Social Network Technology (SNT) is changing rapidly in today’s era. Every day, there seems to be a new communication application or social network tool that is being produced or developed. We used to have Internet Relay Chats and Friendster which are now replaced by the likes of Whatsapp, Tinder, Facebook, Instagram and the list goes on. While the world (well most of it) has gone on ahead to embrace the advancements in SNT, it doesn’t really seem to be the case for the world of education.
What sparked this thought was the prescribed readings for this week’s class. Sure, it looks like there has been some form of adoption of SNT in the context of education, but has the potential of SNT been fully harnessed to improve learning outcomes? Looking around, I do not think so. To my knowledge, schools in Singapore do not use SNT to facilitate learning. I’m not too sure about schools in America, but I have spoken to some K-12 educators here and they have shared with me their experiences in employing Twitter for learning.
Reading the article on the adoption of SNT in teaching by Arthur (2013), it came as no surprise to me that educators generally think that SNT will help enhance learning performance and make classes more interesting. But is there all to it? Reflecting on the article by Goodyear (2014) on using social media to facilitate pedagogical change, I realized that I have been looking at the adoption of SNT from the wrong perspective. In essence, Goodyear was trying to say that social media allowed for interactions beyond the conventional classroom. Who says that learning should be confined to classrooms or learning management systems for online courses? The whole idea of SNT is so that interactions can take place beyond these boundaries. Or as I would say, learning “space”.
So how can we use SNT as an education lever? For starters, we need to get learners accustomed to interacting beyond the confines of the educational “space”. The idea that learning and insights to learning could take place any time requires a platform for learners to interact and exchange their insights. Although this will entail instructors and learners alike to actively participate outside the conventional learning “space”, it does not necessarily mean more work. The informal learning process can be fun and engaging. Using the insights from social network spaces, more concrete and in-depth discussion could take place in the formal setting, thus making the overall learning experience more engaging!
How else can SNT be used as an education lever? If that’s the question you are asking, I think we are on the right track in revolutionizing our education system. Let’s hope for more educators to think this way and embrace learning outside the conventional learning space. Cheers!
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