Social Media Comes to Higher Education

Going back to school? There’s an app for that…

By Chris Kyle
Did you know you can get college credit for texting, tweeting, or updating your Facebook status?Welcome to the brave new world of online education.Take a look at how social media is changing today’s higher education landscape.

Twitter Comes To The Classroom

As part of a film theory course at Duke University, students use Twitter for homework assignments, tweeting their reactions to books and movies they read and watch outside of class.The Washington Post reports that it’s an emerging trend, with college professors using Twitter to keep discussions going long after the bell rings.

Some professors even use Twitter to engage students in large lecture halls by fostering a running online dialogue during class.”It changes the dynamic of the way people teach and the way people learn,” Monte Lutz, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, told the newspaper. “It encourages people to connect with each other. It can be almost a Socratic dialogue, in real time, in the class.”

Facebook Keeps Students Connected

Bettina Moss, an assistant professor at National University, turned to Facebook when it came time to spread the word about her school’s newly launched online MFA degree program in professional screenwriting.Moss also uses Facebook to pass along relevant news and links to her students that don’t fit into particular course content.

“With online learning,” she says, “the biggest challenge is, ‘How do you make people feel connected?'”

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