The Facebook Generation in Class: Empowering Student Experience through Social Media

Abstract

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have reconfigured the lifestyle of a new generation of students who are no strangers to the always “ON” connected world. Although these platforms are largely perceived by them as channels to stay in touch with friends, they represent a growing opportunity for educators to provide an extended environment of blended learning that maximises the student experience. This study analyses the possibilities of Social Media as an educational tool, on a blended learning strategy, contextualizing the development of these platforms, their pedagogical implications, their implantation within the student community, and their growing importance in their access to information and sources of knowledge, and thus becoming a determining factor in the shaping of the new generations. This research shows how educational institutions are currently implementing the application of Social Media possibilities as an educational resource. In the current social scenario, Higher Education centres are not any longer the only, not even the main, source of information and learning for the new generation of students. They are accustomed to navigate and negotiate information independently through a multi-platform interconnected setting. Integrating such platforms to their educational experience will empower educators with a valuable tool for promoting a student centred environment in class. Facebook and Twitter, among others, have proved to be highly effective for sharing and updating teaching materials, developing collaborative works and academic research, opening new channels for feedback, counseling, and group and peer-evaluation, among many other possibilities. The aim of this study is to analyse their impact in the student community, and how the new Social Media trends condition their access to knowledge. Notwithstanding, the transfer of social media models to formal education is encountering a set of resistances among institutions, practitioners and learners that would require addressing before implementing a Social Media teaching and learning strategy. Developing strategies that maximise the possibilities of Social Media to enhance student experience would make a relevant impact in student learning, empowering them with the exposure to the necessary skills in a growingly connected world.