Translating social media research into academically relevant practices. Today’s college students use social media (i.e., Facebook, Myspace, Twitter), cell phones, blogs, and instant messaging at higher rates than people from other generations. In higher education, faculty members generally lag behind students in their use of technology. While some faculty members embrace it, most have negative views of newer technologies, believing that technology use hurts students academically and socially. Nevertheless, research demonstrates that students generally utilize newer technologies in ways that are beneficial to them. For instance, recent research has shown that students who use Facebook at high rates have more positive educational outcomes. Additionally, the use of blogs, cell phones, and instant messaging have all been shown to promote student academic and psychosocial development. This presentation reviews recent research on how college students use technologies such as social media, cell phones, blogs, and instant messaging. Additionally, these slides highlight the latest research on student attitudes about social media, statistics on their use, differences in use based on gender, ethnicity, and social class (the digital divide), positive academic and social effects of technology use, and research-based strategies to help faculty members integrate technology into their courses in order to support student academic development.

2. rey.junco@gmail.com
www.reyjunco.com
twitter.com/reyjunco
Facebook : Rey Junco

3. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 College student technology use statistics
 Adoption of newer technologies by faculty
 The Digital Divide
 Positive effects of technology use
 Academically­relevant uses of technology

4. STUDENT TECHNOLOGY USE
 Today’s College  Internet
Students Use  Instant Messenger
 Wikipedia
 Blogs
 P2P File Sharing
 More than people  Facebook
from other  Twitter
generations
Pew Internet and American Life Project (2009) & Junco and Mastrodicasa (2007)

6. Silent Generation Boom ers
(1925-1942) (1943-1960)
Personality Personality
Loyal Optim istic
Collaborative Com petitive
Personal Sacrifice Individualistic
Patriotic Reject Authority
Conform ity Return to religious values
Respect for authority Events
Civic Pride VietnamW ar
Events W atergate
W I & II
W W en’ Rights
om s
Great Depression Reagan recession
NewDeal Civil Rights M ovement
College Television
1943-1960 College
1961-1978
Ge ne ratio n X Ne t Ge ne ratio n
(1961-1981) (1982-Now )
Personality Personality
Independent Special
Skeptical Sheltered
Latchkey Kids Confident
Shun Traditional Values Conventional
Nihilism Team -Oriented
Events Achieving
Challenger Accident Pressured
M TV Events
Com puters Colum bine Shootings
Video Gam es Septem 11 Attacks
ber
Persian Gulf W ar Oklahom City Bom
a bing
College College
1979-1999 2000-Now

7. SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE
USE
Pew Internet and American Life Project (2009)

8. TWITTER USE
Pew Internet and American Life Project (2009)

9. FACULTY MEMBERS &
TECHNOLOGY USE
 Typically from older generations
 Not as likely to embrace newer technologies

10. NIELSEN MARCH 2009 REPORT
 67% of global online community visit blogs and
social networking sites
 Global active reach is greater than email
 Facebook is visited monthly by 3 in every 10
people
 Audience is becoming more diverse
 In 2008, largest growth in 35­49 year olds
 Increase of 156% from 2007 in use of cell phones to
access social networking in the US

11. FACEBOOK AUDIENCE BECOMING
OLDER SINCE 2007

12. THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Less Likely to More Time More Time
Own Mobile Talking SMS
 Men  Women  Women
 African American  African American  African American
 Incomes <$10k  Latino/Hispanic  Incomes >$200k
Junco, Merson, & Salter (Under review)

13. MULTITASKING
Women, Latinos, and
first­year students
were more likely to
report that
multitasking had a
negative effect on
their academics.
Junco & Cotten (In preparation)

14. FACEBOOK PENETRATION ON
COLLEGE CAMPUSES

15. GROWTH OF FACEBOOK, MYSPACE,
& TWITTER
Unique Visitors Monthly Change Yearly Change
Facebook 104,125,466 +14.36% +249.70%
Myspace 55,559,317 -0.06% -8.61%
Twitter 19,443,286 +38.56% +1,192.13%

16. BLOGS AND MICROBLOGS
 28% of students reported maintaining a blog
 44% reported reading blogs (Junco & Mastrodicasa,
2007)
 Blog usage declined in early 2008, then has
increased steadily with the rising popularity of
Twitter
 Blog use in the classroom (Nakerud & Scaletta,
2008)

17. ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION

18. ENGAGEMENT ITEMS
 Asked questions in class or contributed to class discussions
 Participated in a community­based project (e.g., service learning) as part of a
regular course
 Used an electronic medium (listserv, chat group, Internet, instant messaging, etc.)
to discuss or complete an assignment
 Discussed grades or assignments with an instructor
 Talked about career plans with a faculty member or advisor
 Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with faculty members outside of class
 Worked with faculty members on activities other than coursework (committees,
orientation, student life activities, etc.)
 Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with others outside of class (students,
family members, co­workers, etc.)
 Had serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity than your
own
 Had serious conversations with students who are very different from you in terms of
their religious beliefs, political opinions, or personal values
 Attended an art exhibit, play, dance, music, theater, or other performance
 Exercised or participated in physical fitness activities
 Participated in activities to enhance your spirituality (worship, meditation, prayer,
etc.)
National Survey of Student Engagement (2009)

19. RESEARCH ON FACEBOOK AND
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
 Few studies examining link
 HERI (2007)
 Heiberger (2008)
 How is engagement related to technology use?

20. HERI (2007) & HEIBERGER (2008)
HERI HEIBERGER
N 31,500 via YFCY 375
Participants 114 Colleges and 1 Midsize Midwestern
Universities U.
Social Network All Social Networks Facebook only
94% use weekly 92% use daily
No less time studying

21. ENGAGEMENT

22. RESEARCH­BASED STRATEGIES
 Working with student
attitudes about online
privacy
 Using social media to
enhance engagement
 Facebook groups
 Facebook applications
 Using Social Media to
learn about faculty
 Twitter

23. STUDENT ATTITUDES
 Information posted on social networking sites is
private
 “You shouldn’t be looking at my social networking
site unless, of course, I want you to”
 “What is a privacy statement?”
 The job search
 Safety

24. CAREERBUILDER.COM SURVEY
(2008)
 22% of Hiring Managers used Social Networking
websites to research candidates.
 33% reported they found information to
disqualify potential employee:
 41% posted information about them drinking or using
drugs
 40% posted inappropriate photographs or information
 29% had poor communication skills
 28% badmouthed their previous company or fellow
employee
 22% used discriminatory remarks
 21% were linked to criminal behavior

25. FACEBOOK GROUPS

26. HELP STUDENTS CONNECT
TO GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES
ON CAMPUS

27. ENHANCE STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING
COMMUNITIES

28. ENROLLMENT ORIENTATION
EFFORTS

29. LEARNING ABOUT FACULTY & STAFF

30. SOCIAL MEDIA
CONNECTIONS
 Not for everyone
 Build community
 Learn about academic/faculty culture
 Connect with professors
 Maintain connection with students who graduate
 Model appropriate social media behaviors

31. EFFECTS OF FACULTY SELF­
DISCLOSURE ON FACEBOOK
Three themes discovered by Mazer, Murphy, and
Simonds (2007):
 Students like to learn about a professor’s
personality
 Concern about faculty professionalism
 Students concerned that faculty would “spy” on
them

32. FACEBOOK APPLICATIONS

33. COURSES 2.0

34. CAREERBUILDER.COM

35. CAUSES

36. STOCK MARKET CHALLENGE

37. TWITTER AND STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT

38. ENGAGING USES OF TWITTER

39. TWITTER IN THE CLASSROOM

40. QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION