About the Book
Using social media to enhance learning outcomes, engagement, and retention
Although research shows that most of today's college students adopt and use social media at high rates, many higher education professionals are unaware of how these technologies can be used for academic benefit. Author Reynol Junco, associate professor at Purdue University and fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet & Society, has been widely cited for his research on the impact of social technology on students. In Engaging Students through Social Media: Evidence-Based Practice for Use in Student Affairs, he offers a practical plan for implementing effective social media strategies within higher education settings.
The book bridges the gap between a desire to use social media and the process knowledge needed to actually implement and assess effective social media interventions, providing a research-based understanding of how students use social media and the ways it can be used to enhance student learning.
- Discover how social media can be used to enhance student development and improves academic outcomes
- Learn appropriate strategies for social media use and how they contribute to student success in both formal and informal learning settings
- Dispel popular myths about how social media use affects students
- Learn to use social media as a way to engage students, teach online civil discourse, and support student development
The benefits of social media engagement include improvements in critical thinking skills, content knowledge, diversity appreciation, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, community engagement, and student persistence. This resource helps higher education professionals understand the value of using social media, and offers research-based strategies for implementing it effectively.
My Take on the Book
The author of this book really takes concepts that could be very complex and makes it easy to understand. At the same time Dr. Junco explores many tangible ways in which student affairs and really any educator can connect with their students on a different, but potentially even more profound level. This is SO important for educators as students in high school and college live and breath social media and as professionals we have to be where they are at, and use technology they understand to be able to reach out and engage them in a new way. The research that is shared here is vast and makes practical sense. The message in the end is something that any educator can understand, we must engage our students and be willing to change and adapt as they adapt. Technology is definitely the future for student affairs (as that is my profession) and I for one agree with this and know that I have to keep my own mind open to the changes that I will need to make as new and even more changes come in the days to come. This is a must read for any student affairs professional, but I would also say that anyone who educates younger people would benefit from this too!
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