The Plugged-In Professor: Tips and Techniques for Teaching with Social Media

Chandos Publishing Social Media Series

The Plugged-In Professor

Tips and techniques for teaching with social media

Sharmila P. Ferris

Hilary A. Wilder

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

List of tables and figure

List of abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Preface

About the editors

About the contributors

Part 1: Writing, research, and information fluency

Chapter 1: Writing for Wikipedia: co-constructing knowledge and writing for a public audience

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 2: Organizing with Pinterest and Delicious

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Organizational/Goal resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 3: Students’ inadequate exposure to learning technology: overcoming the pedagogical challenge using wikis

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 4: Collecting and analyzing primary sources

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Instructions for students – sample for class with a single blog

Approximate time required

Required resources

Technological requirements

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 5: Unraveling the research process: social bookmarking and collaborative learning

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Second class session

Third class session

Fourth class session

Final assignment

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Part 2: Communication and collaboration

2A: Communication, oral and written

Chapter 6: Using Wimba Voice Board to facilitate foreign language conversation courses

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 7: Web conferencing and peer feedback

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Chapter 8: Learning through YouTube

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 9: Wiki-workshopping: using Wikispaces for peer writing workshops

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

2B: Collaboration

Chapter 10: Using persistent wikis as a pedagogical resource

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 11: Social media and public speaking: student-produced multimedia informative presentations

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 12: Collaborative presentations using Google Docs

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental material

Chapter 13: Cooperative study blog

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Option 1 Make the students responsible (recommended)

Option 2 Do it yourself

Appendix B Tips for posting to the blog

Appendix C Studying with the blog

Part 3: Critical thinking and creativity

3A: Critical thinking

Chapter 14: Using Facebook to apply social learning theory

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 15: Technology as a tool to develop problem-solving skills in general chemistry

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Chapter 16: Communicating experiential learning through an online portfolio in Tumblr

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 17: The Biology Taboo Wiktionary: a tool for improving student comprehension of key terminology in introductory biology courses

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

3B: Creativity

Chapter 18: Mobile digital storytelling in the second language classroom

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Cultural aha moment

Chapter 19: Creating a video dialogue with streaming video clips

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 20: Remix as an educational activity

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 21: Using Twitter to assist students in writing a concise nut graph

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Part 4: Integrative learning

Chapter 22: Using simulation, video sharing, and discussion threads for practice-based skills

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 23: Using Facebook Mobile as a tool to create a virtual learning community for pre-service teachers

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 24: Using social software tools to facilitate peer e-mentoring and self-reflection among students on practicum

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Supplemental materials

Chapter 25: Using opinion leaders on Twitter to amplify PR and marketing messages

Abstract:

Discipline/Academic areas addressed

Instructional purpose

Student learning outcomes

Prerequisite skills and knowledge

Step-by-step directions

Approximate time required

Required resources

Variations on the basic theme

Observations and advice

Index

Copyright

Chandos Publishing

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Avenue 4

Station Lane

Witney

Oxford OX28 4BN

UK

Tel: + 44(0) 1993 848726

Email: info@chandospublishing.com

www.chandospublishing.com

www.chandospublishingonline.com

Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Woodhead Publishing Limited

Woodhead Publishing Limited

80 High Street

Sawston

Cambridge CB22 3HJ

UK

Tel: + 44(0) 1223 499140

Fax: + 44(0) 1223 832819

www.woodheadpublishing.com

First published in 2013

ISBN: 978-1-84334-694-4 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-78063-342-8 (online)

Chandos Social Media Series ISSN: 2050-6813 (print) and ISSN: 2050-6821 (online)

© S. P. Ferris and H. A. Wilder, 2013

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. This publication may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without the prior consent of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.

The material contained in this publication constitutes general guidelines only and does not represent to be advice on any particular matter. No reader or purchaser should act on the basis of material contained in this publication without first taking professional advice appropriate to their particular circumstances. All screenshots in this publication are the copyright of the website owner(s), unless indicated otherwise.

Project management by Neil Shuttlewood Associates, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK

Printed in the UK and USA

List of tables and figure

Tables

1.1.  Wiki Article Review Form 13

3.1. Leadership traits 32

3.2. Peer Review Sheet 34

5.1. Creating and using the Diigo social-bookmarking network 59

5.2. Reflection on research process 60

9.1. Peer revising and commenting rubric 100

9.2. Response to peer revisions and comments rubric 102

10.1. Sample rubric for feedback/revision 118

10.2. Sample rubric for final evaluation of wiki project 118

11.1. Hickerson Oral Communication Behavioral Assessment

(Part 1) 136

11.2. Hickerson Oral Communication Behavioral Assessment

(Part 2) 138

12.1. Collaborative Classroom Management Presentation Rubric 160

12.2. Collaborative Presentation Using Google Docs - student instructions 162

14.1. Assignment rubric 190

16.1. E-portfolio grading 210

17.1. Student rubric – monitoring and evaluating Wiktionary activity 219

19.1. Evaluation rubric 248

20.1. Rubric for remix 259

22.1. Rubric for mannequin-based simulation 284

23.1. Assessment rubric: student Facebook discussion engagement 298

24.1. Assessment rubric for peer-ementoring activity 314

Figure

17.1.  Screenshot of Biology Taboo Wiktionary page 220

List of abbreviations

AACE Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education

AASL American Association of School Librarians

ACLS Advanced Cardiac Life Support

ACMC Asynchronous Computer Mediated Communication

ACRL Association of College and Research Libraries

ACTFL American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

ATP Adenosine TriPhosphate

CMC Computer Mediated Communication

DM Direct Message

FL Foreign Language

GTA Graduate Teaching Assistant

HTML HyperText Markup Language

ICT Information and Communication Technology

IMTE Integrated Media and Technology Education

ISP Internet Service Provider

ISTE International Society for Technology in Education

LGBTQ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning

LMS Learning Management System

RT ReTweet

SALG Student Assessment of Learning Gains

SLO Student Learning Outcome

SM Social Media

TA Teaching Assistant

TESL Teachers of English as a Second Language

Acknowledgments

We’d like first and foremost to acknowledge the unwavering support and encouragement from our husbands, Brian Lubbert and Michael Merritt, who never once grumbled about the long phone calls or many takeout Indian dinners.

We are grateful for Jean M. Stewart’s help with the Index. Her patience and attention to detail were invaluable.

We appreciate William Paterson University’s commitment to research. The university’s continued emphasis on faculty scholarship was an excellent motivator when the pressures of teaching and service threatened to shipwreck this project.

We’d like to thank Dr. Glyn Jones and our editors and support staff at Chandos, with special thanks to Jonathan Davis. Our editors at Chandos always provided prompt responses and clear guidance, as did Neil Shuttlewood, our project manager.

Last, but far from least, we appreciate the hard work and dedication to teaching of all those who submitted essays for consideration in this book. We were impressed with the range and scope used for social media in the class, and regret that there were many submissions we could not include.

Preface

We write this Preface using tools that were conjecture mere decades ago, and inconceivable just centuries ago. Reed, chalk, and quill were used for millennia; today information is routinely recorded, stored, and retrieved digitally. Although we have lived through the development of electronic media and witnessed first-hand the growth of the World Wide Web, social media were not on our radar even in the 1980s or early 1990s. As new as computer and digital technologies are, social media are even newer! (For example, MySpace and Delicious were launched in 2003, Facebook and Flickr in 2004, Twitter in 2006, and Tumblr in 2007.) Social media may be new to us, but today’s classrooms are filled with a generation of students to whom social media are a way of life – and who cannot envisage a world before Internet and digital technologies. Social media usage has spread to encompass adults as well as youth – and educators are increasingly considering social media as teaching tools, both in order to more effectively reach students, and because these technologies are being used more and more in the workplaces our students will be entering. One problem that often develops with our use of social media in the classroom is that the technology, rather than the pedagogy, can become the focus of the teaching. This book puts pedagogy first, considering ways in which underlying instructional purpose can guide our use of social media.

Social media and education

Before we proceed, we should define our use of the term social media in this book, since it has become such a popular buzzword. Social networking is the most public face of social media; in a social network such as Facebook users deepen connections by sharing thoughts, photos, links of interest, etc., and develop relationships by creating cohorts of friends who can then become friend of a friend. But in this book we do not limit our understanding of social media to social networking. With Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), we define social media as any medium enabling connectivity and interaction among users and communities. So we include wikis, blogging. and Web conferencing in our understanding of social media. In our opinion, wikis are the oldest social media (Ward Cunningham launched his wiki in 1995, with the iconic Wikipedia introduced in 2001) and perhaps have the longest history of educational application. We also include Web conferencing and blogging as electronic media that allow users to interact easily, offer quick feedback to communication, and collaborate effortlessly.

Having defined social media, we should consider the question of whether social media have a place in education. The fundamental question indeed is whether social media are a relevant and useful tool for learning. The importance of social media in our lives is indisputable, and undeniably there is a growing interest among educators in the potentials of social media in the classroom. At the same time, social media are evolving so rapidly that it is a challenge to determine what works best to promote which specific learning goals. It is our opinion that while social media pose challenges for teaching and learning, they also offer opportunities that justify exploration of their affordances. Social media can expand opportunities across a wide range of higher order learning: communication, collaboration, research, information literacy, critical thinking, and creativity, among others. Social media have the potential to help our students learn at many levels.

This is a potential not lightly dismissed, given the importance of social media in the lives of youth today. While estimates of time spent using social media vary, estimated use is nothing less than astounding. Social media account for 22.5 percent of the time that Americans spend online, compared to just 7.6 percent for e-mail (Nielsen, 2011). An illustrative example of the importance of social media can be seen in the use of a leading social medium, Facebook. Its use has grown from 175 million active users in January 2009 to 350 million users in 2011 (Socialbakers, 2012a) to 901 million in July 2012 (Facebook’s S-1 filings with SEC at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media#cite_note-19). At the same time, every minute, ten hours of content were uploaded to the video-sharing platform YouTube (Socialbakers, 2012a). Student use of social media supports this data. While it is difficult to estimate the time students spend in social networking, one recent empirical study (Junco, 2012) found that the average time American students spent on Facebook was 106 minutes per day, although many spent more. In Western Europe most countries reached over 75 percent Internet penetration with up to 99% of a population social networking in Portugal (Socialbakers, 2012b). Asia has lower social media penetration, varying from above 50 percent (in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan) to 3 percent in India (Richards, 2012). But social media growth in India is one of the fastest, with 20 percent growth in the past six months (Socialbakers, 2012b). Even students in the developing world with little access to computers are mobile social media users. In Africa, for example, there is 65 percent mobile penetration and 50 percent of the population is younger than 20 (http://www.oafrica.com/mobile/video-mobile-stats-for-africa-2012/). Interestingly, 4.8 million people in the world (of the approximate world population of 6 billion people) own a mobile phone, while only 4.2 billion own a toothbrush (Infographics, 2012).

While the pervasiveness of social media offers significant opportunities for making learning more attractive, perhaps more important are the affordances offered by social media technologies for making learning more effective. In particular, these technologies have features that afford (Gibson, 1977) or support the human characteristics that facilitate learning. For example, we know that socio-collaborative instructional experiences can be used to promote deeper learning as students discuss/debate, collaborate/critique, and share with/listen to peers. Clearly, many of today’s social media (e.g., wikis, virtual chats, Web conferences, or electronic discussions) can be used to afford these socio-collaborative learning experiences by providing anytime/anywhere access to shared ideas while at the same time saving participants' dialogue, affording reflection, and allowing consideration of decision-making processes. Other technologies, such as online tagging and social-bookmarking tools, afford the mental processes involved in collecting, labeling, organizing, and aggregating information and ideas found on that globally shared knowledge space we call the Web.

The educational potentials of social media, when considered in conjunction with students' attraction to social media, lead us to conclude that we should seize the opportunity and take advantage of the unique habits of our students. Careful and considered use of social media by educators becomes an important way to give larger meaning to technologies that are used primarily for social and entertainment purposes.

Instructional goals and social media

The fundamental issue regarding social media use by educators is careful and considered use. The rapid growth of technologies places them in a state of high interpretive flexibility (Brent, 2005) meaning that such tools are particularly amenable to shaping by educators. This makes a pedagogical focus to social media particularly meaningful and necessary today. We feel that clear and effective instructional purpose is essential in shaping social media technologies for educational use. We agree with Halverson (2011) that goals for learning are more important than the use of any individual technology in the classroom. Too often the technology overrides pedagogy, so we strongly endorse the use of student learning outcomes as an effective way to ensure that social media are used to facilitate pedagogy. Learning outcomes are formal statements that articulate the knowledge, skills, and/or understanding that students should be able to demonstrate after instruction, and why they need to achieve these competencies. Outcomes may be based on standards set by professional organizations (e.g., teaching standards) or educational consortia (e.g., American Association of Colleges and Universities, www.aacu.org), or governmental agencies (e.g., European Parliament’s Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/publ/pdf/ll-learning/keycomp_en.pdf ) or they may be set by the course instructor, who carefully designs educational activities to ensure that students meet overall course objectives by the end of the semester. By clearly focusing on instructional purpose before selecting and utilizing social media in the classroom, educators can ensure learning by knowing what they are doing with social media, why they are doing it, and what students are learning as a result.

Rationale for this book

This book was developed to provide a comprehensive resource for using social media and other new technologies to help college students meet discipline-specific and general education learning objectives. The book includes techniques and activities built around well-known social networking technologies like Facebook and YouTube, Delicious, Tumblr, and Twitter as well as online collaborative technologies such as Web conferencing, wikis, blogs, and some functions of LMS. With a practical focus and an easy to use format, the book shows educators how to apply techniques using social media technologies, and includes clear student learning objectives, step-by-step directions, observations and advice, and supplemental readings and resources.

We feel a book such as ours is needed because today’s students are in truth a social media generation, however much of their time spent with social media is for social rather than educational purposes. As Ellaway and Tworek (2011) note, exposure to media does not necessarily equate with generative, creative or constructive learning outcomes (p. 325). In addition, and perhaps more importantly, utilizing social media in pedagogically thoughtful ways in our classrooms allows us to expose students to ways in which these technologies can be used to effectively develop their professional careers, further their personal goals, and empower them with lifelong skills. Thus we recommend social media to not only make student academic success more attainable to the instructor, but to also make student professional and personal success more likely.

The primary audience for this book will be educators in colleges and universities, but within education we reach a broad and inclusive audience. Because of the range and diversity of the chapters, the book is of interest to anyone wishing to develop teaching to more effectively reach students. This includes anyone in higher education, and also includes K–12 teachers, as the strategies and techniques in the book are easily adaptable to a school audience. The secondary audience for the book will be practitioners in industry, as many of the teaching activities can be modified for use in training.

This book can also prove useful to both novice and expert users of social media. Novice users will find complete directions to guide them through selection and use of social media in the classroom. More experienced users of social media can get ideas that are transferrable across social media technologies and can be adapted to different uses.

Other noteworthy features of the book: it is as applicable to the traditional classroom as to the online classroom; it is also both discipline specific and cross-disciplinary. Each social media technique will discuss discipline-specific applications, yet the book moves beyond traditional disciplines and boundaries. With contributions from authors from four continents and chapters addressing every academic discipline including the arts, business, education, humanities, sciences, and social sciences, this book has broad and crossover utility.

Structure and organization of the book

The book is divided into four broad parts organized around the key pedagogical competencies of writing, research, and information fluency; communication and collaboration; critical and creative thinking; and integrative learning. Our overarching focus on pedagogy guiding the use of social media can be seen throughout the book.

Part 1 – Writing, research, and information fluency

The chapters in this section focus on pedagogical techniques which promote students' skill in locating, analyzing and evaluating, organizing and structuring information with the goal of producing a written paper or similar product.

In Chapter 1, Writing for Wikipedia: co-constructing knowledge and writing for a public audience, Lori L. Britt discusses an assignment in which students use Wikipedia as a pedagogical tool to research topics, engage with the material, see connections, and articulate their findings in their own voice. Through these processes, students can move beyond instructor-defined knowledge and classroom-limited lecture and discussion to a recognition of knowledge as fluid, connected, and alive. Writing and revising existing Wikipedia articles also enables students to communicate more effectively to a public audience.

In Chapter 2, Organizing with Pinterest and Delicious, Melanie L. Buffington, describes how students can research and categorize resources (such as images, videos, or information from websites) using the social bookmarking sites Pinterest and Delicious. This allows students to create conceptual linkages, and see, refine, and share ideas. It also promotes the ability to plan and organize research, and to develop products such as papers, presentation, or art. An added benefit is the anytime/anywhere feature of such learning.

In Chapter 3, Students' inadequate exposure to learning technology: overcoming the pedagogical challenge using wikis, Linzi J. Kemp describes how students with little exposure to learning technologies can easily be shown how to use a wiki to research and post information, evaluate and synthesize information, and write collaboratively. She uses a case study assignment (in which students report on a successful real-world leader) to encourage work in a social medium, supplemented by face-to-face group work. The resultant case study is published in the wiki. The project has real-world value in addition to realizing the learning potential of a wiki.

In Chapter 4, Collecting and analyzing primary sources, Lisa M. Lane considers how social media (such as a class blog, wiki, discussion forum, or collaborative document) can provide a way for students to form their own collections of visual and textual primary sources, and to develop and hone theses. Disciplines that encourage the use of primary sources in the analysis and construction of arguments can benefit from the potential of the Web, and social media encourage interdependency and peer work in developing