A 5th Wall In The Classroom Abstract

When speaking to Communications students at Queens University of Charlotte, we noticed a melting pot of opinions regarding the requirements of social networks in classes. We were shocked to learn that some students were not only required by professors but threatened with a decrease in their grades if they refused to join these networks. This information prompted us to explore the world of social media requirements in the classroom in a more in depth setting. Due to our intense intrigue on the topic, a research question was configured. During the course of our research we attempted to discover the effects that the requirement of social media within the classroom had on students. Information we obtained through extensive investigation allowed us to find a diverse collection of viewpoints on the topic. Some sources indicated that the usage of social media prevented students involvement in the class; while others found it to be a positive way for students to interact during and outside of the classroom. By generating questions and conducting focus groups, we were able to uncover our own findings of how students view the requirement of social media in a classroom setting. We performed six focus groups comprised of five to seven students who had been required to create social media accounts for their classes. Our hour-long sessions with these students generated a wide range of feedback and opinions regarding the topic. Our investigation provided us with answers that will hopefully allow professors and students in the future to find a balance between the standard classroom and a social media driven environment. Introduction As new avenues of technology are created everyday, one cannot help but notice the slow emergence of technology in a once pen and paper driven location. The classroom, a place of knowledge and exploration has, over the past ten years, become a building ground for technological advancements. Would you have ever imagined that social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, four-square and others would become a main driving force behind education? This is the case in Universities around the world. Primarily found within the Communications field of study, research has shown that communications Professors have begun to require social media accounts. The purpose for these accounts, claim to be the continued

A 5th Wall In The Classroom connection with students outside of the classroom, a means for students to access course

information, and have immediate interaction with others in the course. With mixed opinions concerning the topic, the question has risen, what are Communication students perceptions of social media being required in the classroom? Literature Review Social Media Rules Limit Student-Teacher Contact (#1) Overview/Guidelines New York Public Schools Education Department has released guidelines limiting the connection that students and teachers may have over the Internet. The guidelines feature limitations on personal pages on Web sites like Facebook and Twitter. Teachers will be able to access their students on sites set up by the school but other than that there may not be any online interaction between students and teachers. Cellphones Apparently, the guidelines that have been enacted do not take into consideration the cellular contact between teachers and students. Cellphones and text messaging between teachers and students, which, according to a review by The New York Times of dozens of Education Department investigations in the past five years, have been more widespread and problematic. Reason for Guidelines It may seem unlikely to some, but the motivation to found these guidelines come due to an increase in inappropriate behaviors between students and teachers. At least seven school

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employees have been arrested in the past few months in relation to sexual offenses involving students, and the schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott, is pushing to fire several teachers accused of such offenses. Investigators have found that the majority of inappropriate interactions or beginnings of relationships begin on social media sites such as Facebook and twitter. In 2009, for instance, there were 14 such accusations involving Facebook; in the first 11 months of 2011, there were 69. Under the Freedom of Information request, many teachers in New York have been subject to investigation regarding their media communication with their students outside of class. In one example, Soliber Martinez, a teacher at the Pablo Neruda Academy, a high school in the Bronx, exchanged 1,824 text messages in three weeks with a male student, according to investigators in Mr. Condon's office. The boy's mother told investigators that Ms. Martinez had professed her love for him, which she denied. According to the city, Ms. Martinez, who did not have tenure, was let go. In this instance and others like it, it is clear to see that there has been a violation of the teacher/student boundary, but New York is adamant in not prohibiting all forms of media communication. The last thing we want to do is prohibit communication and prevent a teacher from helping a student in distress, even if that means making a phone call,'' a spokesman, Matthew Mittenthal, said. Limiting Speech Teachers in this region are now being told that their professional social media accounts must reflect the same appropriate interaction that takes place with students in class and with coworkers in the workplace. One concern now becomes, who will in fact be monitoring the social

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media sites and if adding this extra burden with have a negative effect on their prior workload. Along with this is the fact that monitoring the sites could affect the teachers negatively if they feel that they are not to be trusted. Michael Mulgrew, president of the teachers' union, the United Federation of Teachers, said that he was ''taken aback'' by the tone of the guidelines, which he worried would discourage teachers from using social media tools. Mulgrew, speaks about how the Department of Education seems to be persecuting those who have attempted to make education in class a more interactive and interesting experience for students. One teacher, a Mr. Ruiz, had a letter placed in his personal file after it was discovered that many of his students were friends with him on Myspace, yet within a short time, Ruiz was promoted to assistant principal of a different school. Ruiz today uses more up to date social media networks such as Twitter. Going by the name Rusword and identifying himself as an ''assistant principal'' without naming the school, he repeatedly wrote racy posts in response to sexual remarks from other Twitter users, and some suggestive photos he has remarked on have wound up on his Twitter page, though he said he had not intended to capture them. Due to the potential for an employer, student or parent of a student stumbling upon his page, Ruiz has since shut it down. Once again, limiting the ability for teachers to speak freely via social media due to the fear of persecution.

Methodology Focus Group Objective With the focus groups, we attempted to understand the positive and negative aspects of

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students using social media in a classroom. We argued that the requirement of social media in classrooms has a negative effect on the productivity and privacy rights of the students. Through the study we were able to hear the opinions of our peers and see how they truly felt when faced with the requirement of social media in the classroom.

Participants In order for us to measure the effect of social media students, we were selective in choosing only Queens University of Charlotte Communication Majors between the ages of 1824. These students are more likely to have used or been forced to use social media in the classroom because of the relevance of media literacy within the field of Communications. These individuals, upon acceptance to the study (See Appendix A for Consent Form), became a member of one of our 6 focus groups.

Questions Participants were asked to answer as truthfully as possible and to be open to sharing their ideas and viewpoints on the topic of social media in the classroom. A total of nine un-leading questions were created that allowed the proctor and transcriber to accurately assess the many different opinions that our participants may have on the subject. Our questions where submitted to the IRB and approved. (See Appendix B for Sample of Focus Group Questions)

Analysis

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The data we gathered was compared and contrasted based on the answers given by our participants. When analyzing, we were able to determine many themes that occurred within each focus group. These themes were then divided and each response was placed within a specific theme. Our next step was to review our results and compare them to the themes found within our sources. Through discussion within our research team and follow-up interviews with some of our focus group participants, we were able to come to a conclusion concerning our original hypothesis. Hypothesis Communications Majors, at Queens University of Charlotte, find that required social media is a violation of their privacy. Results Overview As we conducted our focus groups we came out with an even balance for all groups. We decided to section the results into positive and negative groups to have a better understanding as to why some of the groups felt the way they did. Focus groups 2, 4 and 6 were in favor of having a social media driven classroom because of the benefits that it could bring to future classes and careers in their chosen fields. With Focus groups 1, 3, and 5 in favor of limiting social media in the classroom as a learning tool. The predominant responses from the group members were that social media provides a distraction, does not enhance their knowledge of the subject nor is it beneficial to their future classes or careers. The eclectic amount of responses was shocking and

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interesting. Most of the members who participated in the focus groups are users of social media but they want to keep that separate from the classroom. On the other hand the group members that ruled in favor of using social media in the classroom felt as though they were able to separate their personal lifes on their social media accounts from the classroom, or they just created numerous accounts to ensure their privacy from their professors and other students. Pre-existing accounts

In Figure 1, members of the focus groups were asked to share the common social networking sites that are required for class and what accounts they had before class. Facebook ranked number one in the graph as the most used social media, then twitter as a second most and Tumblr. Myspace and Pinterest shared an equal amount of accounts that were pre-activated. On a site such as Facebook, the members of the focus group shared that their professors would create

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groups, and chat sections for them on a private group dedicated to the class. That way the students could interact with one another and with the professor. Twitter, a micro-blogging social networking site, was found to also be a requirement for the classroom. Those who used Twitter for class were told to tweet certain types of messages to obtain homework or inform other members of the classroom what they have learned in their particular class. Members of the focus group who have had these accounts previously shared that they were only used for fun but once they became a requirement for the classroom they would either: stop using the account, create multiple accounts, or even delete them. The group members did not feel the need to use sites that they had not previously had accounts for, as they expressed that there was no longer a purpose to have them once the course had ended. Privacy Rights Overall, our participants did not have many reservations about their accounts being seen by classmates and Professors. The only real concern by the participants was that their voice would now be filtered due to the knowledge of who was now viewing their profiles and feeds. This in turn would limit the students freedom of speech. Professors and Social Media Regardless of their final decision on the matter, all of our focus groups had similar answers as to why Professors seem to be increasing the usage of social media in the classroom. The leading reason was that Professors are trying to Keep up with the times (Focus group 1, Participant 4). Another participant claimed that, It helps with current events, enhances our

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learning and engages students (Focus group 4, participant 18). Many of the members found that the Professors had positive and educational purposes to the enhancement of technology in the classroom, but there were a few who had differing opinions. In focus group 3, participant 13 said that she believed her Professors use of social media was so that he was alleviated from the stress of having to teach the class. Participants also mentioned the integration of Moodle into the Queens academic method of teaching and commented on how it allowed Professors to limit their explanations of assignments in class, causing a decrease in face-to-face explanations. In focus group 2, members were in agreement that Facebook and Twitter are used by students so frequently that Professors believe it to be an easy way of connecting with students. Time in Class

With Figure 2, we compiled the data that was given to us from the seven focus groups. The graph is a depiction of what percentage of class time should be dedicated to the usage of

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social media and what should be a standard lecture. As you can see most of the members of the focus group decided that the majority of the time should be a regular class setting without any usage of social media. With a standard lecture setting the members of the focus group said that more work can be accomplished and that distractions would be limited. A small portion of the class should only be dedicated to social media and there responses were that social media usage should take place towards the end of the class or in small sections throughout the class to aid the lesson plan of the professor. If used at the end of the lecture the member of the focus group expressed that this would help them wrap up the class with small amounts of information that could be covered in towards the end, and not in the beginning where the most important information is covered.