RESEARCH PAPER TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in EDLE & CUIN
EDUC 5324: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO EDUCATION
Name: Ainura Zhigitekova

Date: September 20, 2015

Topic Selected: What are the Educational uses of Facebook or other social media (e.g. twitter)
(K-12 or higher education)

1. LITERATURE REVIEW:
What does the literature/research say about this issue/topic? By using NAU
Library or Online Search engines, conduct a literature review.

You need to include 5 different sources (book, journal article, web article
etc.) in your review. Try to use current sources as much as possible.

You need to summarize and synthesize your sources by discussing a

common theme or issue.

You don't need to critique your sources

You don't need to evaluate your sources (if the sources are trustworthy,
weather the author has a bias or not)

You need to provide background information such as history and

definitions

Brief Literature Review:

Social media is where individuals are in communities that share ideas, interests, make
friends or are looking to meet people with similar ideas and interests. Facebook is a social
utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around
them. It was launched in 2004 for Harvard students, and then expanded Ivy League
universities, later to any university students, and now anyone over age 13 can join
(Reuben 2008). Twitter is a cross between instant messaging and blogging that allows
users to send short (140-character) updates, where user follows updates of friends they
follow, post questions, comment, and send direct messages.
Teachers are using the social media to reach their target audiences, as it comprises of
activities that involve socializing and networking online through words, pictures and
videos. It is about dialog two way discussions bringing people together to discover and
share information (Solis 2008). Social media means new opportunities to create and
communicate with people that care (LeFever 2008).
Social media gives us the opportunity to humanize stories of students and alumni of our
institutions, which can create loyalty and earn future business (students), and ultimately
their respect (Solis 2008).

However, researchers havent found a definitive way to use Twitter for marketing in
higher education yet. Some have suggested it can be used in conjunction with other social
media tools, such as student bloggers also having Twitter accounts they update more
often than their blogs, to serve as another tool to promote their new blog entries. Others
have suggested it can be used in emergency situations, such as the shootings that
happened at Virginia Tech, or using it in place of a live chat service for recruitment
(Wilburn 2008).
Researchers found to be extremely encouraging is that some students realized that the
Education through social media is an innovative process that made them think far more
deeply about their studies a crucial objective of Higher Education teaching (Graham
2014). Although many students did regularly access the social media tools, the next step
will be to encourage them to participate far more actively in these platforms and
implement specific structures to work effectively. For example, introducing specific tasks
and checking-in student participation; a clear explanation of the benefits of contributing
to the social media tools; and offering learners a stake in the ownership of the project.
When the necessary conditions are established that encourage participation amongst the
student body, there is a greater chance that they will interact more effectively throughout
the semester.

2. REFLECTION:

What is your personal opinion on this issue? Do you agree with the
research? If you agree or disagree, please explain why?
Provide examples/experiences regarding this issue from school
perspective or If you are not working in a school, from your profession. Be
specific with your examples. You can mention software/hardware names,
specific methods that you plan to use, etc.
How would you implement this research in your career? (At least 1
paragraph)

Reflection:

I, personally use Facebook to keep up with my siblings, relatives, teachers, and friends
(classmates, groupmates from my early childhood, from high school and university.
Among my friends list I have also virtual friends that I havent met in life and popular
people and other organizations or fan pages. I have a chance to upload unlimited number
of photos, although I do it rarely. I sometimes share links and videos that I like, follow
and learn more about my friends latest status, and be aware of up-to-date news. I find
Facebook messenger very easy to use, and chat in group messages sometimes.
I do agree with the research because nowadays being a member of alumni from my
university, we often keep in touch via Facebook, Skype, and Instagram. They offer us a
great opportunity to connect worldwide. We still share our experiences, post our old
photos, establish cultural competency, and critique our peers and campus.
I also agree with the simple guidelines for the use of social networking tools. When we
are using social networking tools with students we shouldnt use your own
personal account. It is better to create a professional account to use with
students and parents. Our personal account may contain inappropriate
material for use/viewing of under-age children. Materials that get posted by

our friends or acquaintances are not relevant to the educational experience

of our students. In my opinion, we should keep our professional life and our
personal life separate.

In future I would like to implement this research in my career in the following ways via
Facebook or other upcoming social networks:
1. The courses can be opened for students feedbacks, reviews. Reviews will help
new students while they select new courses.
2. Students can recommend and evaluate professors, teachers to other students.
3. Any well written students researches, thesis, paperwork, assignments, essays can
be published.
4. Student can easily make surveys through open-ended questions, reviews and
report them.

3. REFERENCES:

Cite at least 5 References in APA.

You may use http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-journal for citing
your sources in APA style.

References:

BENEFITS AND PITFALLS: SIMPLE GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF SOCIAL

NETWORKING TOOLS IN K-12 EDUCATION. (2013). Education, 134((2), 154-160.
Graham, M. (2014). Social Media as a Tool for Increased Student Participation and
Engagement Outside the Classroom in Higher Education. Journal Of Perspectives in
Applied Academic Practice, 2(3), 16-24.
LeFever, L. S. (2008). "Video: Social Media in Plain English." Retrieved September 20,
2015, from http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia.
Solis, B. (2008). The Essential Guide to Social Media.
Swartzfager, B. (2007). "Twitter as Alert System?" Retrieved September 20, 2015, from
http://www.swartzfager.org/blog/index.cfm/2007/4/17/Twitter-as-AlertSystem.
Tsouvalas, D. (2012). Social Media in Action and What You Can Do Today. Journal of
College Admission, (216), 29-30.
Wilburn, J. (2008). "Using Twitter for Higher Ed." Retrieved September 20, 2010, from
http://jeremywilburn.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/using-twitter-for-higher-ed/.