Most of us consider social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook our greatest sources of procrastination. In general, our professors request that we avoid perusing these websites in class so that we remain engaged with the material. At the same time, a new trend is emerging: Educators are asking their students to utilize these social media platforms as part of their classes. If used in a limited manner, and mostly outside of class, social media can help students engage with class material as part of their daily routines.
The increasingly common use of social media in classrooms shows that our education system is evolving and providing opportunities for students to express themselves in diverse ways. While social media or other web-based forums should not completely replace a classroom environment, they are helping to create an education system catered toward the technological habits of younger generations. A 2013 Babson College study found that “about 40 percent of faculty members used social media as a teaching tool in 2013,” Inside Higher Ed reported in October.
Social media use also demonstrates professors’ willingness to adapt classroom structures to students’ needs and desires. Nontraditional instruction provides some students a tailored education and offers them a different format that may benefit their learning styles. At Brown, many professors require students to post comments on class Canvas pages. A shift from Canvas to Facebook posts would make class participation even more accessible and natural for college students. In a Herald article last month, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Wendy Schiller said, “Students are already using Facebook, so it’s a helpful tool in the sense that it fosters communication amongst students in ways that might not otherwise be possible.” In addition, some professors have found that students who are more hesitant about participating in class have an easier time posting their opinions on online outlets like Facebook.
The incorporation of social media into class curricula not only creates possibilities for students to share their opinions openly and confidently, but also allows professors to know their students more intimately. Jon Marshall, an assistant professor at Northwestern, told USA Today in November that Twitter “was helpful to have yet another tool to get to know” his students, especially in large classes.
But fostering connections on social media may pose questions about how much professors should know about their students’ lives outside of class and vice versa. Some may argue that professors should not have access to their students’ Facebook profiles or be able to see what occurs in their students’ private lives. At the same time, students can easily make their Facebook profiles private. Professors can use Facebook’s tools to create class groups in which members must be accepted by group administrators, and each student’s profile can remain private.
As with Facebook, the use of Twitter in class curricula can be beneficial or hurtful. If used appropriately and for the purpose of fostering discussion and sending quick and interesting observations to students, Twitter should not pose any problems to classes. And Twitter offers educational advantages that neither Facebook nor Canvas does. Schiller said Twitter “is a really great way of continuing the conversation outside of class.” In this sense, Twitter works the same way as a class discussion, without the necessary class time. Just as class discussions are based on short comments and responses to each student, Twitter discussions allow for lively and active debate.
Moreover, Twitter may help students hone their writing skills. A 2012 Michigan State University study found that “students who use Twitter for academic reasons gain the ability to write succinctly,” U.S. News and World Report reported at the time. While most courses require paper-writing only, the introduction of Twitter comments in class discussions could teach students to construct arguments in a concise and articulate manner.
There remains a problem of how to ensure that students are using social media in and out of class in a constructive way. Professors have no way of monitoring exactly what their students are doing on social media in class. About 56 percent of professors who were surveyed for the Babson study still believe that “technology is more distracting than helpful to students’ academic work,” Inside Higher Ed reported. Others believe that the increasing use of social media in classrooms is creating an environment in which “students are missing valuable lessons in real-life social skills,” Campus Technology reported in 2012.
Though these concerns are valid, there is something to be said for the evolution of class discussions and student contributions. Social media should not replace the traditional format of classrooms, and its use during class hours is often distracting. But a moderated and directed use of social media outside of class can create positive possibilities for both educators and students alike.
More than that, using social media to supplement current ways of communicating learned knowledge in class demonstrates professors’ willingness to evolve with technological innovation and make use of new social media platforms available to us. Like everything, social media is best in moderation. But its use opens up new channels of communication — in a readily accessible manner — that traditional classroom structures do not offer.
Sami Isman ’15 is still trying to figure out how to use Twitter.
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