EDU6250 Article 1:

Use of Social Media in Graduate Education: An Exploratory Review for Breaking New Ground

Johnson, Jay and Jim Maddox. 2012. “Use of Social Media in Graduate Education: An Exploratory Review for Breaking New Ground.” Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice 12:87-93.

This article focuses on how social media can be used for graduate students. It starts off giving background information on the popularity of online dating, which then evolved into the idea social media websites like Myspace for people to network. It then goes into talking about how social media is currently being used. It says that the most visited pages are used about equally in balancing personal versus business. This means finding a product or service you need but also being able to connect with new and old friends. Facebook pages can be for a business, school, or university.

The article shifts to literature on the subject. Johnson says that little research in credible sources have been published. Several examples are provided: use in library staff, the Air Force, language teachers seeing them as a threat, and wikis. Businesses utilize social media at 95% and 76% of individuals use social media.

Different social media websites are then listed and described. The listed sites are Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and  FOAF, Friend of a Friend. All can be used for personal and business purposes. FOAF is intended to link all social media together to put them in a single spot, although this has not been seen much currently. Ways they can be used for graduate school are then talked about. These ways can include giving access to the curriculum, posting assignments, student networking, mentoring, and marketing.

One of the main challenges with this idea in graduate school is who is the person in charge of these pages? One idea is the professor since they have the most interactions with those students. However this puts more responsibility on them and could take away from the class itself. There is no set answer and Johnson says this is something that will vary by university. Another challenge is deciding which social media website a university uses. Some of the newer ones, although "cool," may not last long. This is when the idea of a single stream, like FOAF, would come in handy.

Although I like the idea of using social media in graduate school, I'm not sure how successful most institutions have with it. For example, my district has a Facebook page that I follow. They also have an app specifically just for Valley View. These forms of social media are fast to get information out, like school closing, and changes in administration positions within the district. However it is not used for specific classes to get information. The idea of having this information on a single page seems convenient for students but seems like a lot of work for whoever is supposed to be in charge of it.