Education Literature Alerts: July & Aug. '18 - Focus on Social Media

Jacobson, T. E., Editor (2016). Metaliteracy in practice. Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman.

"In their earlier book Metaliteracy, the authors offered an original framework for engaging learners as reflective and collaborative participants in today's complex information environments. Now, they move that comprehensive structure for information literacy firmly into real-world practice ... The case studies presented in this valuable resource demonstrate how librarians and educators can help students effectively communicate, create, and share information in today's participatory digital environments." [Excerpt from the book summary]

Miller, D., Editor (2016). How the world changed social media. London: UCL Press.

"How the World Changed Social Media is the first book in Why We Post, a book series that investigates the findings of anthropologists who each spent 15 months living in communities across the world. This book offers a comparative analysis summarising the results of the research and explores the impact of social media on politics and gender, education and commerce." [Excerpt from the book summary]

Swingle, M. K. (2016). I-Minds : How cell phones, computers, gaming, and social media are changing our brains, our behavior, and the evolution of our species. Gabriola, BC: New Society Publishers.

"Many of us would no more go out without our cell phone than we would leave the house without clothes. We live our lives on social media, and PDAs, tablets, computers and other devices are completely integrated into our global culture. From connectedness to accessibility and instant access to information, a wealth of benefits accompanies this digital revolution. But what about the cost?Weaving together history, popular literature, media and industry hype, sociology and psychology, and observations from over eighteen years of clinical practice and research, Dr. Mari Swingle explores the pervasive influence of i-technology." [Excerpt from the book summary]

"In this article, Nicholas C. Burbules explores the effects of various social media on the ways people communicate, and the implications of these effects for the use of social media in educational contexts. Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other applications are being used in increasing numbers, especially by young people. It is where they live, share, and learn, so it is to be expected that educators would want to find ways to use these technologies to engage them. At the same time, however, these new media come with a host of issues and dangers as well as possibilities. Creative educators need to be aware of these in weighing the advantages and disadvantages of social media for educational purposes." [Article abstract]

"The purpose of this study is to analyze the use of social networks as a communication tool between teachers and students through a thorough bibliographical review. To do this, a systematic review of scientific documents containing data on teacher-student communication through social networks was carried out ..." [Abstract excerpt from the authors]

"... Instructors sense the potential of social media in teaching, they mostly refrain from doing so due to various barriers. In response, an openly accessible trilingual Social Media Toolkit was developed which analyzes the teaching scenario with several questions, before suggesting, based on an algorithm, the best matching class of social media, complete with advice on how to use it for teaching purposes. This paper explains the rationale behind the toolkit, its development process, and examines instructors' perceptions towards it." [Abstract excerpt from the authors]

"In order to encourage student engagement and capture essential aspects of the research process we explored the potential for students to exploit their social media communication skills with reflective blogging and peer review. This paper presents the development, challenges and lessons learned from developing a blended model for the teaching and learning of undergraduate economics research at a relatively small regional University. " [Abstract excerpt from the authors]

"Social media rapidly disseminates information but is a controversial learning platform in nurse education. This study aimed to explore how students viewed the use of Twitter, and other social media, in their first year of a nursing degree." [Abstract excerpt from the authors]

Dyer, H. - Incorporating & accounting for social media in education | Harry Dyer | TEDxNorwichED - "Harry discusses how the study of Social Media can help us better understand how youth are acting and interacting both online and offline, how young people adeptly navigate a growing and increasingly diverse assortment of social media, and how we can (and must) incorporate and account for social media in the classroom. Against the many calls and social panics insisting that we tell children to ‘disconnect’ from technology. Harry calls for an acceptance of the reality of Social Media ..." https://youtu.be/ZteEZbAtsNI (9:45)

Parnell, B. - Is social media hurting your mental health? | Bailey Parnell | TEDxRyersonU - Scrolling through our social media feeds feels like a harmless part of our daily lives. But is it actually as harmless at seems? According to social media expert Bailey Parnell, our growing and unchecked obsession with social media has unintended long term consequences on our mental health. As social media continues to become part of the fabric of modern life – the “digital layer” – abstinence is becoming less of an option." https://youtu.be/Czg_9C7gw0o (14:44)

Stark, L. - Schools are watching students’ social media, raising questions about free speech / Lisa Stark / PBS News Hour - "As universities have started paying close attention to the internet presence of prospective students, high schools have also begun cracking down, sometimes hiring outside companies to police social media posts for bullying or abusive language. But monitoring raises other problems, and civil rights groups are paying attention. Special correspondent Lisa Stark of Education Week reports. " https://youtu.be/pQ1Zr-zEwpc (8:05)