The Impact Of Social Media On Online Learning

According to a 2013 Babson and Pearson Learning Solutions survey, about 41 percent of professors conduct online and face-to-face classes and are comfortably using social media platforms in their teaching.

What does this proof?

The survey indicates the huge revolutionary change that technology has brought to education. More the population is inclined towards been tech savvy individuals, more the concept of online learning is evolving. By now , everybody is well acquainted with the concept of online education since its introduction in 1990, but the use of social media in the learning field is still fresh.

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Even a decade ago, social media was only used for sharing social updates and multimedia files like images and videos. Connecting with friends and maintaining a social profile was the priority for the social media. Now, social platforms are much more than that. Apart from staying connected with friends, these platforms create social awareness, allows you to stay connected with the world news, even build professional relations and create discussion forums to voice a solution on any particular issue, promoting business and even posting job vacancies. Adding another feather to the cap, using it for online learning.

The Online Learners:

The online faculties encourage these medium to create a common base for the students where they can interact with among themselves as well as their mentors, discuss about their learning updates, clarify doubts and even solve issues related to study.

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Associate professor Michael Menchaca of the University of Hawaii constantly stay connected with his online student batch through these electronic media.

The tools remain a natural way for students to communicate given their prevalence today – even for adult students, says Abbie Brown, professor in the department of mathematics, science and instructional technology education at East Carolina University.

Even though the electronic media is not extensively used but it is now the pivot of the education system. It remains as the platform for getting information, even in aspects of research, and in finding emerging trends.

The Voice :

I personally believe that when you are on these platforms, searching for a particular topic, numerous other topics related to that pops up in your related search. It is quite obvious, you do not bother to search all of it, you at least click on five of them. So you have five new topics to learn. This searching intensity widens your knowledge base, leaving you crave for more.

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Another unique way of using these social platforms is “Start Blogging”. Create your own educational blogs and post study assignments, online classroom experience or any other educational posts. Allow your fellow batchmates and your online instructor to post comments and suggestions. This is a great method to improve your social learning skills.

Recently I conducted an online survey regarding the reviews of educational instructors on the impact of social media on the distance learning system. To know more about the detail conversation click on the link given below.

https://www.quora.com/How-much-influence-does-the-social-networking-platforms-have-on-Online-Education

Clearly it is proven, that every the educational advisors' admit its vast, vivid and unparallel influence to the online learning.

The Effect :

The most popular social platforms like Facebook, Linkedin to name a few, have discussion forums where constructive educational discussions are done to bring about a imperative approach regarding the education system. Professors, researchers and even students create discussion poll for a generalised mass opinions and even bring out the best for any topic.

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Social media has become so popular among the mass, that every website now provide social sharing buttons to promote themselves and create a mass opinion for them.

The introduction of mobile apps made these networking media gain momentum, and now it stands out strong against the traditional books and classroom notes.

Kindly share your views about what you feel the impact and importance of networking platforms on education.

The Impact Of Technology On Education

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Technology has already begun to pull the chariot of education. It already took up the responsibility of enriching education making it to reach newer heights of brighter possibilities. It is expected that education will be able to reach its paramount position with technology by its side.

The technology infrastructure

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The advent of technology and its implementation in education making it effective is responsible for the schools to seek ways to implement technology in them. But the requirements of such implementation has also been the subject to change. The change occurred in finding normal connectivity options to gaining bandwidth connections that allows the operation of more complex applications.

The research

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A lot of research is done on the exact quality and effectiveness that technological education offers. Yet it is found that the companies representing the technological education itself are responsible to conduct the researches. Such a thing doubts the validity and the objectivity of the research. Apart from that, these kinds of researches are time consuming and cannot keep up with the contrary fast pace of the developing technological implementations.


Now let us have a look on the process of technology's implementation on education:

E-learning or digital learning

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E-learning is the interestingly effective platform of education in the virtual arena. The e-learning methodologies are different as well as interesting. It effectively offers the required education for a learner. Added to that, there are some technologically advanced tools which makes it more enriched.

Virtual schools or online schools has originated from the concept of e-learning and, expectedly, the modern learners are on the lookout for them.

What are the reasons of such an inclination of the learners? Let's take a look:

1. It is observed that the learning style is different and efficient when it comes to e-learning and the learners finds it interesting and beneficial. 

2.E-learning is flexible in nature. It offers the flexible classes in which the learners can proceed according to their own pace. 

3.It is a lot more student-friendly way of education than the traditional one as it allows access to customised educational contents. 

4.Online instructors and quality faculty members can be reached in e-learning through video lectures.

5.Distance learning schools are cost-effective. 

6.E-learning also represents credit recovery in which a learner can retake classes that he/ she did not pass in a different way.

The International Association for K-12 online learning or INACOL said in a report entitled “A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning” that at the end of 2010, 27 states and the district of Columbia had full-time online schools serving students across the state.

Mobile computing shows game-based learning

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The increasing use of the mobile devices and their falling costs paved the way for education to meet games for making a revolutionary educational tool as the game-based learning. According to the educators, game based learning has the ability to visualise the path of career to the students and they can get a more prominent realisation of profession. It builds the sense of collaboration; team-work; problem solving and decision making abilities.

The National Science Foundation has cooperated a lot to provide web-based science games like Crystal Island which is developed by IntelliMedia group at the North Carolina University.

The Horizon report predicts that mainstream classrooms will adopt the use of games in education by two to three years.

Interactive social networking

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Interactive social networking is an effective way of education in the distance learning schools  as it makes the learners more enthusiastic in education. A collaborative and coordinating mentality grows in them. Teachers also are in favour of it as it allows the learners to communicate with their peers all over the world.

Some of the schools have already implemented social networking tools like Facebook in education.

The social networking site Ning has group sites centred around teaching a specific subject.

Twitter provides an interesting educational tool known as the EdChat. It is a one-hour conversation per week on pre-arranged topics.

Web 2.0 and similar technological tools are aiming to make digital portions of the students' work with a more increased pace and easier availability.

The Verdict :Education and Technology join hands

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It is clearly observed that a lot of beneficial elements are attached with education by e-learning. Technology has provided education a new platform where it is more varied and more enriched. This enriched education increases the total enrichment of all of the aspects of the society and this simultaneous process has been possible with the equal collaboration of education and technology.

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