AnnotatedBibliographyRonenCohen

SocialNetworkingTechnologiesandTheirPlaceinLearning
Socialnetworkingtechnologies(SNTs)startedassharingtoolsforweb2.0users,yetitisonly
recentlythatsuchtoolshavegainedpopularityineducationalsettings.Afewwouldarguethat
SNTsdonothaveaplaceineducationalsettings,buttherealquestionisiftheyhelpcreate
learningcommunitieswhichengageandchallengelearners,andasaresulttheycreatebetter
work?
Inordertoanswerthisquestion,Iwillfirstlookatdifferentlearningtheories.Iwillthendiscuss
learningcommunitiesandtheimportanceofinteraction.Thenextthingwouldbeoutliningwhat
SocialNetworkingTechnologiesare,andwhatdoesresearchsayabouttheireffectiveness(or
lackthereof).Iwillthenconcludewith,whatIcurrentlybelievetobetrue,thatsocial
networkingontheirowndonotpushstudentstoperformbetter,butthatitistheplanning,
directing,andresourcefulnessofthedirector(orinstructor)whichwoulddeterminetheoverall
effectivenessoftheuseofSNTs.

Ertmer,P.A.,&Newby,T.J.(1993).Behaviorism,Cognitivism,Constructivism:ComparingCriticalFeaturesfroman
InstructionalDesignPerspective.PIQPerformanceImprovementQuarterly,6(4),5072.

ThisarticlediscussesandexplainsthreemajorschoolsofthoughtBehaviorism,constructivism,
andconstructivism.Theauthorsuseexamplesofillustratetheapproachesandrelativeadvantage
ofeachtheory.Theyemphasizetheimportanceofunderstandingwhateachtheoryisandwhatit
hastoofferinordertobetterinformourdecisionsasinstructionaldesigners.Inordertoidentify
howsocialnetworkingrelatestoeducationaltheory,itisimportanttofirstunderstandthese
majorschoolsofthought,andsomostoftheinformationfromthisarticlewillbeusedatthe
beginningofmypaper.
Hill,JanetteR.(2012).Learningcommunities:Theoreticalfoundationsformakingconnections.InJonassen,D.,&Land,S.(Eds.),Theoretical
foundationsoflearningenvironments(pp.268285).NewYork,NY:Routledge.

ThischapterdiscussesLearningCommunitiesWhattheyare,someofthedifferenttypes,and
theimportanceofmakingconnectionsin,andto,learning.Thereasonthischapterwaswrittenis
becauseoftheimportanceof,andtheinstructorsinterestin,thecreationofacommunityto
facilitateandsupportlearning.Needlesstosay,thereisalinkbetweenlearningcommunitiesand
socialnetworking.Theinteractionbetweenthelearningcommunitysmembersallowsformore
meaningfullearningexperiences.Socialnetworkingtechnologiesallowlearnerstointeractina
varietyofways,whichestablishestheirimportance.

Greenhow,C.(2009).SocialScholarship:ApplyingSocialNetworkingTechnologiestoResearchPractices.Knowledge
Quest,37(4),4247.

Inthisarticle,theauthorusesseveralexamplesofhowparticipatorywebbasedtechnologies
havethepotentialtochangethewayweengageinscholarship.Usingconcreteexamplesfor

appropriateuseofsocialbibliographyandsocialbookmarkingsites,theauthoremphasizesthe
importanceofbothinstructorsandstudentsreflectivebehavioraswellasknowhowinorderto
appropriatelyutilizesuchtechnologiestoimprovelearnersresearchandresourcefulness
practices.Inordertomaximizetheeffectivenessoftheuseofanynewtool(suchasSNTs)itis
importanttoknowwhattoolsareavailable,andtoexperimentandsharethewaysinwhichwe
usethem.
Friesen,N.,&Lowe,S.(2012).Thequestionablepromiseofsocialmediaforeducation:connectivelearningandthe
commercialimperative.JCALJournalofComputerAssistedLearning,28(3),183194.

ThisarticlequestionstheuseofSocialMediaplatforms(suchasFacebook)infosteringacrucial
componentoflearningnamelyinfosteringinlearnersthecapacityfordebateanddisagreement.
Theauthorarguesthatalthoughsocialmediatoolshavebeenhailedbysomeasthenextbest
thingineducation,thereisnofoundationtothesearguments,andinfact,bydesign,thesetools
significantlydetractfromlearnercontrolandeducationaluse.Thisarticlepresentsadifferent
perspectiveonsocialmedia,namelythepremisesonwhichsuchplatformsareinvented(i.e.,for
commercialoradvertisingreasons),whichisdifferentthanthewayeducatorsviewsuchtools.

Baker,L.R.,&Oswald,D.L.(2010).Shynessandonlinesocialnetworkingservices.JournalofSocialandPersonal
Relationships,27(7),873889.

ThisarticlediscussesthecorrelationbetweenshynessandtheuseofFacebook.Throughtheir
research,theauthorsfoundthatonlinesocialnetworkingmayprovideacomfortableand
encouragingenvironmentforshyindividualstointeractwithothers.Althoughnotdirectly
relatedtoconstructivisttheory,thisarticleoffersinformationinregardstoanimportant
prerequisitetolearningcommunities,namelytheabilitytofreelyandconfidentlyinteractwith
peers.

Ractham,P.,Kaewkitipong,L.,&Firpo,D.(2012).TheUseofFacebookinanIntroductoryMISCourse:Social
ConstructivistLearningEnvironment*.DecisionSciencesJournalofInnovativeEducation,10(2),165188.

InthefaceofeducatorsinabilitytofullymaximizethepotentialofSocialNetworking
Technologies(SNT),thisarticlediscussesthesuccessfuluseofFacebookasalearningartifact
(togetherwiththeintegrationofdifferentactivities)tofosteraconstructivistlearning
environment.TheauthorsareattemptingtoimplementandevaluateanexistingSNTtohelp
educatorstobetterimplementsuchtechnologywithintheireducationalsettings.Thisarticle
demonstratesthatusingonlySNTsisinsufficienttocreateanappropriateconstructivistlearning
environment,butthatinstead,instructorsmustdiligentlydesignandimplementavarietyof
appropriatesocialconstructivistlearningactivitiesandcarefullyintegrateSNTsintotheir
curriculum.