Teaching with social media: evidence-based strategies for making remote higher education less remote
Information and Learning Sciences
ISSN: 2398-5348
Article publication date: 7 July 2020
Issue publication date: 10 August 2020
Abstract
Purpose
As higher education moves to formats that are not face-to-face classes in the wake of a global pandemic, educators need research-based guidelines to inform instructional planning and implementation. This study aims to provide recommendations for teaching with social media, as a complement and enhancement to traditional online teaching approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on reviews of the research literature and the authors’ own experiences in studying and integrating social media into remote teaching and learning in university settings.
Findings
Learning environments that blend asynchronous online elements, where students can go at their own pace, on their own time, have some choice over their learning and are regularly and meaningfully engaging with other students, their teacher and the subject matter are most successful for student learning. Social media, with its affordances for personal profiling, relationship-building, content creation and socializing, when thoughtfully integrated into an online education plan, can help students and teachers stay connected while apart, enhance students’ engagement and make remote learning seem less remote.
Practical implications
The paper includes instructional guidelines for instructors and instructional designers in various post-secondary settings who seek to integrate social media as part of their strategy for remote higher education.
Originality/value
This study fulfills an identified need for pragmatic approaches to online higher education using social media.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This article is part of the special issue, “A Response to Emergency Transitions to Remote Online Education in K-12 and Higher Education,” which contains shorter, rapid-turnaround invited works, not subject to double-blind peer review. The issue was called, managed and produced on a short timeline in Summer 2020 toward pragmatic instructional application in the Fall 2020 semester.
Citation
Greenhow, C. and Galvin, S. (2020), "Teaching with social media: evidence-based strategies for making remote higher education less remote", Information and Learning Sciences, Vol. 121 No. 7/8, pp. 513-524. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-04-2020-0138
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited