Educational and Social Benefits of Social Network Sites - Information Communication Technologies for Human Services Education and Delivery - page 22

SNS use may impact their educational experience,
which is the focus of this chapter.
The theoretical foundations for this research
stem from education, communication and sociol-
ogy, specifically interpersonal ties theories from
communication and sociology, constructivist
frameworks for how people learn, and twenty-first
century skills frameworks in education.

Wellman, Salaff, Dimitrova, Garton, Gulia, Hay-
thornwaite, 1996).

Supporting constructivist
pedagogy and How people learn

Social Networking Sites are uniquely positioned
to mesh with theories of adult pedagogy which
stress that adults expect their experience and con-
nections will be incorporated into their learning.
Younger and older adults are entering university
education classes with the expectation that they
will be able to contribute to the discussion, giving
feedback as well as receiving it. Students expect
to critique each others' ideas and projects as
well as contribute to class discussions blending
their ideas and experiences with others to create
learning. This atmosphere of constructivism is
different from that of classrooms where students
submit assignments to one person (their instructor)
and receive feedback from that person. Multiple
evaluations by peers, instructors, and others are
quickly becoming the norm in the networked
classroom. In synthesizing over a decade of edu-
cational and cognitive neuroscience research on
how people learn, Bransford, Brown and Cocking
(1999) developed guidelines for effective teach-
ing that emphasizes learning with understanding.
Effective instructors, they argue, help structure a
complete learning environment that encompasses
three focal points-- learner, knowledge and assess-
ment--within a larger community or society (p.
120-130). High technology-using environments,
such as those embodied by social network sites,
may be conducive to both developing learning
and innovative pedagogy because they typically
feature “learners” informally sharing thoughts,
emotions, and skills within a networked commu-
nity where production, distribution, feedback and
reciprocity are valued. Moreover, in developing
and displaying a “public” profile and engaging
in collaborative acts of production with others in
the system, users may be demonstrating the kinds
of knowledge construction and problem-solving

meeting interpersonal needs online

Despite troubling public accounts of Internet-
mediated communication as socially isolating
and necessarily inferior to other modes of com-
munication (Thurlow, 2006), a number of studies
have argued that, in fact, communication via the
Internet can help users develop, maintain, and
extend social relationships, leading to a broader
network of support when faced with important
life decisions (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe,
2007; Kraut et al., 2002; Wellman, Haase, Witte,
Hampton, 2001). Such findings are important
for human services education if we consider that
interventions which increase students' connections
to their peers and community resources can lead
to greater persistence and success in university
programs (Zhao & Kuh, 2004; Tinto, 1998).
In examining interpersonal interactions within
the context of a SNS and how SNSs may be
supporting interpersonal needs, it is important
to consider: the technological affordances of the
environment; how users employ (or not) these
and for what communicative purposes; and the
conditions surrounding these interactions (e.g.,
computer and Internet access/context, frequency
and duration of social network site use, nature of
the relationship between SNS participants). This
examination of the potential of social network
sites to fulfill interpersonal needs, as illustrated
in the case study that follows, is informed by
recent studies on how social networks are cre-
ated, maintained and negotiated through media
(Donath & boyd, 2004; Gross & Acquisiti, 2005;
Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007; Herring, 2004;