Tweeting, posting, streaming, chatting, and digging--social media has become a part of our everyday lives, including our academic experiences. Two weeks ago, we highlighted the eSchool News article “Class in 140 Characters or Less” describing the presence of social media in the classroom.  Given the impact social media has on our lives…we thought this topic deserved an additional post.

As pointed it out in “Class in 140 Characters or Less”, the rapid decline of student engagement in academia is forcing teachers and universities alike to take the initiative to engage their students through social media. Whether it is tweeting or blogging, here is how some universities are benefiting from the newest teacher’s aide:

1. University Of Texas: One of the biggest advocates for social media in the classroom is University of Texas at Dallas. To smash classroom shyness, Dr. Monica Rankin decided to use an alternative route for student discussion; Twitter. Nicknamed the “Twitter Experiment,” Dr. Rankin allowed students to tweet questions or responses via laptop or cell phone to increase class participation.
2. Purdue University: Purdue University has used a similar method to the “Twitter Experiment” by allowing its students to Tweet questions specific to the classroom lecture and has see an increase in student engagement.
3. Miami University: Miami University is utilizing social media in the classroom by having its journalism students use methods such as tweeting, blogging to gather research on current events or class experiences.
4. Northwestern University: Journalism students at Northwestern students have created the “newsmixer” which pulls stories from local, national and global news from a variety of stories. Students then take these stories and use Facebook as collaboration technique to discuss stories with peers.
5. City University of New York: Journalism students at the City University of New York are deepening their engagement with classroom concepts by actively using Twitter and blogs to discuss course concepts.

I also had the chance to speak with Kathleen Ryan, Associate Professor at Miami University as well as Bridget Fogarty, a senior at Miami University and here is what they had to say about social media in higher education:

“Throughout their journalism courses, students’ blog about their classroom experiences and activities; Teachers are able to see direct feedback and track class participation through student blogging.  Journalism students can use their multimedia skills through Facebook and Twitter to update their story progress and collect research on current events to report and write news stories.” says Kathleen Ryan, Associate Professor at Miami University.

“Blogging is a really great way for students to engage in a classroom. It is hard for everyone to talk during class discussions yet so much of our grade depends on participation,  It really is great because teachers know what I think on an issue and I didn’t have to raise my hand.” says Bridget Fogarty, Miami University senior.

Despite the many benefits of Social Media in academia, academics are still grappling with the usability of this medium for educational purposes.

“There is a challenge for professors to have a comfort level with new media technology,” states Ryan. “We have to be “early adapters” so to speak, not being afraid to experiment with the various new social networking platforms.”

Ryan’s remark along with, a CDW-G survey cited by eSchool News that states only 14 percent of instructors believe there is educational value in using social networking sites highlight an important issue- It seems that the future of social media in the classroom will not reach its fullest potential until we can bridge the divide between new media and traditional academia.