Felicia Chong, Ph.D. July 31, 2017 Social Media in Technical Communication Classrooms Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication
FeliciaChong,Ph.D.July31,2017
SocialMediainTechnicalCommunicationClassrooms
CouncilforProgramsinTechnicalandScientificCommunication
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CouncilforProgramsinTechnicalandScientificCommunication
SocialMediainTechnicalCommunicationClassrooms
Introduction:TheNeedfor SocialMediaSocialmediaarecommonlydefinedas“toolsusedforcommunicatingwithinandacrossnetworks”(Daer&Potts,2014,p.31)oras“mediathatexploitWeb2.0technologiestoallowformoreuserinteraction,especiallyopportunitiesforuser-generatedcontent”(VerzosaHurley&KimmeHea,2014,p.57).Socialmediausersareincreasinglysharing,publishing,discussing,collaborating,networkingandmessagingusingvariousplatformsandservices.ExamplesofsocialmediathatwillbediscussedinthispaperincludeFacebook,Twitter,blogsandClassroomSalon.
Withtheadventofsocialmedia,technicalcommunicationstudentsare“expectedtobeproficientinthesetechnologies”(Magrino&Sorrell,2013,p.358).FerroandZachry’s(2014)surveyofknowledgeworkersconfirmedthisexpectation,wheretheyfoundthattoolssuchasTwitter,LinkedInandGoogleDocsarewidelyusedtoaccomplishworkplacetasksorgoals.DaerandPotts(2014),citingtheir2013study,foundthatevenacademicjobsintechnicalandprofessionalcommunicationareincreasinglyseekingcandidateswithexperienceteachinginonlineenvironments(p.22).Therefore,technicalcommunicationinstructorsandscholarsarestronglyurgedtoincorporateandimplementsocialmediaintotheirclassrooms,asBowdonaptlystated:
ThepopularityandubiquityofsocialmediaincontemporarymainstreamAmericanprivateandpublicculturedemandthattechnicalcommunicationinstructorshelpourstudentstolearnhowtousethesetoolstoaccomplishtheirindividualrhetoricalgoalsaswellasthoseoftheorganizationswheretheywillserveasprofessionalsorvolunteers.Teachingtechnicalcommunicatorshowtoperceive,address,andrespondtoaudienceneedswhilecarryingoutorganizationalstrategyhasalwaysbeendifficult,butadaptingtosocialmediatechnologiesmaymakethechallengeevengreater.(Bowdon,2014,p.40)
AdvocatessuchasMagrinoandSorrell(2013)arguedthatsocialmediasuchasFacebook,Twitterandotherbloggingapplicationsareidealforclassroomusebecausetheyare“moreaccessiblefrommobiledevicesthanuniversitycoursemanagementsystemsare”(p.364),whichmeansstudentsarealso“morelikelytoreceiveandrespondtoclassannouncements”(p.362).Inaddition,theauthorsarguedthatsocialmediaprojectsnotonlyallowstudentsto“’openout’tothepublicsphereoftheInternetinawaythatseemstomakethemfeellessconfinedthantraditionalwrittenassignments,”butthosealsoencouragestudentstodoextrawork(p.364).
Whilemuchofourscholarshipisdevotedtoanalyzinghowsocialmediaareorcanbeusedintheworkplaceorpublicspaces(see,forexample,Ferro&Zachry,2014;Jones,2014;Longo,2014;Shin,Pang&Kim,2015;Stolley,2009;Pigg,2014)orduringemergencyanddisastroussituations(see,forexample,Bowdon,2014;Potts,2013),thispaperfocusesonarticlesthatprovidepedagogicalsuggestionsorexamplesofintegratingorimplementingsocialmediaintotechnicalcommunicationclassrooms.
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MythsaboutSocialMediaAccordingtostudiesconductedbythePewResearchCenter,65%ofAmericanadultsand90%ofyoungadults(ages18-29)usesocialmedia(Perrin,2015).WhilethesenumbersindicatethatthemajorityofAmericanshaveanactiveonlinepresence,wecannotassumethatallsocialmediausersareequallysavvy.Itisimportanttorecognizemythsofdigitalnativesandsocialmedia,whichinclude:
• Students’familiarityandcomfortabilitywithsocialmediatools.Theirproficiencyinusingsocialmediadoesnotnecessarilymeanthatstudents“fullygraspitsprofessionalapplications”(Magrino&Sorrell,2013,p.372).Similarly,inBrumberger,LauerandNorthcut’s(2013)discussionofteachingvisualtechnologiesintheclassroom,theyarguedthatthenotionof“digitalnatives”isproblematic,asitsuggeststhatstudents“arecapableofandcomfortablewithlearningnewsoftwareandhardwareontheirown”(p.172).Inreality,theyposited,ourstudentsusethesetoolsonasurfacelevelwithout“questioningthesettingsappropriatenessoftheresultstothetaskathand”(p.181).Theydonotfunctionasdesignersordevelopers.Whenresearchingstudents’useofsocialmediatoolsforcollaboration,Lam(2013)alsofoundthatstudentsalmostalwaysusede-mailasthedefaulttoolofcommunicationinsteadofthinkingcriticallyabouttheirmediachoices.
• Socialmedia’s“magical”abilitytomakestudentsmoreengaged.Althoughscholarsarguedthatusingsocialmediaimprovesstudentworkontraditionalacademicassignments(Magrino&Sorrell,2013)andallowsstudentstobemoreengagedincollaborativeactivities(Kelm,2011),socialmediashouldbeviewedas“toolstoassiststudentsinachievingthegoalsofthecoursecurriculum”(Magrino&Sorrell,2013,p.358)andnotbeusedorimplementedsimplyfortechnology’ssake.
ApproachestoTeachingSocial MediaWhilescholarsinourfieldrecognizetheimportanceofimplementingsocialmediainourclassrooms,theapproachestoteachingorengagingwithsocialmediavary.Forexample:
• VerzosaHurleyandKimmeHea(2014)advocatedfortheuseofcriticaltheoryinteachingandlearningaboutsocialmedia.Theyarguedthat“studentsneedtobeabletodeploysocialmediaaspartoftheirowneffortstocreateonlinepersonasandtodisrupt,insomecases,assumptionsaboutthewhollynegativeeffectsofsocialmediaintheirlives”(p.58).
• FerroandZachry(2014)positedthatwecanchallengestudentstothinkdifferentlyaboutonlinecommunicationbyteachingthemhowto“maptypesofknowledgeworktaskstodifferentkindsofservicesthatothersareusing”(p.20).
• Bowdon(2014)emphasizedtheimportanceofhelpingstudentslearntheconceptoforganizationalethossothattheymay“createeffectivesocialmediacampaignsaspartoftheirworkastechnicalcommunicators”(p.42).
• DaerandPotts(2014)contendedthatstudentsshouldpracticesocialmedialiteracies,insteadofviewingsocialmediaasskillsorlearningoutcomes.Theyemphasizedtheneedfor“sustained,guidedpracticeandreflectioninlieuofemphasisonmeasurableoutcomes”(p.25).
GeneralPrinciples/Guidelines
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MagrinoandSorrell(2013)arguedthatasuccessfulimplementationofsocialmediainvolvesfullimmersionintoolssuchasLinkedIn,Facebook,Twitter,Google+andBlogger.Theyrecommendedthatinstructors“keepthingssimple,introducingoneplatformatatimeandexpectingmishapsearlyon”(p.361).AccordingtoDaerandPotts(2014),instructorsshouldformrealisticexpectationsabouthowstudentsanduserscanintegratesocialmediatoolsintothecurriculum.Theyrecommendedthatinstructorslearnandusethetool(s),provideexamplesofgooduses,incorporatepracticesthatinvolveanalysisandevaluation,andpayattentiontoprivacyandaccessibilityissues.Thesearethe11practicalsuggestionstheyoffered:
1. Getfamiliarwiththetool2. Activelymaintainanonlinepresenceacrossmultipledigitalspaces3. Teachstudentshowtocuratetheironlinepresence4. Designexercisesthatemphasizepractice,notmastery5. Highlightgoodusesofsocialmediaalreadyhappeningattheinstitution6. Beawareofthedifferencesbetweensocialmediaandsocialnetworking7. Buildstudents’awarenessofhownetworksandmediaworkovertimeanddistance8. Resisttheurgetoevaluatebasedonquantifiableoutcomes9. Allowfor“throwaway”accounts10. Remindstudents(andinstructors)thatnothingisprivateontheinternetandthattheinternet
hasavery,verylongmemory11. Emphasizeaccessibletechnologies
ExamplesofSocial MediaAssignments/Models Thesearefourmodelsorassignmentsthatdescribehowsocialmediacanbeincorporatedintotechnicalorprofessionalcommunicationclassrooms:
• BusinessproposalInthisassignment,studentscollaborativelydevelopedabusinessproposalbycreatingandmanaginganaggressiveonlinepresence.MagrinoandSorrell(2013)recommendedthefollowing:
o TwitterwasmosteffectivewhenusedintandemwithotherplatformssuchasGoogleDrive,andfor“distributinglinkstowebsites,documents,videos,andblogs”(p.362).Itwasalsomoreusefulforstudent-studentandstudent-teachercommunication(p.371).
o Blogsshouldbeusedasaself-reflectiveexerciseregardingthenatureofsocialmediaandthecourseassignments(p.370).
o Facebookwaseffectiveinfacilitatingthepeerreviewprocess“sinceitismostlikelyalreadyusedbybothstudentandinstructor”(p.365).
• Twitteranalysis
Inthiscodingassignment,studentscollectedandanalyzedtweetsfromtheAmericanRedCross,theCentersforDiseaseControlandPreventionandCNN(CableNewsNetwork)duringHurricaneIrenetodeterminehowthesekeyorganizationsusedTwittertocommunicatewiththeirfollowersaboutthestorm.Bowdon(2014)offeredthefollowingstrategiesforhowthisexercisemaybevaluableintheclassroom:
o Begintheanalysisassignmentwithagroupdiscussionofstudents’initialexpectationsabouttheorganization(e.g.,itsethos,thekindofinformationitwouldprovide),andthencomparethoseexpectationsagainstthetweetstheyfind.
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o CompareTwitterthreadsforanationalorganizationwiththreadsfromalocalsourcethatfeaturesmoreemphasisongeographicallyrelevantandtime-sensitiveinformation.
o EvaluateTwitterthreadsandtheroleofsocialmediaduringmajoreventssuchastheArabSpringortheHaitianearthquake.
o Encouragestudentstoconsidertheirethosinreviewingtheirownsocialmediapractices.
• TechnicaldocumentationInthisassignment,studentsidentified,documentedandpublishedaspecifictechnicalprocessonInstructables.comforusebythelargeronlinecommunity.Conceptssuchasreachandcrowdsourcingwereusedtohelpstudentsconsidertheiraudiencesasactualuserswhomayencounterorinteractwiththeirwritingoutsideoftheclassroom.HurleyandKimmeHea(2014)explainedthefollowing:
o ThisassignmentshowedstudentsthatcommonplacewritingprinciplesstillapplytothedocumentationpublishedonInstructables,anditencouragedstudentsto“considerandreflectcriticallytheirownsharingandlikingpracticesoutsideoftheclassroom”(p.64).
o ConceptsofreachandcrowdsourcingintroducedtostudentsearlyoninthecourseallowedstudentstobemoreengagedwithInstructables.combybuildingtheirpersonaandestablishingcredibility.
• ClassroomSalon
AsatoolthathasFacebook-likefeatures,ClassroomSalon,wasusedinwritingclassestoassiststudentsincollaboratingandbuildingsocialnetworksandcommunitiesthroughtextannotations(similartopeerreviews).Kaufer,Gunawardena,Tan,andCheek(2011)arguedthefollowing:
o ClassroomSaloncantransformthewritingclassroomintoa“socialmediaclassroom”andhelpstudents“buildpersonalidentityandcommunity”(p.318).
o Featuressuchashotspotsandheatmapsallowstudentstoseehowcollectiveattentionisdistributedthroughoutatext(i.e.,hotspotsshowpartsoftextthathavethemostannotations).Teachersarealsoabletoseetheirstudents’annotationbehavior(whoaremostandleastactive)throughvisualizations.Thesefeaturesencouragestudentstoengagesinceit“makesreadingdraftsamoresocialactivity”and“readingamoreaccountableactivity”(p.316).
ConclusionInthispaper,Idescribedthetwocommonmythsaboutsocialmedia;Ireviewedthetheoreticalapproachestoteachingsocialmedia:Iprovidedgeneralprinciples/guidelinesforimplementingsocialmediaassignmentsintheclassroom;andIconcludedwithexamplesofsocialmediaassignments/models.
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