Apres Le Deluge: social media in learning and teaching

Abstract

The increased visibility of social media in educational settings prompts discussion on the transformation it has on student communication, interaction and learning, but this is only one set of pedagogical dynamics needing consideration. Our roles as educators and how we respond to the deeper challenges to traditional pedagogy offered by a user-driven and convergent media environment also require attention. Whilst there is no doubt that social media renders the space between the social and the learning and teaching space fluid, integrating social media into pedagogical practice raises a series of questions about engaged students, knowledge production and the relationships between educators and students. Contributing to the growing body of research around social media and its role in the classroom, this article engages with existing literature in the field whilst drawing upon research conducted at Macquarie University. This research explored live social media practices in student learning and assessment, examining the challenges and opportunities in social media-based learning and teaching strategies. We contend, cautiously, that social media opens up new possibilities for engaging students in their own active learning. The extent to which it is able to do so, however, is dependent on how lecturers introduce new tools to their students and what pedagogical work they see these tools as enhancing.