By: Sarah Lundgren
Editor: Cole Lanfried
The days of overflowing e-mail inboxes and stuffy office hours may be coming to an end.
Many educators at the University of Georgia are beginning to use new social networking technology to communicate with their students and take learning beyond the confines of the classroom.
While social networking sites have traditionally been used for entertainment or business purposes, they are now making an appearance as learning aids. E-mail is no longer the only internet tool used in the classroom.
Just one example is a site called eLearning Commons, also known as eLC, a descendent of the previous version, WebCT. Designed for classroom use, it allows teachers to upload multiple documents and grades as well as answer questions simultaneously. Students can talk to others in
their classes and link to useful pages on their own time.
Facebook and Twitter are two other popular social networking sites that, while not typically used for education, are making their way into the classroom. They connect over 400 million and 14 million people respectively worldwide, and teachers like Mark Johnson and Karen Russell are logging on to reach their students.
Johnson, a photojournalism lecturer in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication uses e-mail, instant messenger, Facebook, Twitter and a blog. While these media generally serve social purposes, he said every one is a link between him and his students academically and has yet to disrupt his classes.
“Students are so actively connected to so many things that it’s foolish not to take advantage of it,” said Johnson. “There’s always just a little more knowledge. To think the only way that’s valid is to stand in front of students and talk is a very close-minded way to approach education.”
And with more than 5 billion pieces of content like web links, news stories, and blog posts shared each week on Facebook, the site offers almost limitless potential for instructors to communicate with their students.
The former Associated Press photographer said his job is to get information into the individual mind; he does not get much time in class to do that. Posting a quick blog to supplement a 3-hour lecture gives his students better accessibility to his material, and it reflects in his course evaluations.
He said immersing himself in his students’ typical social media gives them a more cohesive experience that connects between lecture and the real world. Vince Hampton, one of Johnson’s students, agreed.
“I think it takes the material and puts it into a real life perspective, seeing it in something I use almost everyday,” said Hampton, 22, a publication management major. Though he does not often follow his teachers on Facebook or Twitter, he said that there is a comfort in knowing the option is there when he needs it.
Russell, associate professor in the department of advertising and public relations in Grady, uses technology to build on the comfort that Hampton mentioned. She does not only want to be accessible as a teacher like Johnson, but as a person as well.
Russell has her students use a Website called PR Open Mic, a professional public relations network similar to Facebook. She allows her students to “tweet,” or post on Twitter, during class, and both her personal and professional tweets are available to students.
She warned that while some students appreciate that availability, others “just don’t want to know that part of {the teacher’s} life.” Nicholaus Carrea, 25, a recent graduate with a degree in landscape architecture elaborated on that idea.
“I loved WebCT and eLC, but I didn’t want to know about my teacher’s personal life,” said Carrea. “The thing is though, if I saw them on instant messenger on a Saturday night, I wouldn’t have to wait till Monday for them to check their e-mail. Probably would have gotten a lot more work done.”
Whether or not the notion of personal life is in question, both Russell and Johnson encourage instructors to use social media in their classes to help students like Carrea. They believe the communication industry that their department is centered on is already heavily involved with social networks, and other divisions should follow.
“Academia is a very entertaining place,” Johnson said, “sort of like the island of misfit toys...As {professors} age out of their positions, new people who grew up in technology will take their place.”
Combining advancements in technology like Apple’s new iPad with social media could mean more economic affordability and rapid learning at universities. It is now possible for a student to read a teacher’s blog while walking to an event suggested on another’s Twitter using new devices.
In a couple clicks of a mouse, instructors can reach students anywhere, anytime. The only requirement is their own thirst for knowledge and new horizons to better suffice that of their students.
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The story feels more focused at the top. It's clearer and better organized. A fundamental flaw remains the lack of hard evidence that social media are becoming a more common teaching tool. For one thing, many of these sites (Twitter, for instance) have only been around or popular for a year or two, so to say they've "traditionally" been used for anything is a stretch on the definition of traditional. Then, although there are good examples from the two Grady professors, there is no indication that a growing number of college educators are using social media. The fact that a couple of people are cannot be used to assert that it's becoming common. For that, you need to talk with people who study social media trends and can speak authoritatively about how those media are being used.
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