A summary for the article --Social Media and Instructional Design

Citable as: Dennen, V. P. (in press). Social media and instructional design. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.) Trends and issues in instructional design and technology. Pearson.

Social media have rapidly become a prominent feature of contemporary life.

Problem: Simply deciding that social media should be used to support learning in a particular environment or context does not mean that the shift to design and teach with social media will be a smooth or successful one – even when individuals are already regular users of social media.

Overview of Social Media Tools and Educational Uses
The descriptions of Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Wiki and the common educational uses.

Benefits of social media in Educational uses

1.     Learner- centered study
2.     Content expansion
3.     Access to experts in the field
4.     Get feedback and critique from a wider audience
5.     Self-archiving
6.     Availability of user analytic data

Challenges of social media in Educational uses

1.     Social media technologies have a decentralizing effect in education.
2.     External pressure to incorporate social media into learning activities and assessments
3.     Diminishes learner performance and happiness and raising technostress

Consider the tool

1.     Instructional designer uses secure tools or encourages students to use pseudonyms to overcome privacy concerns.

2.     Instructional designer should be concerned with intellectual property rights on multiple fronts when designing material.
3.     Instructional designer can select tools or services carefully, considering how widespread existing use or acceptance is among the learner population, as well as whether there is any notable dissent among the population regarding the tool or service.

Consider the learner

1.     Instructional designer can provide learning materials to help learners better understand the terms of service agreements and how to use these tools
2.     Instructional designer should consider if the terms of service of the selected tool or service will cause discomfort for any learners.
3.     Instructional designers can develop means of passive engagement with the content and interaction shared by others or alternate learning assignments for individuals who are not comfortable using the medium.4.   Instructional designer considers the learners’ geographical location.

Consider the instructor and learning organization

1.     Instructional designer should consider the risks to and perspectives of the learning organization as well as the instructors and learners
2.     Instructional designers must determine if the terms of service are consistent with the learning organization’s mission, internal policies, and intellectual property rights.