EDMM 339

Submitted by:

Eliza Ayoub
Mirabelle Issa
Mona Ghazi
Table of Contents

Instructional Topic...................................................................................................................................... 3
Why Social Media when studying science? .............................................................................................. 3
Setting and Audience .................................................................................................................................. 6
Learning Objectives .................................................................................................................................... 8
Social Media Technologies and Rationale ................................................................................................ 9
Sribblar.................................................................................................................................................... 10
VoiceThread............................................................................................................................................ 10
Facebook ................................................................................................................................................. 11
YouTube ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Wiki ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
Social Media Learning Activities and Strategies.................................................................................... 14
Week 1 Lesson Details............................................................................................................................ 15
Week 3 Lesson Details............................................................................................................................ 17
Week 5-6 Lesson Details ........................................................................................................................ 17
Possible Issues for Learners and Recommended Solutions................................................................... 19
References:................................................................................................................................................. 20
Appendix A: Post-Course Evaluation ..................................................................................................... 21
Appendix B: Voicethread activity rubric................................................................................................ 23
Appendix C: Social Media Guidelines and Etiquette ............................................................................ 24
Instructional Topic

Our Social Media Learning Strategy is designed with the purpose of enhancing collaboration,

reflective thinking, critical thinking, construction of knowledge in addition to learning the

material at hand. The aim of using Social Media in education is to empower the learners by

involving them in their own learning. Social software allows learners to contribute actively to

their learning and that of others by collaborating and collectively creating a product (Bower,

Hedberg, & Kuswara, 2010) that demonstrates understanding and grasp of the material.

The topic of instruction is part of a Biology lesson that aims to develop students’ understanding

of the concept of the digestive system. Starting with understanding the structure of the anatomy

of the digestive system, students go on to relate the function of each part (organ) in relation to

the entire system (Howland, L., Jonassen, H., & Marra, M., 2012). They should be able to

comprehend the interactive nature of organ functions for a common purpose, transforming food

into nutrients or wastes. Students should also comprehend the conditions necessary for digestion

to take place and thus the effects of certain disorders that hamper the role of proper digestion

such as the PKU disorder.

As a result of this lesson, students should develop a wider perspective of how their body

functions and how they should organize their lifestyle to maintain the well-being of their

digestive system and their body as a whole.

Why Social Media when studying science?

The ever-increasing demands of the 21st century make it essential for instructors to adapt new

strategies in education to develop in their students the skills necessary to not only survive but

also to prosper in today’s workforce, which although competitive, relies on skills such as ability

to work within a group and interact constructively with others. Since interactivity and
collaboration are essential skills in today’s workforce, and since technology affordances promote

those skills, it is no surprise that instructors are turning to technology to achieve their objectives

in an interactive, engaging manner (Howland et al, 2012). Through technology tools, educators

are also seeking to be up-to-date while boosting students’ critical thinking and breaking the walls

of traditional learning that is based on spoon-fed lectures that limit creativity and long-term

learning.

Science/Technology is the recent megatrend in the field of science education. (Cheston, C.,

Flickinger, E., & Chisolm, S., 2013). Learning science through technology will help the learner

learn logically through facts, concepts, and conceptual networks. (Cheston et al, 2013).Students

develop inductive and deductive reasoning (Howland, Jonassen, & Marra, 2012), which are

essential skills in science education.

A research study found that technology integration in science helped in attaining and retaining

many skills and competencies more than standard or traditional ways of education. (Cheston et

al, 2013).

Social media can bring to the domain of science a variety of tools and strategies that can make

leaning science easier by situating the knowledge in a real life context, which is very important

in this field because science at the end is the study and reflection of the real world. Web-based

tools offer a list of advantages that show how Social Media can sometimes be more beneficial in

learning science than person/print educational tools (Cheston et al, 2013).

Social media tools can create an interactive e-learning experience with features that target more

learner-generated, collaborative and engaging learning activities and strategies. The information

on social media is created by users for users, especially in the domain of science where scientists

could communicate and share information and knowledge. This allows knowledge to flow more
effectively and in a wider range. It also facilitates collaborative work between communities of

practice beyond the boundaries and constriction of place and time. The affordances and

multimedia features provided by technology tools such as audios(podcasts), visuals (concept

maps, infographics), virtual labs (augmented and virtual reality apps and tools) and others

promote conceptual knowledge with the ability of communicating with experts (through video

conferencing for example) to discuss any topic of study (Cheston et al., 2013).
Setting and Audience

The activities are set for Freshman students at a private Lebanese university who have

experience in the use of technology tools and Social Media in learning. These activities should

be relatively easy and reflect long-term learning through communication and collaboration in a

student-centered environment.

This learning process will take place in a Biology course given in a hybrid manner. Each activity

will be assigned in the online week, which will take place every two weeks. At the end of these

sessions, the students will develop factual and conceptual knowledge of the various aspects of

the digestive system; how it functions and conflicts that might face it. The class will be divided

into groups and a detailed description of each activity will be provided along with the material

needed to conduct a successful independent but interactive learning activity.

Our class was divided randomly into 3 groups using a tool called Random Team Generator.

Therefore, our groups are as follows:

Learning Objectives

After this course, the students will be able to:

1. Design and illustrate the anatomy of the various parts and organs of the digestive system.

2. Relate the role of each organ in relation to its location in the body with respect to other

organs.

3. Discuss the major functions of the various parts of the digestive system.

4. Explain PKU disorder and recommend ways to avoid its consequences.

Social Media Technologies and Rationale

As the TPACK model suggests, in order to leverage the use of technology, it is important to

choose the technology tool that best suits the type of thinking level the activity targets(Bower

M., Hedberg, G., & Kuswara, A. , 2010). (Bower et al., 2010).

As such, the reason many educators turn towards Social Media tools is the fact that they provide

an environment that fosters online collaboration, an indispensable skill for success later in the

workplace (Bower et al., 2010). Social Media tools also allow for one-to-many and many -to-

many communications (Dron & Anderson, 2012).

Social software otherwise referred to as Web 2.0 tools are becoming a major asset in the

educational realm for the following purposes: active engagement of learners on a platform that

promotes peer support and social construction of meaning (Hedberg, 2003; Jonassen, 2000; Land

& Hannafin, 2000 cited in Bower et al,2010).

Technology tools enhance dialogic, constructive and co-constructive pedagogies (Bower et al,

2010) which allow students to extend their perspectives and widen their scope of knowledge

beyond what they could have learned individually or in the confines of a time-restricted

classroom environment.

Since tech tools are not restricted by time, students have sufficient time to reflect before

presenting their ideas thus developing their insight in the subject matter.

Students exercise decision-making and critical thinking when researching and explaining

concepts to their peers. (Learning Management Systems, wikis and blogs). (Howland et al, 2012)

They have more options (multimedia platform) to recreate what they learned and present it in

their own learning style. (Bower et al, 2010).

Students build their knowledge and develop strategies to search for the information they need.

They decide what information is relevant and meaningful to the topic. Students have the

opportunity to explore and guide each other through peer learning and teaching. (Dron and

Anderson, 2014)

Students interpret, develop science inquiry questions, support facts and ideas, use logic while

investigating, contradicting or explaining. (Howland et al, 2012)

Critically analyzing information develops inductive thinking, a skill useful for science education.

Elaboration and discussion promote deeper understanding.

Investigate contradict explain

Sribblar
 Audio Collab in Scribblar allows students to collaborate synchronously during the

design of the anatomy, which allows students to operate as a group. This feature also

allows net operations within a much larger scope of users.

 Illustration feature in Scribblar allows students to exercise comprehension by illustrating

(Anderson & Krathwohl, 2010) the organs and their main functions.

 Designing in Scribblar allows students to demonstrate their understanding of the order

of location of each organ in relation to its function.

Through this Scribblar activity, learners develop factual and conceptual knowledge of the

structure and anatomy of the digestive system.

VoiceThread
Students evaluate and synthesize their findings resulting from research on the organ of study.
Students demonstrate their understanding of the function of a particular organ by explaining in

an audio presentation the function of this organ and the conditions necessary for this organ to

function properly.

VoiceThread offers an audiovisual or video platform to share one’s knowledge with others.

It also provides the chance for others to comment via text, audio, or video.

Therefore, VoiceThread affords Dialogic, constructive pedagogy. (Bower et al., 2010)

Students communicate asynchronously.

In Voicethread students contribute to each other’s ideas by voicing their comments and

analyzing collaboratively (Bower et al., 2010).

Voicethread allows students to publish within a group or net.

They can relate their perspectives, reason, argue with or against using multimedia feature

afforded by Voicethread.

Facebook
The poll created on Facebook allows students to get information from a large audience.

Facebook is a social networking site. It allows asynchronous and synchronous net operations.

Used constructively Facebook can provide a collaborative workspace for exchange of ideas.

However, only the poll is needed for the purpose of the final activity together data from a net

audience. It allows transmissive knowledge because students are receiving information about

whether others know or don’t know about PKU disorder but are not engaging in dialogue or

construction of knowledge.
YouTube
As a media creating and sharing tool, YouTube provides the opportunity for students to be

creative in synthesizing what they know and producing a demonstration that can be viewed by

potentially millions.

Net

Asynchronous

Evaluation and creating (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2010).

Co-constructive pedagogy

Commenting features allow for discussing.

Wiki
A wiki is classified as a collaborative workspace. The editing feature provided by wiki allows

students to reflect and think critically about the posts as well as backing up their claims with

reliable evidence before adding or editing a post. The public nature of a wiki allows students to

operate in groups and nets but in this situation they are required to work as a class, i.e group.

The commenting feature allows students to offer and receive feedback. Peer feedback promotes

individual learning (Bower et al, 2010). Communication on the wiki page is asynchronous,

which gives students time to formulate a thoughtful response.

Wiki offers a constructive and co-constructive modality of learning. (Bower et al., 2010)

Wiki allows students to collectively discuss and contribute to each other’s thought processes by

analyzing, evaluating and creating together, offering and receiving feedback, promoting

reflection, insight and critical thinking on the topic of discussion, co-constructively and

interactively. Students benefit from each other’s thoughts and feedback which promotes

reflection. Students asynchronously display their knowledge, which is extended by the co-

constructive thinking processes required by the activity.

Wiki is used as a platform to collect all the information gathered during the given activities

that covered the learning objectives, as a way to keep it as a reference for later use for

revision.
Social Media Learning Activities and Strategies

Week 1 Week 3 Week 5-6

Design and illustrate Discuss the major Explain PKU disorder
the anatomy of the functions of the and recommend ways
various parts and various parts of the to avoid its
organs of the digestive system. consequences.
digestive system.
Learning
Objectives
Relate the role of each
organ in relation to its
location in the body
with respect to other
organs.
Each student must Each group will be Each Group will
complete the creation assigned two organs create a poll on
of his account on which they will Facebook with the
Scribblar. research and share question Do you
findings on the class know what PKU
Each group designs wiki. They will then disorder is? Your poll
and illustrates an present a should stay for not
anatomy that demonstration on more than a week.
represents all the Voicethread of the After the results, in
organs involved in the functions of each of groups, create a video
digestive system of the two organs. that explains what
one of the following PKU is, what causes
(human, cow, reptile, After the Voicethread it, if it can be avoided
amphibian, insect), is published on the or treated, raising
using Scribblar. common wiki page, awareness of the
Assignment
students from other things people with
Communication groups are required to this disorder should
occurs synchronously prepare and ask three do in order to avoid
(using the Audio questions which they its consequences.
collab feature on could decide on in any
Scribblar) within the chatting tool before Students could create
group during the voicing their a scenario or talk with
design of the questions on live patients who can
anatomy, which, when Voicethread regarding discuss their
done, will be posted disorders that may symptoms and
on their wiki. occur in these organs treatments they are
(for example: why undergoing. Students
The instructor creates does bloating may choose to
a wiki for the class. (constipation, reflux, interview a physician
occur, how to avoid or nutritionist…
 Students should …) to which the Each group’s video
complete their wiki group acting as the will be uploaded and
accounts to access the “expert” on these shared on the
page created by the organs will respond YouTube and the wiki
instructor. with explanations, page.
advice,
All anatomies are suggestions…) They can also post
posted on the wiki. this video on their
Students answer Facebook account, in
Student then Compare through Voicethread order to help in
and contrast audio and have to spreading awareness
anatomies of different support their answers regarding this disease.
digestive systems with evidence from
pertaining to different reliable sources. Groups are required to
species. view and post at least
two comments on
other groups’ videos.
In order to do so,
students write at least
two similarities or two
differences, which
will promote
discussion on the
reasons for these
similarities and /or
differences.

Week 1 Lesson Details

After creating separate accounts and groups in Scribblar, each group should collaborate to

design an anatomy that represents all the organs involved in the digestive system of one of the

following (human, cow, reptile, amphibian, insect) along with illustrations, using the tool
Scribblar. Communication occurs synchronously (using the Audio collab feature on Scribblar)

within the group during the design of the anatomy, which will be posted on the class wiki.

Each group is to compare and contrast the digestive systems of each anatomy by writing at least

two similarities or two differences, this will promote discussion on the reasons for these

similarities and /or differences. Students relate the similarities and/differences to the role of the

organ as a function of dietary intake (human or animal food diet).

Week 3 Lesson Details

Each group will be assigned two organs which they will research and share findings on the class

wiki. They will then present a demonstration on Voicethread of functions and parts of each two

organs and describe the conditions necessary for the organ to do its job.

After the Voicethread is published, students from other groups are required to prepare and ask

three questions which they could decide on any chat tool of their choice. These questions are

voiced on Voicethread regarding disorders that may occur in these organs (for example, why

does bloating (constipation, reflux, occur, how to avoid …) to which the group acting as the

“expert” on these organs will respond with explanations, advice, suggestions…)

Students answer and have to support their answers with evidence from reliable sources.

Week 5-6 Lesson Details

Each Group will create a one week Facebook poll with the question “Do you know what PKU

disorder is?” After the results, each group should promote awareness of this digestive disorder by

creating a video that explains what PKU is, its prevalence and causes, if it can be avoided or
treated, raising awareness of the things people with this disorder should do in order to avoid its

consequences. Students are allowed to be creative in the way they choose to get the information

across. They could create a scenario or talk with live patients who can talk about their symptoms

and treatments they are undergoing. Students may choose to interview a physician or

nutritionist…

Each group’s video will be uploaded and shared on the YouTube and the wiki page.

They can also post this video on their Facebook account, in order to help in spreading awareness

regarding this disease.

Groups are required to view and comment on other groups’ videos.

Possible Issues for Learners and Recommended Solutions

Some of the problems that our learners might encounter with suggested solutions are mentioned

below.

 Misconstrued comments and replies: freshman students may not be used to blended

hybrid courses. Students’ comments might be misunderstood, sometime meaningless or

irrelevant. Netiquette and examples will be provided for the students in order to get

familiar with the online and specifically social media environment.

 Ownership and copyright property: everything posted online might be subject to

copyright. The video posted on YouTube might be used by other people without giving

them credit.

 Privacy: privacy is an everlasting issue when dealing with social media. Students are

encouraged to be attentive when using online tools and when displaying personal

information.

 Students may digress (Howland et al, 2012). Deadlines could help in avoiding

procrastination and distraction.

References:

Bower, M., Hedberg, J. G., & Kuswara, A. (2010). A framework for Web 2.0 learning design.

Educational Media International, 47(3), 177-198.

Cheston, C. C., Flickinger, T. E., & Chisolm, M. S. (2013). Social media use in medical

education: a systematic review. Academic Medicine, 88(6), 893-901.

Dron, J. and Anderson, T. (2014).Teaching Crowds: Learning and social media. AU Press.

Howland, J. L., Jonassen, D. H., & Marra, R. M. (2012). Meaningful learning with technology.

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Krathwohl, D. R., & Anderson, L. W. (2010). Merlin C. Wittrock and the revision of Bloom's

taxonomy. Educational psychologist, 45(1), 64-65.

Yager, R. E. (Ed.). (1996). Science/technology/society as reform in science education. SUNY

Press.
Appendix A: Post-Course Evaluation
Evaluation Criteria Exceeds Expectations Meets Expectations Needs Improvement
85 – 100 % 70 – 84 % below 70 %
Design and illustrate Students present a Students present a Students present a
the anatomy of the detailed and clearly somewhat detailed vague anatomy
various parts and designed anatomy and clearly designed depicting only
organs of the depicting primary and anatomy depicting primary organs.
digestive system. secondary organs, primary and Organs’ location are
juices….with clear secondary organs with not correct and
and detailed sufficient illustrations. illustrations provide
illustrations. Students Students place the insufficient data.
exercise precision in organs in their correct
placing the organs in locations.
their exact locations.
Relate the role of each Students analytically Students depict Similarities and
organ in relation to its depict similarities and similarities and differences are not
location in the body differences and can differences and can clearly stated or
with respect to other relate these to the relate these to the irrelevant.
organs. human or animal’s human or animal’s
food diet by food diet.
explaining and
supporting the reasons
for these differences
or similarities.
Discuss the major Students’ presentation Students’ presentation Students’ presentation
functions of the reveals a significant reveals a sufficient reveals an insufficient
various parts of the amount of research amount of research amount of research is
digestive system. leading to detailed leading to knowledge unclear and
knowledge and and understanding of disorganized. No
understanding of the the parts and answers are given to
parts and functions of functions of each others’ questions.
each organ. Students’ organ. Students’ Students’ choice of
answer to others’ answer to others’ questions are
questions reveal questions reveal superficial and do not
ability to support their sufficient contribute to self and
answers with research understanding of others’ learning.
from reliable sources. organs’ role.
Students’ choice of Students’ choice of
questions also reveals questions also reveals
relevance to the topic relevance to the topic.
and arethought
provoking and
beneficial to others’
learning.
Explain PKU disorder Information presented Information presented Information presented
and recommend ways is captivating, clear, is acceptably clear, is insufficient,
to avoid its organized and backed organized and backed disorganized or
consequences up with significant up with sufficient unclear. Sources are
informative data. informative data. either unreliable or
Video created by insufficient.
students reveals a
creative and
interesting and
professional way to
reach the audience.
Appendix B: Voicethread activity rubric

Exceeds
Meets Expectations Below Expectations
Expectations

Information gathered
Information gathered Information gathered
from scholarly
from partially reliable from unreliable
resources with
resources with resources with poor
Content of referencing and in-
referencing and in- referencing and in-
information text citation.
text citation. text citation.
40 points Information should
Information partially Information divert
reflect and cover all
reflect the learning from the learning
the points in the
objective. objective.
learning objective.
High quality of images
The video is designed The video is created
and audio, with clear
in a good quality of with poor quality
explanation of the
images and audios. where the images and
Video visuals points given. The
The ideas are listed audios are not clearly
10 points video should be
randomly and the designed. The
organized and
information required material required is
chronologically cover
is not fully covered. poorly covered.
the given material.
The questions are
The questions are The questions are
logical and reflect
good, but they fairly poorly prepared with
analytical critical
reflect analytical and no reflection of
Questions thinking strongly
critical thinking. They analytical and critical
25 points related to the lesson.
are retrieved from thinking. They are
They are designed
fairly reliable retrieved from
based on scholarly
resources. unreliable resources.
resources.
The answers are
The answers are
straight to the point,
The answers are good poorly written
Answers clear and cover all the
and kin of reflect the without scientific
25 points points needed based
learning objective. analysis and
on the learning
terminologies.
objective.
Appendix C: Social Media Guidelines and Netiquette
 Don’t be rude and abusive:

Use a kind language and don’t point mistakes in a brutally honest way that might hurt

others feelings.

 Use good grammatical language:

Make sure your language is correct and used in a formal and organized manner.

 Be positive and encouraging:

Try to give positive comments to your colleagues that will boost their confidence and

motivate them to work harder.

 Recheck your responses before posting them:

Make sure to reread and edit your responses for any possible mistake or inconvenience

before posting them.

 Give honest feedback, but in a good manner:

Be honest in your comment, but criticize what is needed in a polite manner that helps in

improvement and does not destroy their will and ambition.

 Avoid conflicts:

Be ready to give and receive comments with a high spirit. Be opened to criticism without

feeling offensive and defensive.

 Work in a team spirit:

Work collaboratively to help each other improve rather than compete with one another.

 Respect all kind of differences:

Respect that your colleagues might have opposing cultural backgrounds, believes, and

opinions, and take that into consideration while commenting and giving feedback.