Get Your Students Hired
From the module on "Effective Use of Social Media in Online Courses," I garnered several key takeaways, namely, that social media platforms offer diverse channels of communication and resources that can complement traditional learning management systems. Tools like Twitter can provide microlearning experiences, while platforms like Pinterest can serve as repositories for visual aids and infographics.
Social media can be an informal feedback channel. Periodic polls on platforms like Instagram or Twitter can gauge student understanding and solicit feedback on course content.
l learn it is important to engage students if using social networking by having them create content and ensure we are using rubrics to assess their learning.
So far in this course I am enjoying the guideline for using online resources in ways that are legal and helpful in order to enhance the learning experience for classes.
Comment on Becca Humphrey's post: I also learned social networking tools can augment online collaboration and learning in order to develop a community with the learners. :)
One major takeaway from this module is the idea of using a rubric for assessing the content posted to social media. Not only is this a good idea in the education setting, but in a personal setting as well. I think we all could use a "cheat sheet" in assisting us with our social media posts. Good habits established in class can transfer to good habits in personal use. Thank you for the link to academia.edu and the Social Media Rubrics article.
Ask students (through a blog) to discuss the different Twitter people/accounts they follow regularly. They would need to share one of these with the class and discuss their reasoning for following this person/account. To further this assignment, instructors can ask students to find a Twitter account that is related to a particular class or academic area. Students can also present the watched account and specific details to the class through a wiki or blog.
It is interesting to learn of specific social media platforms such as Piazza created for learners. I have used Facebook at previous institutions as a way to have group discussions on class topics. However, we moved from social media to using the LMS tools and got more positive feedback from adult learners when not using an entertainment-based social media platform. Having a separate platform for learners that is distinct from others used for personal use may help facilitate a comfort with professional social media platforms as well as help ensure it is being used in the appropriate context.
i recognize that social media can be extremely useful in a classroom setting if it applies.
All types of social networking are legitimate as long as students are employing the right strategies.
I like the idea of integrating YouTube videos into my course--I even had the idea of asking students to create their own YouTube videos (or TikTok videos) about course content and then posting links to their videos into a discussion or comments on a class announcement. It might be interesting to give an assignment in which students are asked to locate a Twitter post on a particular topic and make a comment on it, then screenshot it and post it into a class discussion. There are just so many possibilities--it all depends on the course content and the type of social media you want to use.
I have learned that social media can improve the online teaching platform. It is often difficult for students to connect with teachers (especially with large age gaps), social media seems to connect the divide
Students often rely on groups found on social media. These groups can be quite helpful forums for information.
Monitoring social networking can be a time consuming process for educators. Especially if your student count is high. Engaging students can start off easy but can be difficult after a while. I think students may eventually understand WHY monitoring is so important
My only wish is that not only educators take courses like these but that all politicians be required to take these courses. Maybe they could learn a little something about using social media/networking and HOW to use it appropriately. We teach this to children young and older but the older population weren't trained/taught HOW to use it.
Using social media can be an incredibly useful tool as long as basic rules are followed!
Using social media in a classroom set up can be beneficial to students learning and help them be more engaged.