I remember when teachers took roll by passing around a sign-in sheet or calling names off a list, when desks were arranged in a circle and students were asked to stand in the middle to answer a question or share their thoughts, and when the fastest way to reach someone was by picking up a telephone (not the hand-held kind). It’s safe to say a lot has changed in a short period of time.
From my perspective, the biggest impact of social networking on undergraduate education is communication. Students no longer have to be in the same classroom to benefit from the discussion—the conversation can occur in a coffee shop, an office, or a home and with someone on the other side of the country. And with the aid of smart phones, tablets, and other devices, students can instantaneously share photographs, videos, documents, music, thoughts, ideas, etc. I even FaceTime my co-workers at different school sites and Skype with family out-of state. In short, social networking is making it faster and easier for students and teachers to communicate with one another.
But there’s a downside to everything, and one of the drawbacks of social media is the lack of face-to-face interaction. I’ve heard stories about recent graduates that were so socially awkward and/or terrified of face-to-face interactions that they took their parents with them to job interviews. Talk about making a first impression. Being able to put something in writing is important, but there are certain professions that require speaking in front of a group (even if it’s a group of Kindergartners). If a graduate cannot speak in front of an interviewer alone, how can they handle speaking in front of a group?
This is why I agree with Buzzetto-More (2012) that social networking should be used to augment—not replace—traditional instruction. I think colleges and universities are trying to strike a balance between the two (i.e., online and in-person interaction). One of my recent online courses required students to create a PowerPoint presentation using audio. Just the addition of students’ voices to the presentations really made a difference by adding a person touch to the presentations.
References
Buzzetto-More, N.A. (2012). Social networking in undergraduate education. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, & Management, 7, 63-90.
From my perspective, the biggest impact of social networking on undergraduate education is communication. Students no longer have to be in the same classroom to benefit from the discussion—the conversation can occur in a coffee shop, an office, or a home and with someone on the other side of the country. And with the aid of smart phones, tablets, and other devices, students can instantaneously share photographs, videos, documents, music, thoughts, ideas, etc. I even FaceTime my co-workers at different school sites and Skype with family out-of state. In short, social networking is making it faster and easier for students and teachers to communicate with one another.
But there’s a downside to everything, and one of the drawbacks of social media is the lack of face-to-face interaction. I’ve heard stories about recent graduates that were so socially awkward and/or terrified of face-to-face interactions that they took their parents with them to job interviews. Talk about making a first impression. Being able to put something in writing is important, but there are certain professions that require speaking in front of a group (even if it’s a group of Kindergartners). If a graduate cannot speak in front of an interviewer alone, how can they handle speaking in front of a group?
This is why I agree with Buzzetto-More (2012) that social networking should be used to augment—not replace—traditional instruction. I think colleges and universities are trying to strike a balance between the two (i.e., online and in-person interaction). One of my recent online courses required students to create a PowerPoint presentation using audio. Just the addition of students’ voices to the presentations really made a difference by adding a person touch to the presentations.
References
Buzzetto-More, N.A. (2012). Social networking in undergraduate education. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, & Management, 7, 63-90.