Abstract:

Social media and other digital technologies are rapidly assuming a significant role internationally as learning tools in higher-education classrooms and as tools of convenient and efficient global communication transactions. The adaptation process among faculty appears complex and rather non-standard. To study trending patterns that could be applied both locally and afar, data was collected from five professors and 95 students at one Midwestern university in on-going efforts to better understand the relationship among teachers, students and social/digital media use in the classroom. This research project is currently entering the final year of a three-year longitudinal study. The most recent data is a relevant addition to previous data and a quantified display of the movement occurring within this exploratory and volatile field of research, as the technology is constantly upgraded and changing.

The trajectory of the research feedback shows that learning experiences are enhanced by social media use. Faculty regards students as more engaged and confident. Students indicate higher interest and involvement in courses that utilize social-digital platforms. For the seven courses involved in this study, all five participating faculty incorporated social media use with a specifically designed assignment, to augment their instructional approaches inside a broader course structure. None of the faculty relied upon the social media activity as the sole means of reaching course objectives. Thus, rather than seek to measure specific, quantifiable outcomes, this study examines/explores qualitative perceptions and receptivity.

The research confirms that use of social-digital media can enhance the learning environment of the higher-education classroom by accommodating and infusing the technology that younger students are using prior to their entry into the college classroom. Additionally, the engagement provides students an opportunity to manipulate digital tools in a professional manner that brings them closer to the applications they will find in the culturally diverse workplaces that await them, where employers seek graduates with professional-style capabilities, who know how to use social media professionally, responsibility and effectively.

At the conclusion, participants will receive access to an ancillary outcome of this three-year research project: a link to an e-book of 20 faculty experiments with social media across 17 disciplines. All materials reflect original pedagogy from the presenters and their colleagues at the Midwestern university.

Keywords:

Social media, digital technologies, social learning.