Social Networking Sites and Digital Learning: A Research Review

This report reviews the use of social networking sites in education, highlighting their social and pedagogical implications. It examines how platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are integrated into modern education systems to enhance virtual communication and provide dynamic learning environments. The review includes a critical analysis of literature, emphasizing the role of social media in fostering collaborative learning and extending educational reach. It also discusses the use of educational technologies to support reflective practice and research, citing examples such as the Facebook Social Learning Project. The report concludes that social networking sites, when properly utilized, can significantly contribute to a more engaging and effective educational experience.

Running head: SOCIAL NETWORKING AND DIGITAL LEARNING
SOCIAL NETWORKING AND DIGITAL LEARNING
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

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SOCIAL NETWORKING AND DIGITAL LEARNING
Introduction
It has been found that the social networking sites have been successful in widening
the abilities of the students to perform their work. This has been possible through the practise
of the twenty-first century skills that would enable students to develop themselves as
successful and meaningful individuals (Manca & Ranieri, 2017). The aim of this paper is to
engage in a research review though identification of social networking sites as a mean of
imparting education along with the social and pedagogical implications of social networking
sites. This is followed by a discussion on the use of social networking sites through a critical
review of selected literature and the reflection and supportive research of the social
networking sites in the field of education.
Identification of a range of emerging educational technologies and critically discussion
of their pedagogical and social implications
Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Instagram have become names in the lives of the
millennials. But these are more than social networking sites for the present generation. The
existing education systems have understood the importance of virtual communication in
imparting education. Virtual communication and online technology facilitates connection
between people who are situated in different parts of the world (Lamberton & Stephen,
2016). It is believed that the role of social media in the field of education is not to substitute
traditional form of learning with digital learning. It was believed that instead of using white
board and powerpoint as a tool of communicating with the class, the materials elicited from
the social networking sites like photos, online videos, interactive dialogues, blogs can emerge
from the discussion boards, virtual meetings, recorded text messages and the online forums
present on the social media sites. The educator through the usage of social media transforms
from being a educator to a content provider. This has led to the learning environment being

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fluid enabling students to provide instant feedback and facilitate exchange in terms of study
tools.
Critically review of literature and discourse relating to the use of technology in the
classroom
Kalasi (2014) have stated that social media have become increasingly important in the
lives of individual. She contends about the social constructivist theory and how it is based on
the interaction and socialization with other people that have the potential to help students so
that they construct and learn from their personal learning processes. Social media she argues
is a range of constructive tools that can catalyse participative learning module that ahve been
incorporated into the new-age teaching. Hung & Yuen, (2010), in their paper argues about the
concept of communities of practice, this emphasise on learning in-context. Social networking
technology provides people with an unrecognizable force and enables them to communicate.
Social networking platforms provides the students additional channels to learn electronically.
It can also be employed for the purpose of extension and reaching out to learners who
otherwise might not have been involve in the process of learning. These technologies will
turn out to be useful for students who are reticent and may find it difficult to show up in class.
Utilization of educational technologies to support reflective practice and research
In the present context, students are using the Facebook Social Learning Project that
includes posts by instructors, teaching assistants. It was found that the popular social media
platform , Facebook provides the students an opportunity to utilize the it for their educational
purpose. In future, they would want Facebook to incorporate quizzes, mobile features, games
that would make the classes all the more interesting and informative. A 2010 Pew study
conducted in the National School Boards Association showed that Facebook is used by 58 per
cent of the millennials out of the 96 per cent who are on Facebook utilize it for the discussion

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of their school homework (Ngai et al., 2015). Despite these, schools have been apprehensive
in employing social media as an educational tool. It has been found that there has been a high
interest in the harnessing of social networking sites for the objectives of education. The
survey found that people who have used social networks were more positive about the
advantages of social media as compared to people who have not made much use of social
media. Social networking sites have the power to improve the motivation of the students and
foster engagement in education. Students would develop a collaborative standpoint of
learning and make a connection with the real world. Social networking sites enable the
educators to share information, create a professional space for learning and improvise on the
worldwide communications of schools with the staff and the students. . Students in the world
of social networking sites are not only making use of the online material but generating
content and are interacting with the fellow students.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be understood that if utilized properly,
social networking sites have the potential to become an integral and indispensable part of tthe
educational environment.

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SOCIAL NETWORKING AND DIGITAL LEARNING
References
Hung, H. T., & Yuen, S. C. Y. (2010). Educational use of social networking technology in
higher education. Teaching in higher education, 15(6), 703-714.
Kalasi, R. (2014). The impact of social networking on new age Teaching and learning: an
overview. Journal of education & social policy, 1(1), 23-28.
Lamberton, C., & Stephen, A. T. (2016). A thematic exploration of digital, social media, and
mobile marketing:
Manca, S., & Ranieri, M. (2017). Implications of social network sites for teaching and
learning. Where we are and where we want to go. Education and Information
Technologies, 22(2), 605-622.
Newman, G., Wiggins, A., Crall, A., Graham, E., Newman, S., & Crowston, K. (2012). The
future of citizen science: emerging technologies and shifting paradigms. Frontiers in
Ecology and the Environment, 10(6), 298-304.
Ngai, E. W., Moon, K. L. K., Lam, S. S., Chin, E. S., & Tao, S. S. (2015). Social media
models, technologies, and applications: an academic review and case study. Industrial
Management & Data Systems, 115(5), 769-802.