A taxonomy of social media for learning

Abstract

The use of social media in the classroom has the potential to improve learning outcomes for both lecturers and university students. This paper presents a framework for how social media can be used as a tool in the learning process according to educational objectives. The framework is intended to demonstrate to researchers and lecturers how to activate social media platforms effectively as a learning tool; how several platforms can be employed across subjects; and how to unify social media resources with the physical and virtual learning environment. To support these areas and provide an innovative and sustainable way to transform teaching and learning, a social media (Web 2.0) taxonomy was developed. The purpose of the social media taxonomy is to assist lecturers in planning all the steps of learning, teaching, and assessing a course or topic, whilst considering the learning goals reflected in national and local curriculum standards. The Web 2.0 taxonomy focuses on three dimensions named as Consciousness, Cognition, and Creativity [3C]. Each dimension consists of its categories in the metacognitive domain: Consciousness, viewing, Cognition, posting, interacting, and analysing, and Creativity, evaluating, and curating. The categories are used to hierarchize instructional objectives, ranging from lower-order thinking to higher-order thinking skills. Each level of the taxonomy is built on the previous learning level by moving from the concrete to the abstract and from the simple to the complex. Thus, when students have completed all these levels, they can be considered to have mastered certain learning objectives, equipping them with innovative 21st-century skills.