Teachers Embrace Social Media in Class

As many of us know or may have noticed, there is social media all around us, especially at college campuses.  According to USA Today, "Students using Facebook or text messaging during a lecture tend to do worse when quizzed later".  This seems like a no-brainer to most of us, but I still see many people that continue to use social media during class anyways.  However, a 2010 study shows that faculty who build Twitter into their classwork may be helping students learn better and a survey of nearly 2,000 faculty said that they feel "YouTube is a very valuable classroom aid".

Harrison University of Science & Technology in Pennsylvania blocked access to several social media sites to see what the response would be.  25% of students reported having better concentration in class, but most other students would go off campus in between classes to get internet.  Some professors even encourage students to Tweet during class about the lecture topics and what they are learning in class that day.  They then check their phones to make sure that the Tweets are appropriate.

Moral of the story?  Social media is all around us and it is here to stay.  Educators just have to learn to embrace it and use it to their advantage.  That being said, I do not think they should encourage the use of social media during their class, but they know students are going to do it anyways so why not have a little fun with it.  In my opinion, I think students are more alert in class anyways when professors incorporate social media or YouTube videos into their lectures.  This just might be the key for professors to really connect with their students.

Teachers Embrace Social Media in Class