Over the last few years as a School Psychology doctoral student, I have begun to experiment with various social media and technology platforms with hopes to improve efficiency and service delivery. I have found that the attention and information consumption of youth are structured into small but high-volume increments of time. Each social media platform serves its own purpose in the lives of our youth and as educators we must utilize this knowledge to bridge the educational gaps that exist.

This has sparked my interest in how social media can be used effectively in the classroom and it has influenced my career choices for the future. Our ability to receive information is becoming more accessible with advances in technology.  As technology begins to affect different areas of our lives we must take charge and change our approach of receiving and presenting knowledge.

For those of us in the field of school psychology, a portion of our responsibility is to assess and evaluate each student’s ability to learn and acquire knowledge. Just as technology grows and develops, our understanding of how students learn must follow.  When we think of education, most of us picture a teacher lecturing from a PowerPoint or a carefully outlined agenda with minimal student interaction. In the traditional sense, educating students has been viewed as a way of transmitting information from an all-knowing source (the teacher) to students waiting to be enlightened. In most cases this idea still resonates, but the way in which students are engaged has vastly changed over the last ten years.

A vast amount of social media platforms have been created over the past decade; Vine, SnapChat, Instagram, and Periscope to name just a few. With the use of these platforms, more people are using social media as a means of communicating, business, entertainment, and yes, even education. More students are engaged by what they can see or interact with, on an individual or group level. This type of environment promotes a more positive outlook on learning and presents a parallel between how students learn and how they use technology.

Research suggests that when technology and social media are used appropriately student engagement and overall learning are enhanced (Lvala & Gachago, 2012). Due to such findings, researchers and educators have questioned how these findings can promote positive learning environments for students. Is technology friend or foe? The emergence of social media has also increased the rate of information exchange both socially and academically. It has grown more common for individuals to use social platforms to exchange knowledge and create safe spaces for self-expression. With social media becoming a highly used platform, educational uses have been deemed to show positive signs of academic engagement (Lvala & Gachago, 2012).

It is my belief that technology and social media are friends to the classroom. I encourage all readers to investigate the positive impact of social media and digital technology in the classroom. Also, we must understand the difference between educational technology and general digital technology. Social media is a common virtual space that most individuals understand, especially the youth.  If one can properly utilize the key elements of social media, students will become more engaged with course content. If you are a non-believer ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are you uncomfortable using social media in your academic curriculum? If so, why?
2. Have you been trained to use technology as an educator?
3. Do you use social media in your personal life?
4. Do you believe that social media and digital technology are a distraction? Why or why not?

References

Lvala, E., & Gachago, D. (2012). Social media for enhancing student engagement: The use of Facebook and blogs at a University of Technology. SAJHE , 26(1), 152-166.

Cross-posted with the American Psychological Association’s Office of Public Interest.