The impact of social media on policy decisions in international higher education

173 Chapter The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education Pamela A Lemoine University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA P Thomas Hackett Columbus University, USA Michael D Richardson Columbus University, USA ABSTRACT The infusion of technology is one of the major ironies of modern education because technology has changed delivery techniques for higher education The technological revolution of the past two decades has changed communication in contemporary educational settings, particularly higher education Educators are teaching how to live successfully in a future that is increasingly ambiguous and fast-paced That is a formidable task in the quickly changing world of technology where educators must prepare students to be able to find the information they need and the knowledge of how to analyze appropriately, not just to regurgitate facts Technology offers college students an array of options to socialize, network, stay informed and connected, but they come with risks and consequences As social media use by students becomes more established, educators in higher education are pursuing methods to continue significant and appropriate contact with their audience and are shifting from the acquisition of skills so prevalent in today’s colleges to a true learning design focused on technology INTRODUCTION Educators in higher education have begun exploring alternative means of instruction including social communication tools designed for easy use, ease of use, instructional freedom, and constant online discussions (Brady, Holcomb, & Smith, 2010; Lee & McLoughlin, 2010; Webb, 2009) Social media DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0672-0.ch009 Copyright © 2017, IGI Global Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education is commonly defined as any media used to integrate technology into the lives of people to facilitate communication (DeAndrea, Ellison, LaRose, Steinfield, & Fiore, 2012; Veletsianos, 2011) As social media has proliferated in society, more higher education institutions are using social media tools such as social networking, wikis, blogs, or video, to interact with or engage in students (Bayne, 2008; Veletsianos, 2010) There is compelling evidence that social media can be a prized instrument for increasing student engagement (Martínez-Alemán, & Wartman, 2009) Increased engagement would also improve student academic performance (Chen & Bryer, 2012; Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010; Mastrodicasa & Metellus, 2013) Social media has the potential enhance student participation and learning outcomes (Buzzetto-More, 2012) Some researchers speculate that the use of technology intensifies engagement and generates innovation that could make students more attentive (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie & Gonyea, 2008; Records, Pritchard, & Behling, 2011) The uses of social networks have increased exponentially in recent years although there is some controversy over the use of social mediums in educational settings (Chu & Meulemans, 2008; Connell, 2009; Dron & Anderson, 2007; Schneier, 2010) Colleges and university common areas once served as locations for social interaction between students (Tess, 2013) However, in a 21st century technology-based world, virtual meeting areas such as Facebook provide a venue for college students to make connections (Murray, 2008; Rambe, 2012) Social media sites provide connections enabling users to link to others, to send messages, to link to social networking sites enabling users to connect with friends and colleagues, to send mails and instant messages, to blog, to meet new people, to share pictures and information on common interests and to post personal information profiles (Connell, 2009; Junco, 2011; Junco, Heibergert, & Loken, 2010) Social media is changing the way people interact, present ideas and information, and judge the quality of content and contributions More than one billion people use Facebook regularly; other social media platforms extend those numbers to nearly one third of all people on the planet Educators, students, alumni, … routinely use social media to share news about scientific and other developments The impact of these changes in scholarly communication and on the credibility of information remains to be seen, but it is clear that social media has found significant traction in almost every education sector (New Media Consortium Horizon, 2013, p 1) Social media and social networking sites provide methods to communicate through Internet web sites, forums, weblogs (blogs), microblogs, wikis, social media networks, podcasts, discussion forums, photo sharing sites, and video sites (Ala-Mutka, Broster, Cachia, Cento, Feijoo, & Hache’, 2009; Chu & Meulemans, 2008; Higdon & Topaz, 2009; Junco, Heigergert, Loken, 2010; LaRose, Kim, Peng, 2010; McDermott & Kowalsky, 2011; Parameswaran & Whinston, 2007, Salmon, 2005; Shih & Waugh, 2011; Yu, Tian, Vogel, & Kwok, 2010) “The purpose of social networking sites is building relationships, moulding identities, and sharing and hence, ‘networking’, which render them useful for unraveling social power relations in academia” (Rambe, 2012, p 72) Social networks permit participants to publish personal information and to communicate with friends, make new friends and share contents such as photos and videos (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007; Wilson, 2008) Jones and Shao (2011) explain that while first-time students entering higher education are particularly impacted by social networking technologies, services that support the uploading sharing and manipulation of media such as YouTube, and the use of mobile devices, students not enter the university with particular demands for the use of new technologies Further, they explain 174  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education that “The gap between students and their teachers is not fixed, nor is the gulf so large that it cannot be bridged” (Jones & Shao, 2011, p 1) Universities are using social media platforms to share their missions, market, and engage in conversations with future and current students In higher education, it is now a bit of an anomaly for a university to be without its own branded tablet app that integrates features like campus maps, access to grades, university news, and more Having an app in the iTunes and Android marketplace has become essential to the recruiting process, to better orient students to their surroundings, and alert them to campus opportunities (Johnson, Adams-Becker, Cummins, Estrada, Freeman, & Ludgate, 2013, p 17) Higher education students use digital media for communication and sharing information at an increasing rate and the focus on learning with digital media or cyberlearning is expected to escalate (Elmannai, Odeh, & Bach, 2013) Cyberlearning has become a trend that includes both independent learning and learning in collaboration with others (Greenhow, 2011; Hemmi, Bayne, & Land, 2009) This flexibility is dependent on learning needs, motivations and contexts where students can use mobile devices for personalized learning anytime and anywhere (Teclehaimanot & Hickman, 2011) A 2012 EDUCAUSE survey reported “100 percent of colleges and universities surveyed use social media, but instructors use it far less for teaching than they for personal or professional reasons” (Tinti-Kane, 2013, p 1) Instructors using social media for instruction mostly use videos while some use “blogs and wikis” (p.1) Social media provides a real time method to have a conversation between two or more people Social media formats include online platforms, which provide news updates, as well as information personalized for the interests of social media subscribers (Nyland, Marvez, & Beck, 2007) Teaching and communication formats for teachers and students once confined to print and then email communications are now methods to share information through social media tools such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, and other emerging public platforms (Jones, Ramanau, Cross & Healing, 2010; Mintel, 2010) TRANSFORMING HIGHER EDUCATION During the past 15 years’ methods of communicating and sharing have changed drastically (Bjerede, Atlins & Dede, 2012; Griesemer, 2012) Today higher education professors facilitate the acquisition of knowledge through Web 2.0 technologies This necessitates a paradigm shift -teaching students how to think Instead of imparting knowledge the focus is on teaching students to understand where and how to find knowledge (Gess-Newsome, Blocker, Clark, Menasco & Willis, 2003) Educators have historically been dispensers of information; however, in today’s environment the exact opposite is true—educators should be facilitators in the acquisition of knowledge Students must be able to find the information they need, analyze it appropriately, not just to regurgitate facts (Gunter, Nicholas, Huntington & Williams, 2002) Changing traditional higher education approaches to education from the acquisition of short-term skills to proactive life-long learning attitudes are of paramount importance as colleges and universities prepare students for the 21st century (Anderson, 2005) Technology, like all innovations, is only as efficient and effective as the person who uses it (Chalaby, 2000; McGrail, 2005) Technology can give the instructor the ability to function more efficiently 175  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education and effectively; however, professors must understand the capabilities and limitations inherent in the technology Technology can be the means to improving the curriculum, the delivery system and student achievement (Ferguson & Tryjankowski, 2009) Educators need to analyze the curriculum first and then determine whether or not the technology enhances the curriculum and in turn, increases student achievement (Diaz & Bontenbal, 2000) Technology must be introduced as a means of enhancing the curriculum Only then will it prove to be a positive impact upon the ability of teachers to teach and students to learn Technology must be viewed not as an end in itself, but as a part of the learning process to enhance student achievement SOCIAL MEDIA One of the largest technology developments over the past few years has been the global rise in online social networking (Booth & Esposito, 2011) Students are very familiar with the technology and how they use it to learn on their own Can social media be incorporated into instruction (Hemmi, Bayne & Land, 2009)? Teachers who have the capability can use social media to customize their teaching methods to meet the individual needs of students thus allowing students to learn at their own speed Social media can be a catalyst for the 21st century educator (Long, 2009) The use of social networking and other forms of technology illustrate the global reach of wireless technology for everyone, and is especially critical for those teaching in today’s changing educational environment (Janoski-Haehlen, 2011; Shih & Waugh, 2011; Subrahmanyam, Reich, Waechler & Espinoza, 2008; Teclehaimanot & Hickman, 2011) The increasing use of social networking in schools and in daily use demonstrates a generational shift now impacting higher education institutions (Amey, 2010; Ntiri, 2010; Osbourne, 2011) Using social media forces teachers to change how they teach and how students learn (Osbourne, 2011) Students respond when Web 2.0 technologies are used in the classroom Many students already possess the basic knowledge of how social media functions (Ratliff, 2011) Students who are familiar will not be required to learn new technology skills in addition to learning new concepts and information while others who not have access to social media technologies will need introduction and practice with social media skills (Jones, Ramanau, Cross, & Healing, 2010; Ophus & Abbitt, 2009) As a new teaching procedure, Web 2.0 technologies have the capacity to strengthen collaboration and communication among students by giving them the power to construct their own learning in a social and instructional environment (Badge, Cann, & Scott, 2005) Integrating social mediums in education instruction at the post-secondary level, allows for many significant benefits in student learning (Barnes & Lescault, 2011) It provides a method to increase the level of interactivity and engagement among learners because it essentially is a hands-on enterprise (Griesemer, 2012) Social media also provides students with realistic preparation for their careers as it is now and will continue to be an integral tool in the future (Bjerede, Atlins, & Dede, 2012) Online higher education avenues expand daily (Oh & Kim, 2007) Some researchers have suggested that students using online learning resources outperform students in traditional face-to-face teaching settings (Allen & Seaman, 2010; Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007) They have also speculated that online learning experiences meet individual student learning needs (Keengwe, Kidd, & Kyei-Blankson, 2009) With the requirement that 21st century student skills include the necessity to access and use information effectively, social media provides post secondary educators access to different methods for teaching and learning (Dede, 2011; Downes, 2004; Hew & Brush, 2007) 176  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY All universities are not 21st century workplaces with equitable access to technology tools (Carr, 2009; Greenhow, 2011) Older universities often need infrastructure improvements to sustain technology rich environments; financial resources limit the ability of universities to upgrade technology (Greaves, Hayes, Wilson, Gielniak, & Peterson, 2010) Universities face major challenges in providing access and devices for every student and educator (Williams, 2009) Higher education institutions are forced to provide faculty with the resources to augment social media in institutional delivery (Salmon, 2005) Even with the rise of relatively low-cost mobile devices most devices cost at least several hundred dollars and need to be replaced every few years In addition, universities are under constant scrutiny as international standards for public education become increasingly difficult due to shrinking budgets (Ala-Mutka et al., 2009) Additionally, persuading some universities to allow educational access to social media tools has been an issue (Prensky, 2001, 2005; Shih & Waugh, 2011) Three real challenges are evident for higher education: (1) the struggle to keep up with the latest technology (2) the fight to find enough money for the technology, and (3) the difficulty in getting faculty to adopt new technology (Tinti-Kane, 2013) Professors face “problems such as electricity failure, low bandwidth of the internet, lack of infrastructure like computers and laptops, managing time for social media during the semester, leakage of privacy, cyber-bullying” (Hussain, Gulrez, & Tahirkheli, 2012, p 193) Hew and Brush (2007) report, “Without adequate hardware and software, there is little opportunity for teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum” (p 226) They further posit, “Access to technology is more than merely the availability of technology in a school; it involves providing the proper amount and right types of technology in locations where teachers and students can best use them” (p.226) To ensure the integration of technology in classrooms, technology in terms of hardware (computers) and software (programs) must be accessible for professors and students (Gillet, El Helou, Yu, & Salzmann, 2008; Waters, 2011; Yu, Tian, Vogel, & Kwok, 2010) CHALLENGES There is an assumption that students know how to use technology (George & Dellasaga, 2011) Sometimes it is presupposed that students have a base of technological understanding and sophistication … particularly those who are known as Millenials (Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009) Jones et al (2010) contend that because students can use social media, it is taken for granted that students will automatically know how to properly format a Word document or cite a picture on a blog Students need to learn how to appropriately and effectively use Web 2.0 technology Learning about technology can happen as a result of direct instruction, through group work, online tutorials and resources, or through any number of other avenues It is vital that this learning takes place, regardless of the specific avenue (Hargadon, 2008) Students arrive in class with an array of digital instruments, – phones, laptops, and iPads while they often sit in fairly traditional classrooms, some without technology, and reflect philosophies and practices evident for the last 150 years (Hrastinski & Aghaee, 2012; Pettit & Kukulska-Hulme, 2009) The use of a multi-modal classroom requires teaching to become outcomes-based and student-centered, a dramatic shift from traditional teaching, and one not readily accepted by teachers (Blankenship, 2011; Grosseck, 2009) 177  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education Students in a traditional classroom can be in the classroom and not interact with the instructor Online learning requires student engagement and the instructor becomes more of a facilitator of learning than a dispenser of information (Keengwe, Kidd, & Kyei-Blankson, 2009) The paradigm shift offers enormous potential for advancing educational quality, quantity, efficiency, effectiveness and productivity (Lefever & Currant, 2010; Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane, 2011, 2012; National Science Foundation Task Force on Cyberlearning, 2008) Lenhart, Madden, Macgill, and Smith (2007) suggest students actually prefer multichannel communication, such as text messaging, instant messaging, and communication through social network sites, to traditional e-mail and face-to-face communication (Kolowich, 2010) Indeed, 55% of online teenagers are using Web 2.0 technologies, such as social network sites, outside of school and visit their social network sites daily or several times a day, devoting an average of hours per week to the network (Lenhart & Madden, 2007) Through such sites, media is shared (e.g., photos, music, videos), messages exchanged, collaborators form groups, request information, articulate or develop their personal connections, post or remix digital content, and create or comment in blogs (Lenhart & Madden, 2007) Researchers and educators observe students engaging in formal, informal, and non-formal learning across a wide range of contexts and exercising considerable authority over how, when, and with whom they learn (Marquis, 2012) Technology features allow learners to link up, create, consume, and share independently produced information, media, and applications on a global scale (McLoughlin & Lee, 2008) Many features encourage interconnections among learners, allowing them to develop their networks and increase the number and range of people to consult for feedback or support (Lee & McLoughlin, 2007) Learning can manifest itself across settings, and informal or formal crossing of boundaries might enhance learning (McEwan, 2012; McLoughlin & Lee, 2007) The implication for educators is clear; educators must critically examine how students are taught (Parameswaran & Whinston, 2007) Educators must, themselves, possess an appreciation for critical analysis and be able to transmit that knowledge to students, or even more importantly, serve as a facilitator to students as they find and interpret information for themselves (Ratliff, 2011) Today’s students will experience several major career changes during their lifetimes, with many of those careers being nonexistent at present (Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013) Educators must understand that learning is truly a life-long process, for them just as much as for their students (Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman, & Witty, 2010) Sharpe & Benfield, 2005) They must be willing to change and incorporate new ways of reaching learners They must be facilitators of learning (Smith, 2007; Subrahmanyam et al., 2008) Since 2010, technical innovations have altered the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the workplace and society (Beetham & Oliver, 2010) Preparing technically educated and skilled individuals is of great economic importance to the United States and other counties and requires significant attention from educators and employers (Ala-Mutka et al., 2009; Partnership for 21st Century, 2012) Education is the one area that influences an individual from early childhood through adult life (Darling-Hammond, Barron, Pearson, Schoenfeld, Zimmerman, Cervetti, & Tilson, 2008) Therefore, the educator’s role is particularly important in fostering learning, especially when utilizing technology (Jarvis, 2000) To keep pace with technological development, educators must assume a leadership role in optimizing instructional technology (Beetham, Littlejohn, & McGill, 2010; Blankenship, 2011) 178  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education PEDAGOGY 2.0 Grossbeck (2009) and other researchers (Dron & Anderson, 2007; Hargadon, 2008; McCoughlin & Lee, 2007) propose the emergence of a new pedagogy in the 21st century: pedagogy 2.0” (p 479) Pedagogy 2.0 or Web 2.0 is defined as, The social use of the Web, which allows individuals to collaborate, encouraging them to become active participants and/or producers in knowledge creation and to share information online Web 2.0 includes blogs, wikis, social networking & bookmarking At the heart of Web 2.0 is a culture of sharing, interaction, active content creation and continual communication with the online environment (Web 2.0 European Resource Center, p 3) The use of social media in a classroom setting can provide equitable access to multimedia learning tools that address inclusiveness, from special needs students to acceleration of learning for more capable students (Miller & Jensen, 2007) Education instructors envision the use of Web 2.0 technologies as a solution to help “transform education and improve student learning” (Hew & Brush, 2007, p 224) Social media can take many forms: blogging, text messages, podcasts, video sharing and video blogs (vlogs), use of syndicated content through Really Simple Syndication (RSS), creation of personal learning environments, peer-to-peer learning, collaborative writing and self-publishing (Bayne, 2008; Bjerede, Atlins, & Dede, 2012; Rovai, 2003, 2007) To establish effective instruction that uses social media, professors must listen and learn from current conversations with students and participate in the use of social media to become familiar with students’ needs (Hrastinski & Aghaee, 2012; Linder, 2009; Matthews, 2006) The demand for personalized learning is not adequately supported by current technology or practices The increasing demand for education that is customized to each student’s unique needs is driving the development of new technologies that provide more learner choice and control and allow for differentiated instruction It has become clear that one- size-fits-all teaching methods are neither effective nor acceptable for today’s diverse students Technology can and should support individual choices about access to materials and expertise, amount and type of educational content, and methods of teaching The biggest barrier to personalized learning, however, is that scientific, data-driven approaches to effectively facilitate personalization have only recently begun to emerge (Johnson et al., 2013, p.10) Communication forms the basic framework of social media (Barnes & Lescault, 2011) For example, the intention of Facebook and Twitter is to provide a platform for people to connect and share aspects of their personal life with profile details, text, images and videos (Chu & Meulemans, 2008; Edutopia, 2008) Blogs and YouTube on the other hand are geared towards content sharing with more thought out ideas and information or videos (George & Dellasaga, 2011) Despite the variations in purpose, what they have in common is unique communities develop, allowing students to easily communicate with one another (Gillet, El Helou, Yu, & Salzmann, 2008; Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009) Web 2.0 technologies can be used to communicate with students outside of class as well as inside the classroom to generate class discussions, manage instruction in class, to incorporate students’ work on collective research projects or even information on course topics (Greenhow, 2011; Long, 2009) Social media can be used to track a particular concept, keep a journal or for assessment (Griesemer, 2012) 179  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education Social media is essentially a hands-on enterprise, meaning that it is interactive (Hargadon, 2008; Wheeler, Yoemans, & Wheeler, 2008) Most educational research speculates that active involvement in instruction increases the likelihood that student performance will increase (Grosseck, 2009; Osbourne, 2011) Interactivity and engagement are both positively correlated to each other and to learning, as students become responsible for their own knowledge building (Li, 2012) When students independently interact with learning materials, they tend to care more about their individual progress making it more important for them to succeed (Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane, 2011, 2012) “The benefits of social media to students are plenty: greater engagement, greater interest, students taking more control and responsibility for their education” (Blankenship, 2011, p 40) With social media the students have the opportunity to be actively engaged in their learning while collaborating with classroom peers in their learning (Richardson, 2006) If students are given the occasion to personally influence their own knowledge attainment in a learning procedure they already know, use, and enjoy, the potential for meaningful learning dramatically increases (Ratliff, 2011; Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013) When students are more engrossed and self-directed in their own learning, they are also more likely to develop a deeper understanding of the knowledge and skills expected of them (Salmon, 2005) Over the past few years, one of the leading developments affecting society on a global scale is the rise in online social networking tools, especially Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs (Namwar & Rastgoo, 2008; Orphus & Abbitt, 2009; Ratliff, 2011; Smith, 2007) In fact, because its usage has reached such epic proportions in people’s daily lives, global society is considered to have entered an age of social media (Barnes & Lescault, 2011; Hargadon, 2008) This is not surprising when social media statistics are considered (McDermot & Kowalsky, 2011) There are over billion Facebook users’ worldwide posting material, blogs, links and photos (Scott, 2013) As a result, many educators, both in high school and in post-secondary institutions, are now commonly adopting and integrating social media in their instructional design strategies (Hartstein, 2011) When closely examined, it appears that learning benefits arise from incorporating social media in educational instruction through its ability to enhance collaboration and communication as well as to satisfy the significant need to adequately prepare learners for their future careers (Hemmi, Bayne, & Land, 2009; McLoughlin & Lee, 2007, 2008) STUDENT ENGAGEMENT Edutopia (2008) suggests integration of social media technologies include “four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts” (p 1) Engagement includes a participative classroom community, communication facilitated through interactivity and grouping that includes helping other members (Rovai, 2003; Rovai & Jordan, 2004) Researchers such as Junco, Heiberger, and Loken (2010) contend student engagement can be increased through social media activities such as blogging (Junco, 2011; Junco, Heiberger & Loken, 2010; Rovai, 2003, 2007; Rovai & Jordan, 2004; Schirmer, 2011) Richardson (2006) notes that social media tools provide “vast opportunities to connect and learn from and with authors, scientists, journalists, explorers, artists, athletes, and many others” but laments universities are doing little to use these resources (p 16) Technology, learning in a digital age, is not going to go away; higher education “must change and adapt” (Lefever & Curant, 2010, p 36) The challenge for higher education is to move beyond traditional teaching methods and provide students 180  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education with social media skills and strategies in order to safely take charge of their own learning (Davis, 2007; Kukulska-Hulme, 2012; Richardson, 2006) Twenty-four/seven access to digital technologies can facilitate new media for professional learning through interactive technology (Fullan, 2011; Keengwe, Onchwari & Onchwari, 2009) The use of social media as educational tools presents professors with the possibilities of using technology means with students to facilitate access to information for research, creativity and collaboration (Smith & KukulskaHulme, 2012) However, adding social media tools to instruction requires professors to restructure 20th century pedagogies to leverage 21st century opportunities for learning (Hartstein, 2011; Selwyn & Grant, 2009) For professors and students, once isolated to their own individual classrooms with limited print resources, social media promotes access, communication, tools for collaboration and analysis, and the ability to interactively share their knowledge (Blaschke, Porto, & Kurtz, 2010; Junco, 2011; Klein, 2008) Most academics are not using new technologies for learning and teaching, nor for organizing their own research Many researchers have not had training in basic digitally supported teaching techniques, and most not participate in the sorts of professional development opportunities that would provide them This is due to several factors, including a lack of time and a lack of expectations that they should Many think a cultural shift will be required before we see widespread use of more innovative organizational technology Some educators are simply apprehensive about working with new technologies, as they fear the tools and devices have become more of a focus than the learning Adoption of progressive pedagogies, however, is often enabled through the exploration of emerging technologies, and thus a change in attitude among academics is imperative (Johnson et al., 2013, p 10) Social media allow professors to expand their messages and listen to what students want (Taylor & Kent, 2010) Not only is it important that professors communicate to students, but it is important that the students transmit their needs to professors and administrators (Teclehaimanot & Hickman, 2011; Wandel, 2008) Access to social media for higher education instructors has also resulted in a change for education delivery systems (Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane, 2011, 2012) Social media permit students to become more active participants in their learning and explore new learning opportunities (Byrom & Bingham, 2001; Ellison, Steinfeild, & Lampe, 2007; Jones, Ramanau, Cross & Healing, 2010; Lee & McLoughlin, 2007; Rambe, 2012) Social media permit students and teachers to have instant access to news, information, and interactive experiences through computers, tablets, and smartphones (Davis, 2007; Osbourne, 2011; Pettit & Kukulska-Hulme, 2007) The key concept behind is utilizing social media in higher education instruction is the ability to improve communication within the class, and the voice of each individual student (Edutopia, 2008; Hemmi, Bayne, & Land, 2009) Social media also provides the benefit of increased collaboration, which can be applied in many contexts and subjects (Grosseck, 2009) According to the Babson Survey Research Group, 40% of college and university faculty across the United States use social networks to communicate with students outside of class and 80% use online videos, podcasts, blogs and wikis as collaborative tools during class (Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane, 2011) 181  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA USE Additionally, administrators and professors need to be well versed in current technologies for professional and student use (Cousin, 2005; Ratliff, 2011) Some universities and colleges have done nothing; some have very specific rules about what digital and communication technology is permitted and how and when it can be used (Indiana University, 2013; Salmon, 2005) Other institutions have some variation of the two extremes (Shih & Waugh, 2011) Some higher education institutions are particularly attuned to social networking and provide detailed guidelines and rules while others are oblivious to the implications of teachers and students using social networks or the Internet (Grosseck, 2009; Long, 2009; McDermott & Kowalsky, 2011; Nelson, Simek, & Foltin, 2009-2010; Pauwells, 2013a, 2013b) Additionally, professors have to be vigilant monitors when they are using social media for coursework with students (McEwan, 2012; Nelson, Simek, & Foltin, 2009-2010) Social media connections between teachers and students blur the lines of relationships (Bayne, 2005; Ophus & Abbitt, 2009) Facebook and similar social media sites allow both teachers and students to see profiles, pictures, and personal information about one another (Copyright Act, 1976; Kirwan & McGuckin 2013) Participation in social media sites is governed by university social media policies, which provide general guidance (Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Child Online Protection Act, 1998; Children’s Internet Protection Act, 2000; Pauwels, 2013a, 2013b) University guidelines cover issues review confidentiality of student and teacher data and should detail personal information guidelines and general guidelines for academic coursework policies using social media (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 1974) While employees are encouraged to showcase college and university programs through platforms such as Facebook, university guidelines for social media use need to cover lewd and indecent and inappropriate conduct, threats, disruption of university programs, and intentional use of malicious or defamatory or hateful materials (Bayne, 2005; Child Pornography, 1990; Communications Decency Act, 1996; Indiana University, 2013; Marquis, 2012; Pauwels, 2013a, 2013b) HARDWARE Educators and researchers support the need to provide for the appropriate use of technology in classrooms or other delivery locations (Barnes & Lescault, 2011) However, some university faculty members are reluctant to use social media when it is not a familiar tool or if they are hesitant to try new learning approaches (National Science Foundation Task Force on Cyberlearning (NSFTFC, 2008) Dede (2011) suggests the professor has to become skilled in the technology as well as the pedagogy Training for professors is needed to ensure that they can use mobile learning technologies (Bayne, 2008; Hemmi, Bayne, & Land, 2009; Kleiner, Thomas, & Lewis, 2007) Social networking should be pedagogically relevant (Anagnostopoulou & Parmar, 2008; Gillet, El Helou, Yu, & Salzman, 2008) There is no reason to employ social media in higher education if there is not a reasonable expectation that it is being used to further course objectives, learning, or to aid in the formation of a learning community in support of the course content (Greaves, Hayes, Wilson, Gielniak, & Peterson, 2010; Ituma, 2011; Marquis, 2012, p 2) Higher education institutions vary in the integration of Web 2.0 use (Badge, Conn, & Scott, 2005) Some instructors are reluctant “to change from extensive existing web-based systems, concerns over copyright issues and pedagogical arguments against a culture of ‘spoon feeding’ information to students” 182  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education cyberbullying and other inappropriate uses of social media Social media connections between teachers and students blur the lines of relationships (Kirwan & McGuckin, 2013; Ophus & Abbitt, 2009) With social media access to forums such as Facebook, both teachers and students can see information, profiles, pictures, and communications about one another bringing about issues with professionalism (Copyright Act, 1776; Tadros, 2011) Universities are addressing social media use by employees by drawing up university policies regarding the use of cyberlearning technologies, ethics, and employee and student conduct (Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Child Online Protection Act, 1998; Children’s Internet Protection Act, 2000; Pauwels, 2013a, 2013b) Guidelines cover issues with confidentiality of student and teacher data and personal information, use for academic coursework, and cyber security policies (Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, & Hughes, 2009; Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 1974; Marquis, 2012) In a closely related area, teachers are now becoming the subject of dismissals and court cases as they have used social media to post information of a personal nature, which is being interpreted as affecting their ability to teach students (Bayne, 2005; Cain & Fink, 2010; Consumer Reports, 2012; Ophus & Abbitt, 2009) Teachers have been asked to resign over comments regarding sexual performance, gender preference, and photos with alcoholic beverages (Kirwan & McGuckin, 2013; Pauwels, 2013a, 2013b) Undoubtedly, there will be court cases to determine the right of privacy for teachers as individuals as compared to their professional responsibilities (Cain & Fink, 2010; Kolowich, 2010; Lederer, 2012; Siegel+Gale, 2012) Student privacy is a primary concern; thus, names of students, pictures, and personal information about students should not be allowed when students use online resources (Bayne, 2005; Fogel & Nehmad, 2009; Hemmi, Bayne, & Land, 2009) Some universities also restrict direct communication between professors and students on personal media sites (Subrahmanyam, Reich, Waechter, & Espinoza, 2008) Student access to social media also has to be bounded by concerns for privacy and protection for students (Cain & Fink, 2010; Fogel & Nehmad, 2009; Marquis, 2012) Professors must provide training for students in digital citizenship, building knowledge and responsibility for safe technology usage (Kirwan & McGuckin, 2013; Parameswaran & Whinston, 2007) Issues also arise with responsibility for respect for others and control over what is published (Sharpe & Benfield, 2005) Responsibility for participation should be grounded with guidelines about respect for others and appropriate behavior in social media contexts (Akbulut & Kiyici, 2007; Eberhardt, 2007; Miller, 2009) Additionally, Cain and Fink (2010) report the need for social media content to be monitored for appropriateness of content The authors further report higher education instructors have an obligation, a “duty of due care” (p 27) to ensure students are aware that they must abide by established codes of conduct Students are producing knowledge and using social media resources to report their knowledge (Kandari, 2010) Issues of plagiarism and originality of student work (Novak, Razzouk, & Johnson, 2012) must also be delineated by guidelines for appropriate and ethical use of materials found on line (Beetham, Littlejohn, & McGill, 2010; Beetham & Oliver, 2010) Attribution for authorship of materials used should be strictly followed through established classroom guidelines (Namwar & Rastoo, 2008) The ability to “cut and paste” Web materials allows “the possibility of violating the copyright of the author or owner of the original work” (Cain & Fink, 2010, p 33) Further, students not have the ability to discern quality of information found on the Internet Information has to be authenticated and verified for accuracy (Collins & Haaw, 2012; Kandari, 2010; Kandari, 2010; Marquis, 2012) There are legal and ethical concerns related to social media sites, as well as issues of physical safety, professionalism, and etiquette (Hanson, 2009; Schroeder, Minocha, & Schneider, 2010) The primary 185  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education concern of social media is that people often provide too much information (Boyd, 2008) Students frequently put information or pictures on their sites regardless of their comfort level (Bullen, Morgan, & Qayyum, 2011) Educators occasionally use social media just so they appear cool to their students, rather than for an intended learning purpose (Beyers, 2009) Regardless of the reasons for social networking, users need to be aware of the permanency, lack of privacy, implications, and repercussions from having and using a social media website (Barbour & Plough, 2009; Wilson, 2008) Numerous organizations and individuals have made substantive recommendations concerning procedures to limit social media misconduct, but none have been widely accepted or implemented (Arnold & Paulus, 2010; Webb, 2009) Higher education administrators face the dual challenge of evaluating their programs and their effectiveness when communicating with students As a consequence, administrators are exploring innovative ways to enhance student engagement with social media (Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009) Rachel Reuben (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012) in her Guide for Professionals in Higher Education noted the four top concerns of administrators were loss of control, time commitment, information overload, and the openness of programs However, information must be prudently managed online because misinformation could cost a student a potential job opportunity and an opportunity to graduate (Iskender & Akin, 2013) Some of the negative aspects that have been seen with social networking sites include inappropriate content, cyberbullying, privacy issues, and security problems (Andrejevic, 2005; Gikas & Grant, 2013) FURTHER THOUGHTS The use of social media may not be a panacea, but it is a technique that can change learning in higher education institutions (Darling-Hammond, Barron, Pearson, Schoenfeld, Stage, Zimmerman, Cervetti, & Tilson, 2008) Professors and administrators are challenged to use social media as 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An investigation of online social networking impacts Computers & Education, 55(4), 1494–1503 doi:10.1016/j compedu.2010.06.015 KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Cyberinfrastructure (CI): Cyberinfrastructure facilitates students and faculty in sharing methods, tools, and experiences to enhance learning; meaning the merger of human resources, data and technology into one Disruptive Innovation: Is innovations which make complicated, costly items simpler and cheaper which attracts new sets of customers Media Overload: Faculty overwhelmed by the complexities of trying to learn media literacy while at the same time trying to teach it in their classrooms Mobile Learning (or mLearning): Learning anytime/anywhere’’ capacity which creates access to content regardless of time or place Network Theory of Learning: Encompasses theories from learning, education, philosophy of knowledge, and knowledge management, situated within a discourse of change in education and related to the transformative possibilities offered by emerging technologies Organizational Flexibility: Focus on flexibility, learning and development of new knowledge instead of specific solutions Social Learning: Building skills to predict and control outcomes to the ability to recognize patterns and adapt quickly 199 ... due to concerns with 184  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education cyberbullying and other inappropriate uses of social media Social media connections between... Transformation in teaching: Social media strategies in higher education (pp 1–18) Santa Rosa, CA: Informing Science Press 188  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education. .. 194  The Impact of Social Media on Policy Decisions in International Higher Education McDermott, E., & Kowalsky, M (2011) From teaching to training: Considering the implications of social media