Encouraging Communication through the Use of Educational Social Media Tools

Abstract

Over the last decade, our society has embraced social networking and web-based and mobile technologies. In an attempt to stay current with social trends, educators have become increasingly interested in how best to harness social media tools to enhance their teaching practices. This paper will explore the use of social media tools, such as Edmodo and Glogster, with 30 Japanese high school exchange students in Sydney, Australia. Given that the classes were homogenous, the teachers' biggest challenge was to create a classroom environment that encouraged students to use English rather than Japanese to communicate with one another. By using social media tools, students were given the opportunity to embrace and explore different technologies while creating a space to communicate with their peers and teachers in English. This article will discuss the types of activities and tasks employed and student and teacher feedback. New technologies continue to emerge and evolve, shaping how our society communicates, works and learns. Educators, in particular, have attempted to harness various aspects of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Given that social networking and web-based and mobile technologies have become an integral part of young people's everyday lives, educators have become increasingly aware of the need to incorporate these social media tools in the learning process. The impetus for the action research presented in this paper was born from a desire to promote English language communication through introducing social media tools, such as Edmodo and Glogster. The aim was to explore how a variety of tasks and activities are employed and received by both students and teachers.