Alex Barrett Source 3

What is the role of social media in education and how useful is it?

Tess, Paul A. "The Role Of Social Media In Higher Education Classes (Real And Virtual)—A Literature Review." Computers In Human Behavior 29.5 (2013): A60-A68. PsycINFO. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.

This article examined many different studies and surveys conducted around the world for figuring out if social media is an essential tool for learning. Since social media is relatively new, there has not been a large amount of experiments on it. Only a few small experiments and surveys have been conducted. The article examined many of the research conducted and almost all of the research and the same result. It was spilt. Many students are in favor of using social media because of it is widely used and it sends information lightning fast. In most cases, social media improved contact between students and teachers, promoted active learning, immediate feedback, and maximized student participation. There were also higher gpa averages when social media was integrated into classrooms. However, there were also other studies that disproved these ones as well. Some found that the use of social media was distracting and time wasting. Students were not able to complete tasks on time because of these distractions social media provide. As a result, some students had a lower gpa. There is difficulty defining the line between personal social media use and educational. There is no clear decision whether social media use in education is useful or not because it is too early to tell. Much more research has to be conducted to figure out where or not it should be integrated. 

This source makes me change my thinking a little bit. I was on the side of not integrating social media, but now i am not sure. It could be useful, but it could also be harmful. There needs to be more research and convincing evidence to determine which side is right. There have been too many contradictory surveys and research to actually answer the question. The new ideas it brings up are is there any convincing evidence that makes one side stand out more than the other? Is it just distracting or does integrating it actually help? I agree with this source because whether or not the class uses social media, it depends on the individual student. Everyone is going to react differently to it and there needs to be more research done. This source did not really answer my research question for this post because it did not really give me an answer besides saying more research should be done. This source did make me think of how well will students perform with social media integrated into the curriculum and how much of the class should be based on social media interaction.

This source dos not really respond to my other sources because it summarizes a few small experiments conducted on social media. It provides evidence that social media is useful, just like source 1. However, it also provides evidence that agrees with source 2. Source 1 said that social media is a useful tool because of the increased participation and contact between students and teachers, which this source also said. Source 2 claimed that it would not be a good idea since it will be a distraction, which this source also provided evidence for. 

Is there any defining evidence that supports one side very well? Can it help or hurt a student's gpa? Can students really benefit from social media in a class? The right questions to be asking are ones that ask how and why social media is an efficient tool for education use because that will help answer the overall question of whether or not social media is useful in education. My research will continue with trying to find out if students performance increases or decreases with this integration. So far, I have found out that in some cases social media can be useful and in others it is not useful. This adds to the complexity of the problem because there is no clear answer.