ENG499 Crowell Research SP13

Katrina Stevens writes an article about Social Media being incorporated into the classroom as a way to break down the walls of the classroom. There is significant feedback that using social media in every day course work deepens academic dialogue, and helps students who do not necessarily take a vocal role in a classroom. Those who need more time to gather thoughts and speak their minds are given an opportunity to let out their opinions and talents in another way. Stevens also speaks on the necessity of balance in the classroom and that when students are exposed to many different types of learning styles, it is more likely that the information will reach more students. It is through using multiple forms of educational tools that teachers reach the most successful results.

A student who comes in for the same formatted lecture and writes the same report every Tuesday is less likely to keep interest and go above and beyond their educational expectations. Especially in the high school setting, students need to develop their learning patterns and study abilities in order to succeed in future academic endeavors. Using social media opens a lot of doors for different types of students and allows them to connect to each other in more ways than one. Teachers can get better results from these types of changes, and students can learn how to bring their education into the real world.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-09-18-dipping-into-social-media-in-the-classroom

Jess Fee wrote an interesting article called 7 Ways Teachers Use Social Media in the Classroom that details the new technology that has made its way into the academic setting. First it discusses how it encourages students to compare work and use each other for enhanced learning. It allows students to organize into smaller and more productive groups that make more sense for their demographics and work style. Another benefit to social media usage is allowing students to develop a writing voice and seeing their work develop. Specifically by using blogs, students can see their theories develop and connect those developments to their educational journey. This article also mentions Edmodo, which we have researched before. This enables students to see assignments, upload messages and photos to create a digital classroom space. This encourages students to connect to each other to enhance their academic experience. There is also discussion of the use of Twitter hash tags during guest speakers to collect questions and thoughts without interruption. It is an effective way to see levels of interest and make connections with the information being presented.

http://mashable.com/2013/08/18/social-media-teachers/

The incorporation of Twitter into the classroom has been seen to have many benefits and enables students to connect their every day world to their academic world. This discourages the tendency of students to leave what they have learned behind when they have been tested on it, and encourages them to go above and beyond what they can learn in their class time every week. Twitter can be used as a social media site, but it is also a substantial source of information. The director of Rice University Center for Teaching Excellence posted a blog about using Twitter in his courses, which James Lang took to his own classroom. Students were asked to tweet five times per week about their course material and use a designated hash tag to create an academic space that is their own.

Professors have reported that students are more engaged and connect to their material better than before Twitter was incorporated. This tool can also help students connect to other resources that they may have not found before using Twitter. For example, by following news channels or historical television stations, students find other outlets for learning that may be more interesting and make them more willing to expand their academic abilities. In the comments of this article, a reader pointed out a very interesting fact about using Twitter in a course, which is that Twitter is the new journal. Teachers used to use journals as a way to let students connect their course material with outside experiences or knowledge. Twitter is becoming the modern day outlet for users to connect their academic world with their social world.

http://chronicle.com/article/How-OrwellTwitter/142617/?cid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

      I.“More things to do with Social Networks and Virtual Groups”
The site has a user-friendly flow to it and enables the visitor to see exactly what they need to fix a problem they might have. The use of pictures to describe the process, which in this case is how to share a screen on Skype, is understandable for even the most novice of social network users.
There is a feature in which the site asks, “Did this answer your question?” followed by a yes or no button. This is helpful because if a user were to choose “no”, the site will help redirect them to a more helpful instructional.
The Skype screen share feature could be very helpful outside the classroom but still has potential to be helpful academically. However, in the classroom, it could be a distraction to students or an easy way to share online test answers or work. With that said, faculty could use this to aid each other in website use (for example sites like Moodle or Blackboard where some are more savvy than others). The feature could be most helpful for students to help them through technical problems, showing them how to reach certain sections of websites, or for study groups to collaborate with ease.
Skype in itself is a great tool and can very easily be taken to the academic setting. If a student is absent or needs to miss class to be in another location, they can Skype in on a lecture rather than miss a large chunk of material. It can also be used to host office hours outside school setting or if a professor cannot be on campus.
Lastly it would be productive to use Skype as a collaboration tool, not only within groups in a specific class but even with other classes, even in different states or countries. A class can contact a peer who is studying abroad or a professor who is working in another state. My brother’s high school, for example, used Skype to have a debate about Government Policy with a class in Canada.

Google Groups/Google+ is an entirely new and up-and-coming feature of the Internet. Google makes the site very accessible and user-friendly, and seems to be a very interesting way to interconnect a classroom. The features include a customizable profile page as well as access to the creation of “circles” in which you choose what people can see certain things on your own profile.
Then there is the community feature that creates an environment much like an online interactive bulletin board. People in the community can post photos, documents, and arrange massive online video chats. The academic possibilities, which accompany Google+, seem endless.
Homework can be posted online; projects are easily made collaborative, video chats enable communication with ease, and all this can be done within a circle, preventing academia from overpowering an individual’s other projects. As social media goes, Google+ has great potential to create an enhanced academic setting.

Pinterest and Delicious are not thought to be academic related sites in common talk. However, these sites can be used for students to find visual aids related to their work in the classroom.
The site is easy to use and people can create their own boards to “pin” things to. It could be particularly helpful in the fine arts, such as photography, but could also be used for faculty to post various art pieces for history related classes.
For example, a professor can create a class page with a common password and username, and assign the students to pin five examples of Existentialist artwork, then review the pins in class to explain what works and what doesn’t.

Ning gives a great first impression as it is skillfully designed and captivating as an overall website. It allows the user to branch out from the “limited ability” of a normal social networking site. The membership fee insures relative information is accessible, and the content is purely your own. It also enables co-publication of blogs and a shared forum space.
While the program may be helpful in an academic setting, it does not appear to be a huge step away from a customized class Facebook page that has an attached fee. Students may appreciate an academic zone that is separate from their social lives, which also may make them inclined to not be interested in using it at all. It is likely that most students may deem the site unnecessary and extravagant.

Edmodo is visually appealing and seems easy to use at first glance. It would be purely academic in usage and the purpose is to easily connect a professor and the students in a common portal.
Sites that are solely used for students to chat and ask questions are somewhat useless, because they are not inclined to use them. However this site enables questions, assignments to be posted, and calendars with a work visually available. The “Parents” section of the site could be useful for lower levels of education but at the University level, a student could feel as though their privacy is being invaded. It would also be useful for professors to poll their student’s and see a general consensus on a particular topic. Faculty could oversee their student’s progress and students would enjoy the ease of the program.

Using Facebook can prove to be very helpful in an academic setting. At first, the site seems to be simply social networking, however, Facebook has developed into a marketing and information-sharing powerhouse.
Most companies develop pages in order to spread the word about their product, and even simply give out basic information like their location and how they can be contacted. These days, most students have Facebook notifications on their cell phone and the site is checked 10 times more often than email. This can be the most efficient way to contact students and provide classroom information, through statuses, videos, class pages, and online chats.

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