Social Media and Curriculum
22
Delaney Jones
Delaney Jones<EMAIL_ADDRESS>University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Abstract
Social media in the classroom is a growing trend and full acceptance of the use of it will help connect students to the curriculum. Blogs are a way that students can be motivated due to the knowledge they learned being related to a platform they enjoy using. A curriculum that promotes engagement, participation, and collaboration encourages the change from traditional teaching strategies to a classroom with social media presence. The net generation is the generation who has grown up in a world full of innovation. (Tapscott, 2009) With leading edge technology students can be creative, and resourceful inside the classroom. By using social media platforms like Blogger in the classroom, teachers are taking a chance on the innovations and using it to educate the students. Introducing technology in the classroom has allowed for students to be creative with their content and remain interested in the learning process. In order to successfully integrate social media platforms there must be acceptance, and the ability to connect and motivate the use of such platforms.
Keywords: Applications, Barriers, Blogs, Connectivism, Creativity, Curriculum, Interventions, Modeling, Motivation, and Social Media.
Introduction
Social media sites like Instagram are connecting people around the world creating a global village. (Ralon, 2017) Instagram has affectively connected people with content from around the world without leaving their home. When allowing mainstream social media sites into the classroom educators are teaching students about connecting with people and knowledge that transcends the classroom walls. Social media is also allowing teachers to reach beyond the school walls and connect with educators around the world to get opinions on curriculum and teaching strategies. Social media also pushes students and the curriculum to explore alternative identities. While social media is known for being a distraction for students, teachers all over the world are taking a step forward in fighting to make it educational. In the world of education students are taught new knowledge every day. With the rise of access to technology comes the fight of how to successfully integrate technology into the classroom while still promoting learning and engaging students.
Background Information
Technology impacts curriculum when it is successfully integrated into the classroom. Paul Tess and many other scholars are arguing that integration of social media is a purposeful educational tool. (Tess, 2013) In his journal entitled The Roles of Social Media in Higher Education Classes, Tess describes the increasing acceptance of social media in the classroom as a way to promote active learners. (Tess, 2013) With social media playing a huge role in student’s personal lives there is a way to mimic this by transforming social media into a form of a collaborative learnin