Can Social Media Enhance Literacy in the Classroom?

If you were to ask adults over the age of 35 if social media was helping or harming the literacy of the next generation, most would quickly reply that is harmful to literacy. It’s no secret that teenagers, college students, and even elementary students are increasingly engaging in social media. As educators, the question becomes how can we use social media in classroom in a way that enhances literacy? To answer that question we must first determine what literacy is. Most people would define literacy as the ability to read and write, and they would be correct. But if we look a little deeper we could define literacy as competence or knowledge in a specified area. Using that definition, I think it’s safe to say that students are very literate when it comes to social media. So does students’ social media literacy help them enhance their ability to read and write?

According to Suzanne Plaut, literacy “is making meaning from text by reading, writing and speaking” (2009, p.40). So let’s say as a teacher I found a content-related article on twitter that dealt with what we were learning about in class. I post the article on my twitter and post a question with it. I have the class read the article and then reply to my post with an answer to that question for homework or before we meet the next day. These comments lead to a class discussion in class the next day. These students will have then read, written and spoken all through social media. I could have printed out the article, had the students read it in class and write down on paper an answer to the posed question, but using twitter makes it seems more “cool”. “Social Media, as a technology that is deemed ‘cool’, can attract younger learners” (Tomaszewski, 2012).

So why not just hand them an article or make them read out of a textbook? Studies have revealed that “most young people never pick up a book — at least not outside of school” (Can Social Networking Boost Literacy Skills). However, this doesn’t mean that young people aren’t reading. These same studies have shown that “students browse social networking sites, blogs, websites and magazines much more frequently than they read books” (Can Social Networking). So if students are reading, but they aren’t reading books, then it makes sense as educators to use what they are reading to help them learn. When we reference writing, these studies showed that “49% of young people said that writing was boring” (Can Social Networking). But the National Literacy Trust found that “social networking sites and blogs help students to develop more positive attitudes toward writing and to become more confident in their writing abilities” (Can Social Networking).

Using social networks in the classroom can also strengthen the sense of community in your classroom as well as infiltrate group learning and collaboration amongst your students. Tomaszewski states that “social media platforms enable many engaging classroom activities, including ‘communities of practice’ where learners can interact and share ideas” (2012). Learning communities and collaboration also help students perform better in the classroom. In a study done by Dr. Richard Light from Harvard University, “research participants who worked in groups, even only once a week, were more engaged in their studies, were better prepared for class, and learned significantly more than students who worked on their own” (Tomaszewski, 2009).

Social media also makes learning multimodal, which Nick Sousanis says is important for students in understanding. He says “Just as the thermometer provides but a partial view of the weather, every language leaves work undone for other languages to do” (Sousanis, 2012, p. 57). If students are only seeing one mode, just words on a page, then they are not seeing the whole picture. Sousanis also states that “the visual provides expression where words fail” (2012, p.59). In order for students to see the whole picture, teachers should provide them with multiple ways to see-text, picture, video, audio, hands-on. If we aren’t then students are being shortchanged in learning. And a great way to strengthen learning in the classroom is through the use of social media because it engages students, encourages learning communities and collaboration, and uses multiple modes of learning.