Enhancing Business Education with Technology Using Social Media to Aid Learning

Background

Going forward, how will technology shape instructional design? What role will social media play? In his article on using social media in online college classes, Goatman (2011) suggests that students are using social media to better understand course material. Social media provides instant access to the instructor and to fellow students as well as to source material that expands on and clarifies what has been taught in class. In her article on students’ use of Facebook in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Rice (2011) explores the impact of social media on learning. Others have found that different Web 2.0 technologies, such as wikis, do positively impact student learning by facilitating access to the teacher as well as to fellow students (Huang & Nakazawa, 2010). Kelm (2011) studied the effects of social media on business communication pedagogy. He concluded that in the examples used, the use of social media was crucial to understanding course material.

There have been several studies investigating the impact of social media on instructional design, among them, Greenhow, Robelia and Hughes (2009) who reported on the potential of using interactive technologies in teaching and learning. Kerner and Gunderson (2012) explored cross-disciplinary pollination in their study how technology was being used in undergraduate education. Otte, Gold, Gorges, Smith and Stein (2012) described the impact of academic social networks in building community and facilitating resource sharing, resulting in a growing adoption of technology for academic purposes. In their study of students’ course-learning experiences and community-building within the classroom, Hung and Yuen (2010) conclude that the use of social media in certain learning contexts extends the educational value of social networking.

In a study focusing on similar issues to those in this study, Baggett and Williams (2012) asked their students how they used Web 2.0 technologies. Students cited Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr as most used to share information and to network, leading the authors to conclude that social media could provide useful tools for education as well as for communication.