Leveraging Social Media for Student Engagement in the Virtual Classroom: A Case Study

Where: Dalhousie University, Dalhousie Cecntre for University Teaching & Learning Conference Dates: 29th April 2009 - 30th April 2009

It has been suggested that engaging students through a focus on learner rather than teacher-centered activities leads to positive outcomes.  Engaging students in a virtual classroom has particular challenges that are not part of the face-to-face encounter.  This situation provides university professors involved in distance modalities with a unique opportunity to engage students in learner-centered activities by creatively leveraging the new social media technologies that are having an impact on all forms of communication—teaching included.

Using social constructivism as a theoretical paradigm and the concept of collaborative learning as the approach, this case study presents the application of a student-generated wiki as a learning tool in a graduate-level professional ethics course taught online.  Practical and pedagogical considerations are presented and recommendations for further applications of social media are offered.  If an internet connection is made available for the poster presentation, conference participants will be invited to visit the wiki and consider how they might contribute to it. 

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