Technology and Innovation in Higher Education

Social media is a now a stable world, but should it be in the classroom too?

In a recent study titled “Why do faculty members use or not use social networking sites for education?” found that 52% of faculty surveyed used social networking site in their classroom. They also site that the most motivating factors of including social networking sites in their classroom includes effective communication and easy document sharing. However, the barriers to use included access to private information or personal accounts and that they were simply not needed.

Currently most instructions use their own version of social networking sites that allow for engagement of the class but not individuals outside the classroom. Two of these most common sites included canvas and blackboard. Now one may think that these are not social networking site and by the traditional sense they are not but for an academic institution they very much are. They provide a secure platform for student and teacher interaction and course material sharing; however, they defiantly have limitations.

Beyond institution site how much should technology and social platforms be in the classroom is still a question to be answered. Is it more distracting or a learning tool that supports and motivates? For example, some Tiktoks account purely are used to teach others. I currently am learning from a Tiktoker that creates anatomy videos on cadavers that most would not normally have access to so it is helpful in learning and reviewing my anatomy skills. Also, many use twitter as a professional platform to promote research and engage a larger audience. I think there must be a balance to keep it from being distracting and gain as much as possible from what technology and social platforms have to offer.