Novakovich March 12 2012

8/2/2019 Novakovich March 12 2012

1/13

Hot Topics in HPT: Social Media Learning

Jeannette Novakovich

The purpose of this paper is to explore, summarize, and present current socialmedia learning research and trends. I searched the following databases: ERIC,

PROQUEST, and ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE.

Keywords: social media, learning, theory, social learning theory, higher education,informal learning, social network spaces, web 2.0, twitter, collaboration, social

learning networks, information and communication technologies, connectivism, MOOC,

blogs, wikis,

Beginning the search

I began my search using the keywords of my general topic: social media learning.

After I culled through the rather extensive results, I chose ten to twenty articles to

peruse. Next, I returned to the library databases and narrowed my search by adding

additional keywords that I found listed at the end of the abstracts of relevant

articles.

First, I selected a number of recent articles for the sole purpose of entertaining or

enlightening students at the Cracker Barrel presentation. Next, I looked for research

that pertained to social media tools that I currently use or could possibly use in my

classes to enhance both formal and informal learning. My ultimate goal is to

integrate social media learning more effectively into my course designs.

After considering hundreds of articles in the library databases, I selected close to

100 articles to download and sifted through them for about two months, narrowing

my results to 25 articles. I strived to select reputable journals; however, I was willing

to look at some of the more off-beat online creative commons licensed journals

like the International Review of Research in Open Distance Learning. The journal is

polished, but the articles lack, for the most part, strong empirical evidence.

Finding the keepers

Prior to writing the abstracts, I went through the final pool of articles, searching for

a statement of purpose and research questions. Not finding this information was a

red flag and caused me to dismiss a number of articles. After selecting and writing

abstracts of seven of the articles, I returned to the library databases to follow up


2/13

Novakovich/HotTopics 2

on new information and issues in training that I discovered through reading the

articles. One issue that I discovered was the effect of social media learning on the

instructors role in a decentralized active learning environment. In addition, I

discovered that assessment was also becoming an issue, measuring informal learning

behaviors is complicated. And, finally, a new learning theory, connectivist theory,

cropped up in a number of the literature reviews as well as reference to massiveopen online courses (MOOCs). I felt that this perspective and practice might spark

interest during the cracker barrel; however, I wanted to make sure that I was

informed as to its relevance and credibility, which is indeed rather contentious.

Tying research to professional interests

I have a strong interest in microblogging. My students are employing it in my

professional writing class, and I have observed a number of spontaneous uses for

this practice. For example, one student, when giving a presentation recently, tweetedout the URL of a website that she wanted the students to examine. We all clicked

on the link and arrived about the same time without hassles; this was possible

because our open course website contains a twitter feed with a number of useful

hash tags. When culling through the research, I was curious about what other

instructors were doing and what barriers to performance they were encountering.

Solidifying the final criteria for selection

Currency and relevancy Sound research methods Peer reviewed and professional journals Entertainment and/or practical value of content

Main results of my library database searches:

Database Keywords Number of

articles found

ERIC Social media, learning 3 394

ERIC Social media, informal learning 88

Academic Search

Complete

Social media learning, informal 14 984

Academic Search

Complete

Social media, network learning

and higher education

132


3/13


* This table is not complete. A number of searches were made prior to the postingof the assignment sheet.

Academic Search

Complete

Social media, informal learning,

and social learning

3

Proquest Social media learning 123 435

Proquest Social learning theory 2 883

Proquest Education connectivism 45

ERIC connectivism 16

Proquest Education MOOC 4

Proquest Education twitter, social media learning 886

ERIC Twitter, social media learning 13

Proquest Education web 2.0, social media learning,

and collaboration

2778

Academic search

complete

Twitter, social media learning 3 (all terrible)

Proquest Education Blogs, assessment, and audience 503


4/13


Allen, M., Naughton, J., & Ellis, R. (2011). Social Learning. T+D , 65 (8), 50-55.The purpose of this article was to present the updated ASTD competency model, a

model which integrates social learning and it effects on professional development

and training in the workplace. The authors asked the following questions

How should instructional designers adapt to social media learning ecologies? What social media learning competencies do instructional designers need?

Literature review: The purpose of the literature review was to cover the key pointsin current ASTD literature regarding the current use of social media in the

workplace. Social learning occurs informally when professional development or

training takes place on social media networks. Social media itself can be used for

both formal and informal learning.

Methodology: The ASTD commissioned a mixed methods study to update the ASTD

Competency Model. The study combined focus groups with leaders in the field andsurveys from 1069 survey respondents that were ASTD members. The collected data

from the focus groups was then coded into themes.

Results and Discussion: The three themes that emerged were focused on howsocial media could be used for collaboration in terms of exchanging information and

as a communication channel, ways to develop social media fluency, and how to

overcome organizational objectives to its use. Learning professionals need to

develop a high level of fluency in terms of the use of social media tools. Resistance

to social media occurs because it contains the term social, which translates to

managers as being wasted time and resources. Other concerns are security andprivacy issues and organizational culture.

Social learning is now a key component of ASTD Competency Model and shares a

spot with managing organizational knowledge. Suggested future research would

involve testing instructional designs that facilitate informal learning through social

media to determine what the most effective industry practices. The results showed

that 80% of the respondents believed that social media should be used more

frequently, and 83% of the respondents felt informal learning enhances employee

and organizational learning.

The implications of this study are that instructional designers need to develop social

media fluency and be prepared to overcome organizational objections to its use.

The limitations of this study are that it is a preliminary type of research exploring a

description of the current scene rather than a quantitative research method that

reveals the effective practices. Future research should explore ways to assess

informal learning.


5/13


6/13


Heibergert & E. Loken (2011). The effect of Twitter on college studentengagement and grades. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 27, 119-132.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00387.x

The purpose of the study was to determine if the use of Twitter to meet

educational goals impacted learning outcomes in the form of grades and measuresof engagement. The research answered the following questions:

Does Twitter have an impact on student engagement? What impact does Twitter have on grades?

Literature review: The review of literature began with a broad sweep of socialmedias use to create active learners in the classroom and its incorporation into the

classroom. The authors then moved to learning theories of engagement. While a

number of studies indicate that technology use increases engagement, very few have

researched the effect of social media and its impact on student engagement.

However, the authors, in a previous study, did find a positive correlation betweenthe use of social media and increases in college student engagement (Heiberger

and Haper 2008).

Methodology: This quantitative study incorporated a convenience sample from amidwestern university, which consisted of a large nonrandomized sample of 7

sections of a one-credit hour yearlong course in order to conduct an experiment.

Sections were randomly assigned to a control group, which did not practice

microblogging, and an experimental group, which had Twitter incorporated into the

course outline. Students were provided a pretest and posttest; in addition, data from

Twitter was also collected. None of the students were familiar with Twitter and theexperimental group received one hour of training. The authors ran ANOVA factorial

tests on the data.

Results and Discussion: The results of the ANOVA factorial tests showed thatTwitter positively impacted student engagement and grades. Twitter increased

interactions between student and faculty, improved cooperation among students,

promoted active learning and provided prompt feedback. Although the results were

apparently positive, the authors questioned if the results had more to do with the

technology itself rather than the course design and its integration of technology.

The implications of the study indicate that microblogging is likely an effective

instructional tool. The limitations of the study are that the results showed it is

difficult to separate the tool, the technology, from the learning process. Future

studies should strive to segregate the tool, mimic the process, to discover the

process that impacted learning outcomes.


7/13


Lampe, C., Wohn, D. Y., Vitak, J., Ellison, N. B., & Wash, R. (2011). Student useof facebook for organizing collaborative classroom activities. InternationalJournal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 6(3), 329-347.doi:10.1007/s11412-011-9115-y

The purpose of this study was to determine if a social network site, Facebook inparticular, was an effective learning tool to increase classroom engagement when

performing collaborative learning activities. The study addressed the following

questions:

How can Facebook be used as an informal learning tool help studentsengage in collaborative learning activities?

What are the factors, in terms of organizational and motivational behaviors,that might predict its successful use?

What types of collaborative activities occur on Facebook?Literature review: The review of literature first discussed the burgeoning use ofinformation and communication technologies or ICTs in the classroom and moved to

a more specific description of using social network sites (SNSs) to encourage

informal communication. The authors believed that the research suggests that social

network sites could be used effectively to encourage informal collaborative learning

for the goal of making sense and not task completion.

Methodology: This study consisted of quantitative research in the form of twosurveys. The first one was randomized survey of 302 students enrolled at a

Midwestern college to determine if intense prior use of Facebook, high self esteem

and satisfaction with life would lead to a higher likelihood that a student would useFacebook for classroom collaboration. The second survey consisted of a

convenience sample of 214 students. The survey results were tested for correlational

relationship, and ANOVA factorial analysis tests were also run.

Results and Discussion: The researchers found that students did use Facebook

informally to collaborate, sharing assignments and information about the course. It is

not clear if the outcomes were positive in terms of outcome or grades or how to

generate this type of outcome. The research indicated that students primarily see

Facebook as a social and entertainment site; however, students who friend their

instructors are more likely to collaborate on school projects.

Implications of the study indicated that informal learning does take place to a

limited extent on Facebook. Reported limitations of the study were that it tested

only for impressions and not for behaviors. There were also sampling issues, in the

sense that the second survey included students enrolled in a technology program.

Future research should explore if Facebook could be integrated into formal learning

in order to impact outcomes such as grades.


8/13


Manion, Christopher E.; Selfe, Richard Dickie (2012). Sharing an AssessmentEcology: Digital Media, Wikis, and the Social Work of Knowledge. TechnicalCommunication Quarterly . 21 (1) 25-45. DOI: 10.1080/ 10572252.2012.626756The purpose of this study was to determine how a decentralized learning

environment affects the instructors role in the classroom and authority. Selfe andDickie (2012) asked the following questions:

What were the teachers expectations in terms of student behavior? Were the students prepared for the decentralized environment and how

were they prepared?

Did the students do anything unexpected on a wiki? Were they any kinds of adaptations made by the instructors? Did the students develop self-efficacy? Were the students involved in the assessment process and how were

records kept?

Literature review: The review of the literature showed, for the most part, how wikisfailed to meet expectations, interfered with collaboration and sometimes even

distorted the relationship between teacher and student. The researchers concluded

that based on the review of literature, wiki use should require a decentralized

approach that reflect the social dynamics of the situation, and this decentralized

direction is the current focus of research in the field.

Methodology: The research consisted of a qualitative study involving three casestudies of instructors that were chosen retrospectively, They were categorized into

three main themes: habits of thought in fields of study, putting the habits intopractice and exploring assessment strategies. The instructors assessed student

projects and the influence of inside and outside stakeholders.

Results and Discussions: The researchers found that even though the instructorsdecentralized their authority in the course in order to put students in charge of

learning, they still maintained their role as experts. Allowing students their own

space for discovery learning benefited their growth by allowing them to be

responsible for learning.

The study provided a useful picture of a decentralized learning environment and away for the future in terms of instructional designs incorporation of formal and

informal social media learning where the instructors objectives are met and many

objectives are self determined by the learners. The limitations of the study are in

the nature of the research, a case study, which does not a parametric measure.

Future research should include an experimental quantitative design.


9/13


10/13


Ramirez, Artemio and Zhang, Shuangyue (2007) When online meets offline: theeffect of modality switching on relational communication. CommunicationMonographs 74 (3) 287-310.The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of switching modalities from

computer-mediated communication to face-to-face interactions. The researchersanswered the following questions:

Do perceptions of relational communication after a modality shift fromcomputer-mediated communication to face-to-face communication, in terms of

uncertainty reduction improve after the switch?

Does a sustained online relationship lead to a higher positive outcome aftermodalities are switched?

Does the timing of the switch have an effect on outcomes? What is the effect of modality switching on information seeking?

Literature review: The research was based on social presence theory (Short,Williams & Christie 1976) that explains how relational communication occurs over

computer-mediated channels. Relational communication is affected by shifting of

modes of communication, and there is a common belief that switching

communication modalities from a computer mediated modality to face-to-face

meetings will facilitate relationships and the completion of tasks.

Methodology: This quantitative experimental research study consisted of a largeconvenience sample of 864 undergraduate students enrolled in communication and

business courses at a Midwestern university who were given a chance to participate

in a nine-week study for extra credit. Students were paired with students that theyhad never met and modalities were switched early, midway and late during the nine-

week term. The results were then tested statistically with a multivariate analysis of

variance.

Results and Discussion: The researchers found that optimal relationships were

formed through computer-mediated communications rather than through face-to-face

communications. If modalities were switched, the next most effective relationships

were formed if the switching occurred right away since heightened expectations, in

terms of idealization were not in place. The longer the wait between modality

switching, the worse or more negative the outcome. The researchers speculated thatvisual anonymity is best since the average persons appearance is rather average.

The implications of the study are that the social attributes of computer-medicated

communication are sensitive to the switching of modalities. The limitations of the

study are that the present study was based on temporary virtual relationships and

not fixed ones. Future research could focus on social media communication

specifically and authentic fixed relationships.


11/13


12/13


13/13


T + D, 66 (2) p 48-54.

Ramirez, Artemio and Zhang, Shuangyue (2007) When online meets offline: the effect

of modality switching on relational communiation. Communication Monographs

74 (3) 287-310.

Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of

telecommunications . London: Wiley.

Wodzicki, Katrin, Schwammlein, Eva, Moskaliuk, Johannes (2012) Actually, I wanted

to learn: study-related knowledge exchange on social networking sites.

Internet and Higher Education 14 9-14. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.05.008

Documents

Novakovich March 12 2012