Professors and teachers are increasingly seeing the good side of social media platforms. According to a new study, faculty members are relying more on social media in their work and in the classroom.
A research called Social Media for Teaching and Learning has found that professors are slowly, but surely adopting social platforms for professional purposes. The survey was conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group and it discovered that in 2013 about 40% of faculty members rely on social media as a teaching tool. That is a jump with nearly 7% for only one year.
The majority of teachers continue to use social media websites mainly for personal purposes. However, they are now more willing to incorporate them in their work, too. This year, around 55% of professors have relies on social sites for professional communication. In comparison, in 2012 they were estimated at 44.7%.
Although more and more faculty members are starting to use social media websites, they are well aware of all the advantages and disadvantages of these platforms. The study has also identified some of professors’ biggest fears that have to do with social media use in the classroom. The first of them has to do with the way modern technology affects the integrity of the works submitted by students. The other concern of faculty members is that, classroom-related discussions on social media websites can easily be joined by people outside the classroom.
Nevertheless, nearly 80% of teachers also believe that social platforms can improve the communication between them and the students. Still, almost 50% of professors think that these websites also increase their stress levels and increase their work hours. In addition, another 56% of faculty members share that social media websites are more distracting than helpful.
The research has also found that not all professors are equally open to social media use in the classroom. Faculty members who are most fond of social platforms are those who work in the field of humanities and arts, or applied and social sciences. Their colleagues from the faculties of mathematics, computer sciences and natural sciences are more skeptical towards the use of such technology in the classroom.
As for the most popular social media platforms for teaching in 2013, wikis and blogs seem to steal the crown. They are followed by Twitter, podcasts, Facebook and LinkedIn.
