Jordan and Weller (2017) came up with Openness in Education: A Beginner’s Guide as a result of people’s different understanding and perspective on ‘Open Education.’ In exploring this concept, the said authors explored various research papers that can be connected with ‘Open Education.’ In this guide, the authors were able to identify various themes related to openness. One of the themes identified by the authors is Social Media. According to Jordan & Weller (2017), the theme of Social Media emerged during the mid 2000s. The influence of social media made the educators think about open practices and scholarly activities online.

In the article titled, “A New Online Course Using Social Media,”  Biddix (2015) discussed how he used the Social Media to teach Technology in Higher Education. To goal of Biddix’s (2015) course is to introduce the current events related to the use of technlogy in higher education. The second goal of the course is to expose the students to different technologies which will allow them to work in higher education institutions. In attaining these goals, Biddix (2015) believes that social-learning approach would be the best strategy to keep his students engaged. In connection to this, I would say that I have to agree with Biddix because observing others will help the students gain insights on the “real” role of technology in the education. Moreover, instead of giving students a lot of readings, Biddix can model the best practices of using technology to his students.

With regard to Biddix’s use of Social Media, I am wondering about what the critics would say about using Social Media. For instance, some would claim that it would be not practical to use Social Media because there are a lot of distractions there. More so, some would even claim that Social Media is not specifically designed for student’s learning. For this reason, teachers should use resources that are tailor fit for the students. Additionally, I am also wondering what Social Media are highly recommended for online learning. This is important to know because educators cannot conduct a trial and error in order to know the effective Social Media to use in online learning. Lastly, I am wondering if it will be advisable to use a Social Media that the educators are comfortable with? Or educators should  use a Social Media that the students favor?

References

Jordan, K., & Weller, M. (2017). Openness and educaiton: A beginner’s guide. Global OER Graduate Network.

Major, C. H. (2015). Teaching Online: A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice. JHU P.