Social Media and Learning

        Education has become very different than what it used to be.  Today, we have technology to help with teaching.  When it comes to learning and social media, I feel that there are both good and bad aspects.  Social media can definitely support as well as distract from learning.  Lets start with the supportive elements.  

        

        In all my years of college, I have taken many online classes and have enjoyed them.  With distance learning, school becomes less stressful and much more convenient.  With online classes, students can work during the day and do their schoolwork in the night.  Online learning is also very convenient when students do not live near campus.  For example, I live an hour and a half away from Chico States campus, online classes make learning so much less stressful.

        Social media is supportive in learning because it offers an additional way for communication between teacher and student as well as classmates.  Teachers and students can post videos on YouTube, view lectures via the internet, etc.  In my video production class, I am able to post my projects on YouTube for others to view.  This is all very supportive in learning.

        There are also distractive elements of social media and education.  It can be very distracting to students and teachers when there are students that text, Facebook, tweet, etc. while in class.

Especially to professor lecturing, while students are on their laptops, tablets, smartphone, etc. while the the professor is in the middle of a discussion, with half the class ignoring every word coming out of the professors mouth, this is a negative. 

        With social media and learning, there is the good and the bad.  I feel that the good out weighs the bad because social media is an outlet to communication.  With social media, learning has become more interesting for students and convenient for both student and teacher.