FeliciaChong,Ph.D.July31,2017

SocialMediainTechnicalCommunicationClassrooms

CouncilforProgramsinTechnicalandScientificCommunication

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CouncilforProgramsinTechnicalandScientificCommunication

SocialMediainTechnicalCommunicationClassrooms

Introduction:TheNeedfor SocialMediaSocialmediaarecommonlydefinedas“toolsusedforcommunicatingwithinandacrossnetworks”(Daer&Potts,2014,p.31)oras“mediathatexploitWeb2.0technologiestoallowformoreuserinteraction,especiallyopportunitiesforuser-generatedcontent”(VerzosaHurley&KimmeHea,2014,p.57).Socialmediausersareincreasinglysharing,publishing,discussing,collaborating,networkingandmessagingusingvariousplatformsandservices.ExamplesofsocialmediathatwillbediscussedinthispaperincludeFacebook,Twitter,blogsandClassroomSalon.

Withtheadventofsocialmedia,technicalcommunicationstudentsare“expectedtobeproficientinthesetechnologies”(Magrino&Sorrell,2013,p.358).FerroandZachry’s(2014)surveyofknowledgeworkersconfirmedthisexpectation,wheretheyfoundthattoolssuchasTwitter,LinkedInandGoogleDocsarewidelyusedtoaccomplishworkplacetasksorgoals.DaerandPotts(2014),citingtheir2013study,foundthatevenacademicjobsintechnicalandprofessionalcommunicationareincreasinglyseekingcandidateswithexperienceteachinginonlineenvironments(p.22).Therefore,technicalcommunicationinstructorsandscholarsarestronglyurgedtoincorporateandimplementsocialmediaintotheirclassrooms,asBowdonaptlystated:

ThepopularityandubiquityofsocialmediaincontemporarymainstreamAmericanprivateandpublicculturedemandthattechnicalcommunicationinstructorshelpourstudentstolearnhowtousethesetoolstoaccomplishtheirindividualrhetoricalgoalsaswellasthoseoftheorganizationswheretheywillserveasprofessionalsorvolunteers.Teachingtechnicalcommunicatorshowtoperceive,address,andrespondtoaudienceneedswhilecarryingoutorganizationalstrategyhasalwaysbeendifficult,butadaptingtosocialmediatechnologiesmaymakethechallengeevengreater.(Bowdon,2014,p.40)

AdvocatessuchasMagrinoandSorrell(2013)arguedthatsocialmediasuchasFacebook,Twitterandotherbloggingapplicationsareidealforclassroomusebecausetheyare“moreaccessiblefrommobiledevicesthanuniversitycoursemanagementsystemsare”(p.364),whichmeansstudentsarealso“morelikelytoreceiveandrespondtoclassannouncements”(p.362).Inaddition,theauthorsarguedthatsocialmediaprojectsnotonlyallowstudentsto“’openout’tothepublicsphereoftheInternetinawaythatseemstomakethemfeellessconfinedthantraditionalwrittenassignments,”butthosealsoencouragestudentstodoextrawork(p.364).

Whilemuchofourscholarshipisdevotedtoanalyzinghowsocialmediaareorcanbeusedintheworkplaceorpublicspaces(see,forexample,Ferro&Zachry,2014;Jones,2014;Longo,2014;Shin,Pang&Kim,2015;Stolley,2009;Pigg,2014)orduringemergencyanddisastroussituations(see,forexample,Bowdon,2014;Potts,2013),thispaperfocusesonarticlesthatprovidepedagogicalsuggestionsorexamplesofintegratingorimplementingsocialmediaintotechnicalcommunicationclassrooms.

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MythsaboutSocialMediaAccordingtostudiesconductedbythePewResearchCenter,65%ofAmericanadultsand90%ofyoungadults(ages18-29)usesocialmedia(Perrin,2015).WhilethesenumbersindicatethatthemajorityofAmericanshaveanactiveonlinepresence,wecannotassumethatallsocialmediausersareequallysavvy.Itisimportanttorecognizemythsofdigitalnativesandsocialmedia,whichinclude:

• Students’familiarityandcomfortabilitywithsocialmediatools.Theirproficiencyinusingsocialmediadoesnotnecessarilymeanthatstudents“fullygraspitsprofessionalapplications”(Magrino&Sorrell,2013,p.372).Similarly,inBrumberger,LauerandNorthcut’s(2013)discussionofteachingvisualtechnologiesintheclassroom,theyarguedthatthenotionof“digitalnatives”isproblematic,asitsuggeststhatstudents“arecapableofandcomfortablewithlearningnewsoftwareandhardwareontheirown”(p.172).Inreality,theyposited,ourstudentsusethesetoolsonasurfacelevelwithout“questioningthesettingsappropriatenessoftheresultstothetaskathand”(p.181).Theydonotfunctionasdesignersordevelopers.Whenresearchingstudents’useofsocialmediatoolsforcollaboration,Lam(2013)alsofoundthatstudentsalmostalwaysusede-mailasthedefaulttoolofcommunicationinsteadofthinkingcriticallyabouttheirmediachoices.

• Socialmedia’s“magical”abilitytomakestudentsmoreengaged.Althoughscholarsarguedthatusingsocialmediaimprovesstudentworkontraditionalacademicassignments(Magrino&Sorrell,2013)andallowsstudentstobemoreengagedincollaborativeactivities(Kelm,2011),socialmediashouldbeviewedas“toolstoassiststudentsinachievingthegoalsofthecoursecurriculum”(Magrino&Sorrell,2013,p.358)andnotbeusedorimplementedsimplyfortechnology’ssake.

ApproachestoTeachingSocial MediaWhilescholarsinourfieldrecognizetheimportanceofimplementingsocialmediainourclassrooms,theapproachestoteachingorengagingwithsocialmediavary.Forexample:

• VerzosaHurleyandKimmeHea(2014)advocatedfortheuseofcriticaltheoryinteachingandlearningaboutsocialmedia.Theyarguedthat“studentsneedtobeabletodeploysocialmediaaspartoftheirowneffortstocreateonlinepersonasandtodisrupt,insomecases,assumptionsaboutthewhollynegativeeffectsofsocialmediaintheirlives”(p.58).

• FerroandZachry(2014)positedthatwecanchallengestudentstothinkdifferentlyaboutonlinecommunicationbyteachingthemhowto“maptypesofknowledgeworktaskstodifferentkindsofservicesthatothersareusing”(p.20).

• Bowdon(2014)emphasizedtheimportanceofhelpingstudentslearntheconceptoforganizationalethossothattheymay“createeffectivesocialmediacampaignsaspartoftheirworkastechnicalcommunicators”(p.42).

• DaerandPotts(2014)contendedthatstudentsshouldpracticesocialmedialiteracies,insteadofviewingsocialmediaasskillsorlearningoutcomes.Theyemphasizedtheneedfor“sustained,guidedpracticeandreflectioninlieuofemphasisonmeasurableoutcomes”(p.25).

GeneralPrinciples/Guidelines

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MagrinoandSorrell(2013)arguedthatasuccessfulimplementationofsocialmediainvolvesfullimmersionintoolssuchasLinkedIn,Facebook,Twitter,Google+andBlogger.Theyrecommendedthatinstructors“keepthingssimple,introducingoneplatformatatimeandexpectingmishapsearlyon”(p.361).AccordingtoDaerandPotts(2014),instructorsshouldformrealisticexpectationsabouthowstudentsanduserscanintegratesocialmediatoolsintothecurriculum.Theyrecommendedthatinstructorslearnandusethetool(s),provideexamplesofgooduses,incorporatepracticesthatinvolveanalysisandevaluation,andpayattentiontoprivacyandaccessibilityissues.Thesearethe11practicalsuggestionstheyoffered:

1. Getfamiliarwiththetool2. Activelymaintainanonlinepresenceacrossmultipledigitalspaces3. Teachstudentshowtocuratetheironlinepresence4. Designexercisesthatemphasizepractice,notmastery5. Highlightgoodusesofsocialmediaalreadyhappeningattheinstitution6. Beawareofthedifferencesbetweensocialmediaandsocialnetworking7. Buildstudents’awarenessofhownetworksandmediaworkovertimeanddistance8. Resisttheurgetoevaluatebasedonquantifiableoutcomes9. Allowfor“throwaway”accounts10. Remindstudents(andinstructors)thatnothingisprivateontheinternetandthattheinternet

hasavery,verylongmemory11. Emphasizeaccessibletechnologies

ExamplesofSocial MediaAssignments/Models Thesearefourmodelsorassignmentsthatdescribehowsocialmediacanbeincorporatedintotechnicalorprofessionalcommunicationclassrooms:

• BusinessproposalInthisassignment,studentscollaborativelydevelopedabusinessproposalbycreatingandmanaginganaggressiveonlinepresence.MagrinoandSorrell(2013)recommendedthefollowing:

o TwitterwasmosteffectivewhenusedintandemwithotherplatformssuchasGoogleDrive,andfor“distributinglinkstowebsites,documents,videos,andblogs”(p.362).Itwasalsomoreusefulforstudent-studentandstudent-teachercommunication(p.371).

o Blogsshouldbeusedasaself-reflectiveexerciseregardingthenatureofsocialmediaandthecourseassignments(p.370).

o Facebookwaseffectiveinfacilitatingthepeerreviewprocess“sinceitismostlikelyalreadyusedbybothstudentandinstructor”(p.365).

• Twitteranalysis

Inthiscodingassignment,studentscollectedandanalyzedtweetsfromtheAmericanRedCross,theCentersforDiseaseControlandPreventionandCNN(CableNewsNetwork)duringHurricaneIrenetodeterminehowthesekeyorganizationsusedTwittertocommunicatewiththeirfollowersaboutthestorm.Bowdon(2014)offeredthefollowingstrategiesforhowthisexercisemaybevaluableintheclassroom:

o Begintheanalysisassignmentwithagroupdiscussionofstudents’initialexpectationsabouttheorganization(e.g.,itsethos,thekindofinformationitwouldprovide),andthencomparethoseexpectationsagainstthetweetstheyfind.

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o CompareTwitterthreadsforanationalorganizationwiththreadsfromalocalsourcethatfeaturesmoreemphasisongeographicallyrelevantandtime-sensitiveinformation.

o EvaluateTwitterthreadsandtheroleofsocialmediaduringmajoreventssuchastheArabSpringortheHaitianearthquake.

o Encouragestudentstoconsidertheirethosinreviewingtheirownsocialmediapractices.

• TechnicaldocumentationInthisassignment,studentsidentified,documentedandpublishedaspecifictechnicalprocessonInstructables.comforusebythelargeronlinecommunity.Conceptssuchasreachandcrowdsourcingwereusedtohelpstudentsconsidertheiraudiencesasactualuserswhomayencounterorinteractwiththeirwritingoutsideoftheclassroom.HurleyandKimmeHea(2014)explainedthefollowing:

o ThisassignmentshowedstudentsthatcommonplacewritingprinciplesstillapplytothedocumentationpublishedonInstructables,anditencouragedstudentsto“considerandreflectcriticallytheirownsharingandlikingpracticesoutsideoftheclassroom”(p.64).

o ConceptsofreachandcrowdsourcingintroducedtostudentsearlyoninthecourseallowedstudentstobemoreengagedwithInstructables.combybuildingtheirpersonaandestablishingcredibility.

• ClassroomSalon

AsatoolthathasFacebook-likefeatures,ClassroomSalon,wasusedinwritingclassestoassiststudentsincollaboratingandbuildingsocialnetworksandcommunitiesthroughtextannotations(similartopeerreviews).Kaufer,Gunawardena,Tan,andCheek(2011)arguedthefollowing:

o ClassroomSaloncantransformthewritingclassroomintoa“socialmediaclassroom”andhelpstudents“buildpersonalidentityandcommunity”(p.318).

o Featuressuchashotspotsandheatmapsallowstudentstoseehowcollectiveattentionisdistributedthroughoutatext(i.e.,hotspotsshowpartsoftextthathavethemostannotations).Teachersarealsoabletoseetheirstudents’annotationbehavior(whoaremostandleastactive)throughvisualizations.Thesefeaturesencouragestudentstoengagesinceit“makesreadingdraftsamoresocialactivity”and“readingamoreaccountableactivity”(p.316).

ConclusionInthispaper,Idescribedthetwocommonmythsaboutsocialmedia;Ireviewedthetheoreticalapproachestoteachingsocialmedia:Iprovidedgeneralprinciples/guidelinesforimplementingsocialmediaassignmentsintheclassroom;andIconcludedwithexamplesofsocialmediaassignments/models.

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ReferencesBowdon,M.A.(2014).Tweetinganethos:Emergencymessaging,socialmedia,andteachingtechnical

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