Title: The social media instructional design model: a new tool for designing instruction using social media

Authors: Quincy Conley; Kent E. Sabo

Addresses: Organizational Performance & Workplace Learning, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho 83725-2070, USA ' Assessment, Accountability, Research, and School Improvement, Clark County School District, 4212 Eucalyptus Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89121, USA

Abstract: Social media is a pervasive force in the lives of 21st century learners. Social media offers a user experience that encourages students to create and share new content while enabling communication unlike any other learning technology. In this paper, we explore how learning with social media could be more effective by leveraging appropriate learning theory and instructional design. We begin with examples of how social media is currently being used in educational contexts, and then review the available research that investigates the connections between social media and education. To understand how social media may be better utilised for learning, we also identify social media's unique learning affordances and established learning theories that complement those affordances. Finally, we present a preliminary model for designing learning using social media.

Keywords: social media; social learning theory; instructional design; constructivism; constructionism; learning technology; education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMILE.2015.074008

International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 2015 Vol.3 No.4, pp.290 - 304

Received: 02 Mar 2015
Accepted: 19 Jun 2015
Published online: 02 Jan 2016 *

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