Social networking is everywhere in today’s environment. Social media has now become a standard way of life that is incorporated into one’s daily life. Social networking is not only for staying connected with friends and sharing photos; but, can be used for staying current on news events. Many organizations have begun using social networking as a marketing or advertising tool that has the potential to reach new and different customer targets (Richardson, 2010). Younger generations have always lived with social networking and don’t know anything different. As such, adult learners can greatly benefit from the use of social networking within education and also one’s personal life.
The first social networking tool selected for incorporation into the learning process is Facebook. Facebook allows users to create personalized profiles and accounts that can accessed by friends, family or even the public. Users are able to stay connected with friends via email or online chatting, share pictures, and share personal views or opinions about what is happening in one’s life. Selecting Facebook was an easy decision; almost everyone has an account already. If one does not have an account, signing up is really easy. In this day and age, most people you meet have a Facebook account and chances are that after your first encounter with someone you will end up becoming Facebook friends. Facebook is an untold secret within the education world, in which learners can share information, educators can post assignments, and students and educators can perform research (Helms, 2008).
One example for incorporating Facebook into classrooms is for learners to use the “Groups” feature. Each student would have a Facebook page, within their page the student would create a group that relates to a topic of their interest or a topic that is being discussed or studied in the course. Students would be assigned a course project in which one’s research and course project would be posted on their group page for others to see and read. Classmates would then join each others’ groups. Students would be able to share ideas for helping to improve one’s research or course project. Additionally, students would be able to share links to research or articles that pertain to the topic being discussed. This forum allows a free exchange of data and information among students.
The second example of incorporating Facebook is for the educator to create a Facebook page for the class. Instead of using traditional web course functions; the educator is now able to use Facebook. The educator can post reading assignments, videos, blogs, images, or links to websites on the class page (Young, 2008). As part of the required course work, students would have to access the course Facebook page. Additionally, educators can use Facebook as an option in which learners submit papers or homework assignments. The benefit of creating a class Facebook page is that the page can be customized for each new group of learners and each new course that is taught. The group Facebook page can be utilized as a chat room for students to discuss questions about course topics or homework assignments.
The second social networking tool selected to enhance adult education is YouTube. YouTube is an application in which users can post and share videos with the online community. It provides a forum for individuals to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). The rational for selecting YouTube is that it provides an easy interface to the world’s largest collection of online videos. An educator can incorporate YouTube videos into the learning process by creating short videos for students to view. The videos would pertain to the subject and topic being discussed in the course. A personal example is a friend of mine who is a high school science teacher. Instead of standing up in front of his students’ everyday he began creating videos of his lectures. The videos were uploaded to YouTube and made available for students. Students had to view the lecture prior to the next day’s class. The following day in class, the teacher would answer any questions the students had from the video lecture. The class would then perform an in-class experiment based on the lesson from the video lecture. It allowed the class and the educator more time to perform hands-on work instead of lecturing. This increases the engagement level of the learners.
The second example is for the educator to incorporate short YouTube videos into one’s class presentations. Not all classes are science or direct hands-on courses in which labs help to support the underlying concepts. For some educators, class presentations or lectures are still a must. But one way to make their lectures more entertaining and engaging for the learners is to include short YouTube videos. Additionally, when students have to make presentations to the class, they would also be required to include YouTube videos. The videos can be clips that the learners themselves created or they can be videos already posted online that help to support their presentation. Within my organization’s training department, we have begun to record training sessions and posting the videos to YouTube. The YouTube presentations are then uploaded to the company’s server and made available to employees to view at a time that is most convenient for them.
References:
Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 210-230.
Helms, A. (2008). Teachers disciplined for Facebook Postings. Charlotte Observer. Retrieved September 18th, from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/319902.html.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Young, J. (2008). When professors create social networks for classess, some students see a ‘creepy treehouse’. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved September 17, 2012, from
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3251/when-professors-create-social-networks-for-classes-some-students-see-a-creepy-treehouse.
I like the idea you have for the educator to start a Facebook page and let students populate it. It would be a nice place to post all the class happenings and to have comments on each other's work. This would make a central area where everyone would feel comfortable entering and giving their input on any subject. A community setting.
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