Dear Content Contributor, 

In our previous edition, we promised to do a follow-up on the usage and importance of social media tools in teaching and learning. To start with, what is social media? 

Social media are computer-mediated tools that allow people to create, share and exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks. It can as well be described as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content“. Furthermore, social media depend on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly-interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated contents. 

The issue of using the social media in the classroom has been a controversial topic for several years. Many parents and educators have been fearful of the repercussions of having the social media in the classroom. The Peel District School Board (PDSB) in Ontario, Canada is one of such schools’ boards that have now begun to accept the use of the social media in the classroom. In 2013, the PDSB introduced a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) policy, which has led to the unblocking of many social media sites. Fewkes and McCabe (2012) have also researched on the benefits of using Facebook in the classroom. Read details

The Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies has highlighted more than hundred examples of how to use the social media for learning and teaching. Read more

Pam Boiro, in his published article titled, “Fundamentals of Social Media Support for Learning”, stated that the “Social media can increase employee participation in learning, especially if the programmes have significant element of self-directed learning. Learners are more likely to stay engaged and complete their programme of study if they are able to reach out to peers involved in the same programme or get help on a particular topic. Face-to-face or virtual-group interaction at key points in the programme such as the kick-off, or the achievement of milestones, which enhance user engagement.  Read more

I will be glad to see our lectures being delivered using these communication tools. It is ideal that we should not make use of many at the same time. But we need to start from somewhere as our University is already listed among world-class institutions.

You may read our previous weekly tips HERE

Thank you.

Dr. O. Folorunso
Director, Centre for Innovation and Strategy in Learning and Teaching