Social Media in the lives of students

1. Social Media in the lives of students Ashley Shaw ashleygshaw@gmail.com University of British Columbia

2. Everybody Panic!

3. Overview Who are our students? What is social media? Why and how are students using social media? What does this mean to us as educators?

4. Digital Natives? • Digital technologies have fundamentally rewired the brains of ‘digital natives’. Current struggles in the education system are caused by teachers whoare ‘lazy’ and ‘ineffective’ ‘digital immigrants’. (Marc Prensky, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, 2001) • The ‘netGeneration’ is shaped by an ‘almost inherent’ understanding of new technologies. Those who don’t see this are in denial, resistant and out of touch, and fearful without legitimate concerns (Tapscott, 2009) • Academic moral panic: Young people’s expectations of and demands for connectedness, communication, and information on demand mean traditional societal structures are hopelessly inadequate to serve their needs

5. The reality… • Difficult to make sweeping generalisations, as use and practices differ based on: - age - family dynamics - gender - personal interests - race - socio-economic status • The ‘digital generation’, while in general avid adopters of new technologies, are less interested in technology for itself and more for the affordances around communication and information that it provides. (Buckingham, 2007) However: Most young people are online in some form, and certain online activities have become the norm.

6. Today’s Students • 95% of teens regularly go online, 70% are online at least once a day • Teens spend an average of 8 hours a day engaged with media, but consume 11 hours of media content • Communicate primarily by internet or text messages • 96% email • 83% are on social network sites • 66% use instant messaging • Feel like they’re missing out if they’re not online each day • Believe that information should be ‘portable, personalised, and participatory’, easy to access, able to be tailored to their needs, and allow them to add their own input or content.

7. Percentage of young people using the internet for specific tasks

8. What is social media? • Websites and applications which enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. • Keywords: Web2.0, user generated content, participatory culture • Characteristics of social media: • sharing • interaction • communication • collaboration • networking • openness

10. Social Network(ing) Sites Three key aspects: - a profile crafted by each user - links made to other users (‘friends’) - ability to view others profiles and links Most allow and encourage interaction between users with a variety of different media. The most popular social media sites are also social network(ing) sites: Facebook, MySpace, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.

11. Teens and social networks • 83% of teens use some form of social networking, 93% of these are on Facebook • 95% of college student have at least one profile • Most users visiting the sites multiple times each day

13. Think about: What are your reflections on what we’ve looked at so far? Is there anything new or surprising to you? How does teen social media use differ from how you use it? Why do you think teens are so engaged with social media?

14. A digital divide over social media? • What students say: • What educators say: • Completely separate from academics • Don’t see a place for social media in schooling • Hesitant to include teachers/supervisors in their social networks • Hugely important in terms of social support • No relevance to or a distraction from academics • Detrimental to skills/literacies • Privacy concerns • Fear of the unknown

15. What is it about social media? Primary reasons for using social media: • Form and maintain friendships • Develop deeper ties • Identity display • Public displays of connection • Participatory media Identity Connection

16. What the evidence says – academics • Studies looking at the impact of social media on academic achievement have highly mixed results. • Some show time spent with technology increases academic results, others suggest that certain technologies lower achievement. • Some find time spent on Facebook correlates with lower achievement, while others find no impact of social media use. • Multi tasking (doing homework while chatting online, etc) can slow down the time it takes to complete an assignment, but generally doesn’t lead to lower quality work. • Engagement with social media mirrors much of what we know about good learning practices. • Technology is a major part of students’ informal learning ecologies. • The more knowledgeable and in control of their technology use students perceive themselves, the more positive both their social and academic experiences are.

17. What the evidence says…social and emotional development • Again, studies show mixed results: • Social media provides a valuable space for students to connect with others, support each other around the academic experience. • It has become a valuable part of identity development and performance, a key part of adolescent development. • 88% of teens have seen incidents of hurtful or cruel behaviour online, while 8% report having been bullied online. • Overall more teens report positive personal outcomes from interactions on social network sites, such as feeling connected, accepted, and closer to another person. • Most young people understand both the concepts and procedures around internet privacy and security; many don’t follow them by choice. • Teens are thinking about their digital footprint and making decisions on what to post based on how it may reflect on them now and in the future.

18. What can we do? • By understanding how and why students use social media, we can better understand the impact it is having on their educational experiences. • Participate yourself: educators who use social networks are more positive about the value of social media for teaching and learning. • Recognise that young people use the internet in fairly superficial ways and are not the ‘digital natives’ they’re often made out to be. There’s a great deal of room for teaching and guidance. • Share advice! • Teens rely most heavily on parents and teachers to give them advice about internet safety. • Most will seek advice when they encounter cyber bullying. • Overwhelmingly, teens find the advice they receive helpful. • Young people often take their first steps towards civic engagement through social media; this is something that can be built upon in teaching. • Digital literacy (knowledge, skills, and practices) is considered integral to 21st century learning.

19. Using Social Media in the Classroom • Overwhelmingly, students see social media as their space and will resist efforts by educators to use it in academic ways. • However… • Desire to engage in a participatory culture means students enjoy contributing. • Skills developed through using social media can be repurposed. • Institution wide ‘educational social spaces’, when promoted and used properly, can create a managed social network. • Educators can encourage social support networks to develop organically in students’ own social spaces.

20. Conclusions • Social media is a prevalent part of student’s lives; it’s one part of a continually switched on multi-media conversation. • While both students and educators struggle to see the place of social media in the classroom, it’s influence on learning and teaching is still immense. • Rather than being fearful of technology, educators need to engage with it, experience it, and maintain an open dialogue with students to guide their experiences with it.