: Students can post their book reviews for the instructor to

grade and other students to read. If it's a peer-reviewed project, then students

can more easily access each other's papers online.

Create your own news source: A great way for journalism students to

practice their craft, use the Social network status update feed as a breaking

news source for sports results, academic competition results, and other campus

news.

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Keep up with politicians: Political science students can become fans of

politicians in order to learn about their platforms and hear what they have to

say first hand.

Facilitate Communication

An excellent way to ensure students is more engaged in the learning

experience, whether in a traditional classroom or at accredited online colleges, is by

strengthening the communication between students and student-to-teacher. These are

just a few ideas to do just that.

Provide direct communication with instructors: Instructors and students

can contact each other through Social network, providing an opportunity for

better sharing of information and promoting better working relationships.

Allows introvert students a way to communicate: Shy students who may

not want to approach their teacher after class or during office hours can use

Social network to communicate.

Create groups: We can create groups for entire classes or for study groups

with smaller subsets of students that allow for easy sharing of information and

communication, without students even having to friend each other.

Post class notes: Post notes after each class period for students to have access

for review or in case they were absent.

Make announcements: Instructors can send out reminders about upcoming

tests, upcoming due dates, or any classroom news. From unexpected absences

to rescheduling exams, it's easy to send messages through Social network.

Brainstorm: Students can have the ability to add their thoughts to the class

any time they occur allows for more opportunities for brainstorming off each

other.

Schedule events: From beginning of semester mixers to after-finals

celebrations, easily schedule events for the entire class using Social network.

Share multimedia: With the ability to post videos, photos, and more, you can

share multimedia content easily with the entire class.

Students engaged outside of class: When students are accessing the class

content more often, that means they will be thinking about and engaging in the

lessons more frequently.

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Social network Applications for Both Students and Teachers

These apps are great for both students and teachers and include access to

documents, research material, and presentations.

Links: Easily post links to interesting things found on the Internet that may be

relevant to class.

SlideShare: Instructors and students can use this app to create awesome slide

presentations as a part of class or to complete an assignment.

Podclass. Teachers and students who use a classroom management system can

access their courses, assignments, and more through Podclass.

CHALLENGES THAT FACE USE THE SOCIAL NETWORKING IN

EDUCATION

There are many challenges facing the use of social networking in education

such as privacy, real friendship, taking up time and miscommunication.

Privacy

Nowadays, the social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are open

for anyone who wants to participate. However, researchers have studied in

relationship between privacy concerns and online behavior. Studies have shown that

users will express very powerful concerns about privacy of their personal information,

but be less than vigilant about safeguarding it. Although a lot of the information

individuals' supply on social-networking sites is elective, users are progressively more

comfortable with displaying a great deal of personal information online. Therefore,

one of the main concerns for users who register in these sites is privacy.

Genuine friendship

Through social networking, person has a lot of friend but the quality and

integrity of these friendships is not always true. On the other hand, data on these

social-networking sites for a person is not always 100% honest and reliable, and they

do not verify personal details (age, location, etc.) of their members. While sites

provide an opportunity for individuals to present a positive and accurate self-image,

there is an equal potential to abuse this openness. So, having many friends through

social networking sites is likely to be more harmful than good. This will affect the use

of social networking in education. Facebook is spoiling the value of relationships,

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mostly long distance relationships. This is because the relationship is built and

maintained through a website and lacks the emotional and physical involvement of an

unadulterated relationship.

Taking up time

The amount of time spent by individuals with each other online is so high.

This has effect on health of individuals, because spending a lot of time browsing these

social networks can affect the way the genes operate within the human body, and

weakens the immune and hormone levels, and function of arteries. In addition, it is

also has an impact on mental health. Moreover, the use of social networking in the

education can cause lack of motivation towards learning and can be boring sitting in

front of computer for a long time, especially if the scientific material presented is free

of audio and visual effects that will attract learner towards learning.

Miscommunication

E-Learning does not afford the student with the same opportunities of

explanation and clarification that occur in face-to-face interaction. Learners face some

difficulty through social networking in expressing their views and ideas in writing, as

many learners prefer to express their ideas orally which is approach they have used

for many years through their study, While e-education users need to be acquire to

writing skills to express their ideas and opinions freely. Face to face allows

individuals to perceive physical clues like tone, inflection, body language, in an

online environment, these are lacking.

OPPORTUNITIES TO USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING IN EDUCATION

In the field of education, social-networking sites offer a student the

opportunity to connect with other students, educators, administrators, alumni, both

within and outside his current institution. Scholars praise social-networking tools for

their capability to attract, motivate and engage students in meaningful communicative

practice, content exchange, and collaboration. There are some of opportunities in the

use social networking in education. The following are the opportunities to use of

social networking in education.

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Flexibility

“Flexible learning expands choice on what, when, where and how people

learn. It supports different styles of learning, including e-learning. Flexibility means

anticipating, and responding to, the ever-changing needs and expectations of

Vocational Education and Training clients - enterprises learners and communities”.

Flexibility is one of the most attractive elements of online learning in social

networking. Blended approaches that combine face-to-face and online learning are

preferable to an online pedagogy alone. Face-to face classes are likely to enable high

levels of emotional understanding, while the convenience and flexibility of online

components can motivate students to complete educational tasks.

Repeatable

Remember information depends on all of our sensory, while the response

depends on the features of individual and the motivation to learn. So, it must be

therefore provided a way that has offered for a learner the possibility of repetition,

which is rarely offered by traditional educational methods. The social networking has

offered this way through their sites and gives the opportunity for learners to retrieve

the information immediately or later.

Convenience and accessibility

The social networking is easy and quick in term of accessing accessibility,

reviewing, updating, and editing learning material needs any time and any where. In

addition, it allows for option to select learning materials from large quantity of

courses offered online which the learner needs and it also makes easier distribution of

courses material. The social networking helps to reduce stress and increase

satisfaction among students. It allows each student (slow or quick) to study at their

own pace and speed (self-pacing). Furthermore, it is easy to join bulletin board

discussion any time, or visiting classmates and instructors remotely in chat room. It

can provide stronger understanding and increase retention on the subject , due to using

many elements which exist under e-learning, e.g. multimedia, quizzes, interaction ...

etc and the ability too retry training and over in order to understand. The social

networking allows access to courses available in their sites, allowing the learner to

follow-up online at any time it deems appropriate, and overcome the limitations of

space and time in the educational process.

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CONCLUSION

E-learning is a very important tool to assist and facilitate teaching and learning

process. It provides the tools for learners to be in contact with peers and teachers

outside the classroom. It also empowers learners to manage their own learning and in

the most appropriate way for each learner. Learners learn in different ways which are

reading, watching, exploring, researching, interacting, communicating, collaborating,

discussing, and sharing knowledge and experiences. Through e-Learning, learners can

have access to a wide range of learning resources and learning can occur anywhere,

anytime, and there are no longer any geographical constraints to learning.

Nowadays, the new generation spend more time on social network in their

daily life for social purposes. Social network media are seen to support a range of

applications which display qualities associated with educational technologies already

in use at university level such as communication, participation, interactivity and

collaboration. The interface used by Social network is simple, easy to use and orderly.

Social network is a public application. As such, it is quite appealing to the younger

lot. The public application makes it simples for students to share their lives, whether

educational, social, personal or professional in a fun and learning environment.

Therefore, there is an opportunity that social software technologies provide good

spaces or platforms for students’ learning.

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