Grace Atlas, Erin Minnick and Olivia Pesce

Professor Radloff

EDU 375-607

28 September 2021

How Does Social Media Affect Student Engagement?

The advancement in social media over the last few years has been nourished by humans,

especially young students. Technology and social media are left to be the only thing that students

within this generation know. Social media has significantly taken over classroom activities. In K-

12 education, it is almost impossible to avoid using some sort of social media platform in the

classroom being that a majority of work is done online or on some sort of technological device. It

is important to introduce the pedagogy of social media usage in the classroom at a young age

because the aspects will stick with them throughout their entire educational career. While

maintaining a classroom, educators have to remember the importance in focusing on the

positives of implementing social media pedagogy in the classroom as there are ways to

implement social media usage positively, but there can be alternative fallbacks if not done

correctly. Now more than ever before social media and technology is used in the classroom.

There are numerous accommodations an educator can obtain to benefit their students within the

classroom making sure they are receiving the best education possible.

With the world progressing as fast as it is technologically, it’s important to address

student engagement and its link to social media use because the chances of it being further

incorporated into education are more likely than ever. The incorporation of social media can

provide students with something to interact with whether it be by themselves or in a group. In the
article, This Is Why Social Media Is The Secret To Success In Student Engagement by Dwayne

Bryant, he states that “This type of environment promotes a more positive outlook on learning

and presents a parallel between how students learn and how they use technology.” (Bryant, P. B.

D., & Bryant, D., 2018). With social media being a way of communication, it is a place where

people can share their expertise and themselves in a safe space if created the right way. The

article, How social media use is related to student engagement and creativity: investigating

through the lens of intrinsic motivation argues for using social media in the classroom by saying,

“Usage of social media by students may motivate them in several ways, for instance, by showing

examples of other high achieving students, by providing facilities in terms of easily available

study material, and by connecting them with other students working in the same field.” (Gulzar

et al. 2021). This shows that social media isn’t solely for entertainment but can be utilized to be

much more and serve as an aid in the classroom.

When it comes to the opposite opinion, many people believe that it affects productivity

and how social media use could be considered a deterrent to students' education. When taking

part in the use of social media, it seems to never end. The article, How Social Media Affects

Student Productivity by St. Cloud Technical and Community College begins by discussing where

addictive behaviors towards social media come from. When using social media dopamine, a

neurotransmitter, is what makes us feel good when we receive things such as texts or likes. The

article states, “people continuously log onto social media because they want to experience a

“dopamine high”.” (St. Cloud Technical Community College, 2020). This is why many people

find themselves closing out of a social media app and find themselves right back on it within

minutes. Relating back to student engagement, an addiction to using social media can withdraw a

student from actively learning. It may become harder for students to focus for long periods of
time because of how fast everything moves digitally. The article says, “This also ties into the

idea of delayed gratification; you have to be patient in studying the materials and taking the

exam before being rewarded or punished with your score.” (St. Cloud Technical Community

College, 2020). Social media may be a good way to take a break but letting it consume your

thoughts so much that you can’t put yourself back on track can be detrimental to a student and

their engagement while learning.

While reading the article, Ethics in educational technology: towards a framework for

ethical decision making in and for the discipline by J Michael Spector it says “Planning to

minimize negative impact and properly supporting both students and teachers when introducing a

new technology should be a high priority for educational technologists.” (Spector J. M., 2016).

This point can relate to the idea that if an educator choses to use social media in the class, it

needs to be implemented in the correct way to receive the benefits of it. The article also talks

about doing better for all, not just because we can when it comes to new technologies. This is

extremely important to think about when deciding whether to use social media in the class or not

because if it’s not going to benefit most, it shouldn’t be done and incorporated just because it’s a

fun new idea in theory.

After reading Kimmon’s discussion in his article about Technology Integration, I have

found that there are several ways that one could justify their decision to either integrate or not

integrate technology throughout the class. There are four perspectives that need to be considered

before integrating or not integrating technology which include; proof, facility,

institutionalization, and compliance. Proof is necessary to decide whether or not a certain

technology is beneficial or not. In the position of a teacher, if the technology works well in the

classroom with the evidence of saved time, then this is proof that the technology should be
integrated. However, if the new technology takes more time to learn, takes more time in general,

and does not work well in the class this is evidence that it should not be integrated. On the side

of the principals and administration they look for proof that it works well in all classes, where

they prefer a more generalized approach. Therefore, if they see improvement in all classes they

are likely to integrate the technology or vice versa and not integrate the technology. In regards to

the second perspective, facility, this deals with the ease of a new technology in terms of it being

“learned, implemented, or managed at teacher- or student-level” (Kimmons, 2021). For teachers,

if the technology is easy to learn, and shows an improvement in student learning the technology

is justified that it should be implemented. However, if the technology requires a great amount of

time in regards to tutorials or other how-tos, teachers are likely to not want it to be integrated.

For the third perspective on the integration of technology it is important to look at the

Institutionalization of the technology. This perspective is concerned with the cost, lifespan, and

compatibility of the technology. For example, principals, teachers, and technology support

personnel all have differing views on the technology that should be implemented in the class

based on their various values and beliefs of technology in general. For a teacher, they may not

be concerned with the cost of apps and other supports and push to integrate iPads, while

technology support personnel understand the lifespan and costs of certain technology and

advocate for chromebooks. Whereas a principal may want to integrate PC or Mac laptops, all

these differing views contribute to what technology is integrated and what is not based on their

background in technology in general. And for the fourth perspective which deals with the legal

and ethical requirement of technology, it is known as Compliance. Compliance is necessary

when integrating technology, however, it rarely is concerned for by the teachers. If a certain

technology is prone to unsecure security or does not meet the legal and security requirements of
the district it is likely to not be integrated. But if the technology is securely maintained and

restrictive to those unethical and illegal sites the integration of this technology will occur.

Moreover, all of these perspectives contribute to the justification of integrating or not integrating

a certain technology but it is important to first consider your own beliefs about learning and what

you value as a teacher when deciding what technology is best for your own class.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on this specific topic. With the

pandemic of COVID-19 being inserted into the lives of individuals, online learning and the use

of technology and social media has become a prone part to the lives of students, forcing them to

use their technological applications as an essential part of their learning. With the time being

now, technology and social media is the only thing that students know. This pandemic has

changed the lives of education forever, having a severe impact on how social media affects

student engagement. Even before COVID, there was always a high impact of social media and

technological use, but once the pandemic hit, the numbers significantly got higher. Research has

shown that because of the unplanned shift from face-to-face instruction and moving into online

school, “will result in a poor user experience that is unconducive to sustained growth” (Cathy

Li, 2021). This quotation exemplifies that researchers believe that because of the impact online

learning, social media and technological use has ons students, it will have poor effect and their

growth will not be sustainable.

While in a school setting, students can easily be distracted when using different

technological devices, which is what needs to be avoided. With the research stating how

addictive social media can be in the classroom setting and in a general life setting, educators

need to research how to incorporate the proper ways they can use social media in the classroom.
The important thing to do is to block all distraction based websites that will have a negative

effect on students' learning.

Technology and social media are only going to become more and more advanced.

Therefore, by starting the implementation of social media in the educational setting at a young

age, students will be able to carry these advances with them into future endeavours and educate

those who are not familiar with the different social media platforms. In the education system,

educators have the goal of wanting nothing but what is best for their students. The way educators

can do this is by guiding their students inside and outside of the classroom, informing them of

the boundaries that they have and the goals that they need to accomplish in being there for them

during every step of the way. Some students will learn differently than others, some students will

be capable of doing and completing different things, this is an important reason why all areas of

learning need to be discussed and incorporated into a school's curriculum. Especially in relation

to the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning and social media are all that some students may

know and is a topic of discussion that needs to be incorporated into every classroom and

implemented into every curriculum.

 Works Cited

Bryant, P. B. D., & Bryant, D. (2018, January 29). This is why social media is the secret to
success in student engagement. Psych Learning Curve. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
http://psychlearningcurve.org/social-media-is-the-secret-to-success-in-student-engagement/

How social media affects student productivity. St. Cloud Technical Community College. (2020,
October 20). Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://www.sctcc.edu/news/10-20-2020/how-
social-media-affects-student-productivity.

Kimmons, R., Kimmons, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A., Kimmons, R., & Royce KimmonsDr. Royce
Kimmons is an Associate Professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham
Young University where he studies digital participation divides specifically in the realms of
social media. (1970, January 1). Technology integration. The K-12 Educational Technology
Handbook. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
https://edtechbooks.org/k12handbook/technology_integration.

Muhammad Awais Gulzar, Mudaser Ahmad, Marria Hassan & Muhammad Imran Rasheed
(2021) How social media use is related to student engagement and creativity: investigating
through the lens of intrinsic motivation, Behaviour & Information Technology, DOI:
10.1080/0144929X.2021.1917660

Spector, J. M. (2016, October 6). Ethics in educational technology: towards a framework for
ethical decision making in and for the discipline. https://bb.cortland.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-
1652314-dt-content-rid-16348066_1/courses/2021Fall-EDU315-607/Spector%2C%202016.pdf

Written by Cathy Li, H. of M. (n.d.). The COVID-19 pandemic has Changed education
FOREVER. This is how. World Economic Forum. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-
learning/.