Social and Professional Networks and the ethics of OLCs

Overview

Now that we’ve read a bit about how we can design and facilitate online learning communities, it’s time to talk about something that exists outside the classroom – that is external networks such as social and professional online networks.

Learning Outcomes

After working through this chapter, you’ll be able to:

• Discuss social and professional networks and their role role in learning
• Discuss issues around internal (institutional) vs. external (social media)
• Examine the role of educational institutions in establishing and fostering learning communities
• Discuss issues related to ethics and privacy as they relate to OLCs

Why is this important?

It’s true that there’s a lot we can do as educators to facilitate learning and encourage a sense of community using technology, however students are students, and people are people, and people will always want to interact with each other using their own choice of technologies and in their own way. By examining some of the research around the use of social and professional networks in educational settings, we can get a better idea of how these platforms fit into the broader learning experience our students have.

Key Readings

Gleason, B., & Von Gillern, S. (2018). Digital citizenship with social media: Participatory practices of teaching and learning in secondary education. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 21(1), 200-212.

Hung, H. T., & Yuen, S. C. Y. (2010). Educational use of social networking technology in higher education. Teaching in higher education, 15(6), 703-714.

Social Media and Academic Success

Social Media (technologies that allow us to socialise together online) have been researched in educational settings for many years. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, or others, the use of these technologies in education usually goes back to how it is used, not whether it is used at all. Social networking can also mean a lot of things – it may not necessarily be a specific platform meant to connect with friends and colleagues, but more often than not is a catch all term where all users can connect with each other and communicate and / or collaborate – this definition could also include creation sites like YouTube, reference sites like Wikipedia or even document collaboration on Google Docs.

Generally, social media can be a positive or a negative in the lives of learners. Astatke et al. (2020) conducted a review of research into the use of social networking sites and the effects on the academic achievement of secondary students. They found that the minority of studies actually focused on the positives – a few studies noted that creative sites like YouTube were a convenient way to source information and thus improved academic performance. Additionally, users of social networking sites often scored higher on tests related to memory, spelling and verbal skills when compared to those how didn’t use them as much, perhaps attributed to the requirement to interact and articulate ideas through text and verbal means, while also engaging in information search. Conversely, the negative impacts of social media are many, ranging from overuse, cyberbullying, inappropriate use, time management, sleep and other factors resulting in lower academic achievement.

Most research into education and social networking are grouped into two camps:

• Social networking and its effects on students generally, without intentionally using it as an educational tool
• Social networking and its effects on learning when intentionally used in a learning experience.

What do students and instructors think?

Hamid et al. (2015) found that students who used social networking platforms in support of their learning across domains and across technologies (e.g., blogs, wiki, Facebook, etc.) enjoyed benefits in the form of peer learning, critical thinking, self-directed learning, self-monitoring of learning, informal engagement with peers, and other areas. Another study exploring using Facebook Groups to support nursing students prior to assessment found that peer learning and support also benefitted this group of students (Tower et al., 2014). Hurt et al. (2012) found similar effects, with students noting that the familiarity of the Facebook interface allowed them to interact and get to know their peers more effectively.

In Bruneel et al.’s review of perceptions of facebook use for education (2013) many students understood and acknowledged the value that Facebook could bring to their educational experiences, however many were keenly aware of sharing information across academic and social groups. Bruneel frames this through Hindin’s Role Theory (2007) which asserts that we all have an understanding of the different social circles we engage in and adopt specific roles to suite each one. For example, what we share on social media is definitely not what we’d share with an instructor or a work colleague – students are keenly aware of this separation, so they may never accept a friend request from an instructor, but they may engage in Facebook Group discourse has this means they can maintain a separation between school and life – sharing what they want with their friends, without letting their instructors or classmates see that content. While not explicitly a privacy issue (on the ethics side of social media use in education) it speaks to the agency we all have as learners to ‘own’ what we post, where we post it, and who can see what.

On the instructional side there are benefits as well, including the increased ability to get in touch with students, as well as to share learning materials and resource (Akçayır, 2017), however perceptions also raised issues around privacy and the appropriateness of social networking sites for formal educational practices.

Perspectives on SNS in education	Frequency	Percent
It would be convenient	336	64.99%
I would welcome the opportunity to connect with students on SNS	268	51.84%
My privacy would be invaded	128	24.76%
SNS are for personal/social uses, not for education	105	20.31%

This is an important thing to consider: If there are benefits to learning through the easy access to familiar platforms that facilitate interaction between learners, why don’t we all use Facebook, Twitter and the like to learn online? Why are many of us relegated to the traditional ‘discussion board’ when learning in more formal settings? As Zaidieh identified (2012), challenges arising from the use of these technology can include issues related to the impact on mental health from overuse, privacy concerns as well as the potential for miscommunication through technology. As Obar and Oeldorf-Hirsch foudn in their study on engagement with online terms of service and privacy policy (2020) many social media users don’t fully engage with or understand what information they are sharing or signing over to these platforms when they do start using them, which brings us to our previous question. The answer to why educational organisations don’t typically advocate for the use of these technologies is based on privacy, security and liability, which are all valid concerns.

With that being said, check out the video below from 2014, talking about how teachers should be using Facebook and other social media tools in schools in the UK. In the years since, concerns over the use of these technologies has increased. Would this be appropriate or ‘sanctioned’ in your educational setting?

Professional Networking

While also referred to as professional social networking, there is also the use of social networking platforms that have more of a professional slant. For example, sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube are now used to help individuals learn together, create together and engage with external peers. While social networking in education is usually relegated to peer groups including those in the same class or studying in the same degree, professional networks can engage learners with everyone else on the platform, as a part of their learning experience.

Davis (2015) found that teachers who used Twitter for professional learning, specifically engaging with the #edchat hashtag, found the platform useful for reflecting on practice, sharing ideas and having an increased sense of belonging to a learning community that may not have existed in a physical workplace. Carpenter (2015) also found that when teacher-candidates used Twitter as a part of one of their classes (in this study termed as ‘microblogging’) learners noted the benefits of resource sharing and peer engagement by using the platform, however after the class was over, usage significantly dropped. It should be noted that in this study, Twitter chats (near real-time engagement, usually using a specific hastag) were used in addition to more asynchronous use of the platform.

Cooper et al. (2014) and McCorkle and McCorkle (2012) also discuss how LinkedIn can be used for business and marketing education, respectively, largely for the same reasons listed above. When using tools such as this, it’s important for educators to consider the skills required to engage in learning communities within a formal learning experience and without. If our students can benefit from the use of Twitter, LinkedIn or other specific tools after they finish their studies, perhaps this is reason enough.

Affordability and Affordances

It should be noted that in some educational settings, access to technologies and platforms differ, so using a Learning Management System (LMS) such as Canvas, D2L, Moodle, and even assuming students will have access to a desktop or laptop may not be possible. For this reason, use of free online platforms such as the ones discussed in this chapter, as well as the use of mobile devices instead of computers may be the only way teachers and students can communicate with each other. For this reason, it’s important to always go back to who our students are, and design any learning experience, including those with online learning communities embedded to ensure ease of access.

With that in mind, what is it about different online communication platforms and technologies that make them easier or more challenging to access?

Privacy and Ethics

If we’re considering using social and professional networks for our own teaching practice, we really need to be mindful of the privacy and ethical implications of doing so. Dennen and Burner (2017) conducted a survey of university students and asked them about their perceptions of Facebook use for educational purposes. The results indicated that there were mixed support for the use of Facebook for formal educational work – what stood out were the respondents aversion to requiring students to create Facebook accounts if they didn’t have one – and this is where privacy concerns come up. With the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018, privacy came to the forefront, as well as how social media platforms store, retain, use and share personal data – including personal information, platform usage and other data – with other companies.

For many organisational institutions, they are often bound by state or national legislation aimed at protecting the privacy of their students as their personal information – with even more restrictions in place when it comes to young learners. For this reason, many institutions make it clear that only institutionally-supported technologies (ones that are procured and managed by the institution) should be used, and many educators choosing not to use 3rd party tools, especially mandating their students to create accounts on them. This, however can limit the technologies and educational affordances that are available to educators, so some choose to use 3rd party tools in an optional manner, while informing students of the privacy issues involved.

When considering the use of social and professional networks in our learning communities, it’s important to provide options for learners. Many may have accounts simply as a part of their personal and professional lives, so inviting learners into groups on these platforms is definitely possible as they allow for community building that can transcend individual units of learning or classes. For those who choose not to engage, the balance comes in the development of learning communities that don’t exclude learners and ensure that all learners have equitable learning experiences.

Key Take-Aways

• Social Network Sites (SNS’s) can be beneficial for learning communities in certain contexts
• Learners may be reluctant to engage with social media sites and should not be required to do so
• Privacy and ethical issues mean that we need to be mindful of what platforms we use to facilitate OLC’s and how we can protect student privacy.

Revisit Guiding Questions

Now that you’ve explored a little about the use of Social and professional network use in education, consider the technologies that are used for communication in your workplace or learning context. Do they meet the needs of students for the purpose of learning communities? If they don’t, what are your other options are available to you?

References

Akçayır, G. (2017). Why do faculty members use or not use social networking sites for education?. Computers in human behavior, 71, 378-385

Astatke, M., Weng, C., & Chen, S. (2021). A literature review of the effects of social networking sites on secondary school students’ academic achievement. Interactive Learning Environments, 1-17.

Bruneel, S., De Wit, K., Verhoeven, J. C., & Elen, J. (2013). Facebook: When Education Meets Privacy. Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning & Learning Objects, 9.

Carpenter, J. (2015). Preservice teachers’ microblogging: Professional development via Twitter.
Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 15(2), 209-234.

Cooper, B., & Naatus, M. K. (2014). LinkedIn as a learning tool in business education. American Journal of Business Education (AJBE), 7(4), 299-306.

Davis, K. (2015). Teachers’ perceptions of Twitter for professional development. Disability and rehabilitation, 37(17), 1551-1558.

Dennen, V. P., & Burner, K. J. (2017). Identity, context collapse, and Facebook use in higher education: Putting presence and privacy at odds. Distance Education, 38(2), 173-192.

Hamid, S., Waycott, J., Kurnia, S., & Chang, S. (2015). Understanding students’ perceptions of the benefits of online social networking use for teaching and learning. The Internet and higher education, 26, 1-9.

Hindin, M. J. (2007). Role theory. The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology.

Hurt, N. E., Moss, G. S., Bradley, C. L., Larson, L. R., Lovelace, M., Prevost, L. B., … & Camus, M. S. (2012). The” Facebook” Effect: College Students’ Perceptions of Online Discussions in the Age of Social Networking. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(2), n2.

McCorkle, D. E., & McCorkle, Y. L. (2012). Using LinkedIn in the marketing classroom: Exploratory insights and recommendations for teaching social media/networking. Marketing education review, 22(2), 157-16

Obar, J. A., & Oeldorf-Hirsch, A. (2020). The biggest lie on the internet: Ignoring the privacy policies and terms of service policies of social networking services. Information, Communication & Society, 23(1), 128-147

Tower, M., Latimer, S., & Hewitt, J. (2014). Social networking as a learning tool: nursing students’ perception of efficacy. Nurse education today, 34(6), 1012-1017.

Zaidieh, A. J. Y. (2012). The use of social networking in education: Challenges and opportunities. World of Computer Science and Information Technology Journal (WCSIT), 2(1), 18-21

Further Reading

Chugh, R., & Ruhi, U. (2018). Social media in higher education: A literature review of Facebook. Education and Information Technologies, 23(2), 605-616.