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DEFINING THE INTEGRATED

CLASSROOM
If you have been a part of a training session or taken an academic course in the past
ten years, one of the main things that has changed about the classroom structure
is how both learners and in some instances instructors have altered the landscape
of the traditional learning environment.
Over the past decade upon walking into a training or classroom an outside observer
might immediately notice the increased amount of individuals taking notes on
their laptops, and more recently their iPads, instead of taking notes using a
pen/pencil and simple sheets of paper. Even in environments where the learners
may be attentive to the lecture, the instructor may be incorporating advanced
methods of technology to enhance their instruction by using an advanced
whiteboard or interactive remotes.
The current structure of the integrated classroom has a combination of both the
learners and the instructor using more technology, and because of its everincreasing prominence in society, it is not uncommon to see the incorporation of
social media tools incorporated in the learning environment, either by the trainer
to use surveys to gage the learning outcomes of their instructions or by the
learners to continue conversations about course/training topics or to find out
about missed information due to absence.

SOCIAL LEARNING EFFECTS

Because of the many sources of social media some of the
effects of social learning according to Smith and Tirumala
(2012) are enhancing the perceptions of learners through
their communication tools.
Through social learning employees are encouraged to keep
their dialogue going, and social media enables individuals to
continue these conversations through informal interactions.
Services such as blogs, microblogs, social networks, wikis,
and video sharing sites now make regular appearances in
learning environments (Smith & Tirumala, 2012).

AFFECTS OF SOCIAL LEARNING ON TRAINERS

In the traditional learning environment the
trainer/instructor has full responsibility for
making decisions about what will be learned, how
it will be learned, and deciding if the material has
been learned (Daniels & Billingsley, 2014).
If interested and proactive trainers utilize some
form of social media within their classroom
structure, the instructor has an opportunity of
finding out some of the likes and interests of
those they will be working with in advance of
their first training session.

SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY

While social media usage is vast, its quick incorporation into society left
little time to establish standard protocols due to most social media
being used for casual communication between individuals. As stated by
Aula (2015), The loss of reputation affects competitiveness, local
positioning, the trust and loyalty of stakeholders, media relations, and
the legitimacy of operations (p. 44).
Pappas (2013) suggest some basic ground rules for using social media for
social learning: It is advised that for accountability purposes one
should create closed groups. By including this option those
participating are doing so by invitation only, and only those in the
particular group are able to see the content discussed and comment on
it.
From the stand point of launching a social media platform, Pappas
(2013), believes that creating polls will provide those creating a course
or training session the opportunity to gage the opinions of their
audience and provide feedback on what should be implemented.

TRAINING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

While some within the field of instruction might still be hesitant to
include some sort of social media into their training, there are many
positives to allowing access to these tools that can improve both
productivity, interpersonal relations, and collaboration.
With social media, not only can instructors create groups to encourage
topical discussions outside of class, but also encourage those being
instructed to create their own discussion groups which can lead to
greater collaboration, and for those that might not feel comfortable
expressing themselves within a formal learning environment, social
media groups may allow for a more comfortable outlet.
Pappas (2013) also notes that through social media instructors have
the option of uploading course content/training material to be
available to those in the learning environment on a 24/7 basis. This
format also lends itself to training on a global level, as social media
connection is immediate regardless of the location of those involved.

THE PROS & CONS OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA IN LEARNING

ENVIRONMENTS

Through studies conducted by Wang, Lin, Yu, and Wu

(2013), social media instruction, specifically through
Facebook can be integrated into instruction to
encourage engagement. Some pros of Facebook based
social learning include:
Facilitating increased communication between learners and instructors.
Projects are able to be initiated online, promoting active learning.
Regardless of physical attendance in the formal learning environment,
learners are still able to participate.

It should be acknowledge that no matter what form of

social media used in learning, it must be reciprocated
by all parties (instructors, learners, board of directors,
etc.).

SOCIAL LEARNING STRATEGY

In personally crafting a social learning environment that I feel would be accommodating to
learners, I would focus on utilizing Facebook as the primary media format.
Along with being the most well-known social media, Facebook also possess a higher amount
of users, and because of this more learners than not are already familiar with this
application, and already have an established social media presence, and would likely not
have to be coached in setting up their profile, however Facebook lends itself to being
very easy to create a profile if need be.
While still adhering to some traditional training practices of a learning environment, I
would make those involved in the training aware that materials are also available on
Facebook and that a specific learning group has been set up for the purpose of sustaining
conversations outside of the scheduled training times. I would suggest within the
training materials that all those participating create a Facebook account if they do not
already have one, and send invitations to all those interested in participating.
Along with Facebook, YouTube would also be incorporated as part of the training. Within
the established training group, specific videos would be made available to those to
access additional training. To build incentive, I would also encourage participants to also
submit additional comments about the course within any format that they are
comfortable with, as Facebook in compatible with many of the other social media
applications.

REFERENCES
Aula, P. (2010). Social media, reputation risk and ambient publicity management.
Emerald Group Publishing, 38(6), 43-49. doi: 10.1108/10878571011088069
Daniels, K.N. & Billingsley, K. Y. (2014). Facebook Its Not Just for Pictures
Anymore: The Impact of Social Media on Cooperative Learning. i-Managers
Journal of Educational Technology, 11(3), 34-44.
Pappas, C. (May 17, 2013). How to Use Facebook for Social Learning. eLearning
Industry. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/how-to-use-facebook-forsocial-learning
Pappas, C. (May 13, 2013). 10 Tips to Effectively Use Social Media in Formal Learning.
eLearning Industry. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/10-tips-toeffectively-use-social-media-in-formal-learning
Smith, J.E., & Tirumala, L.N. (Spring/Summer, 2012). Twitters Effects on Student
Learning and Social Presence Perceptions. Teaching Journalism and Mass
Communication, 2(1), 21-31.
Wang, J., Lin, C.C, Yu, W.W., & Wu, E. (2013). Meaningful Engagement in Facebook
Learning Environments: Merging Social and Academic Lives. Turkish Online
Journal of Distance Education, 14(1), 302-322.