Social Media as Learning Resources

 I never would have thought about social media being used as a learning resource. I mean, what could one possibly learn from Facebook, Twitter (or X), or even TikTok. However, you may be surprised in what you learn. Some say that online social networks (OSNs) "support student formal and informal learning, provide opportunities for students to be exposed to new perspectives for learning through virtual communities, enhance student communication, collaboration, and motivation" (Zachos et al., 2018; as cited in Zgheib & Dabbagh, 2020). 

People learn in a variety of ways, whether it be by an adult, fellow peer, lecture, visual arts, etc. So why is it so hard to believe that one could learn from social media? Is it because we are used to social media as a place to check our latest friend requests or to play the next installment of Candy Crush Saga or whatever popular game is out now. However, one can learn from social media and may not even realize it.

Have you ever looked at a friend's Facebook post that may have a news story attached? Have you ever clicked on that story? For the students reading this blog, have you seen a TikTok video about how something works, and you truly wondered if it did? Did you research whether it did or not? When you click on these news articles or research whether something works or not, you are learning indirectly from the person who posted it to their social media site. Let's be honest, would you have cared if that product worked unless you came across it on your friend's TikTok page? Maybe...maybe not.

People can also learn a lot by joining online communities on social media. For example, I am part of a teacher community on Facebook. While I am a school counselor now and no longer a teacher, I still learn a lot from this group. This group allows me to figure out what teachers are going through in order to best help and support them from a counseling aspect.

So, before we say that we cannot learn from social media, let's take a minute to think if we actually can. Just because you think that you can't, doesn't mean that the person next to you can. Who knows, in five years, social media may be the main way of learning for students and adults. 

References

Zachos, G., Paraskevopoulou-Kollia, E.-A., & Anagnostopoulos, I. (2018). Social media use in

higher education: A review. Education Sciences, 8(4), 194. doi:10.3390/educsci8040194

Zgheib, G.E., & Dabbagh, N. (2020). Social media learning activities (SMLA): Implications for

design. Online Learning, 24(1), 50-66. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i1.1967 

Comments

  1. Candace DentonJune 30, 2024 at 10:28 AM

    Hi Lauren,
    Social media is transforming how individuals learn. In an informal context, I have utilized YouTube to learn how to use Articulate at my workplace. I have also used YouTube to learn more about running nutrition and training from a personal learning approach. Within this class, I have used social media in a more formal context, as each week, we learn more about how to use it to promote learning within our professions by building our personal learning networks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. WilliamJune 30, 2024 at 3:33 PM

    Lauren, I appreciate how you've highlighted many of the different ways we learn on social media (whether we realize it or not). To me, the most powerful aspect of social media learning is motivation--unlike in the classroom, where our motivation often depends on extrinsic factors (like grades), the learning we do on social media tends to be self-direct and, therefore, driven by intrinsic motivation. When that desire is coming from within, we can learn an unbelievable amount in a very short amount of time. In any case, thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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