by Emily
27. January 2012 20:44
Dr. Reynol Junco has been featured in USA Today, The Huffington Post, The Florida Alligator, Higher Ed Morning and many other publications for his studies on social media’s effect on college students. In January of 2009, Junco's book, Using emerging technologies to enhance student engagement. New directions for student services, was published. Within these pages, Junco employs the theories of Alexander Astin and Vincent Tinto strengthen his theory that student involvement on Facebook and other social mediums can lead to increased engagement within their college.
As a business student, I know that communication skills top the job requirement list, and although the way I communicate on Facebook isn’t necessarily how I would conduct myself in an interview, I’ve been able to use Facebook to communicate effectively with university entities and integrate myself into the college experience. The ease of communication increases exposure and facilitates higher student involvement with on-campus opportunities. For example, as written in Chapter 2 of Junco’s book, “Facebook has the capacity to help create small communities within large institutions, making students more comfortable and connected (Read, 2004).” In my first semester, I enrolled in a class designed to create this intimacy through small class numbers and group activities. Unfortunately, the experience was not successful mainly because I, as well as many of my classmates, viewed the class as just that – another class.
What’s different about Facebook, however, is that it introduces the technology that my generation thrives on into the equation. So, how does this foster more involvement within a university? Many of us know some form of the phrase, “It’s not about what you now, it’s who you know.” Well, considering most of us college students are on Facebook at least once a day, we are constantly receiving updates from university class pages, advertised campus events, organizational groups and peers constantly through our newsfeed. Consequently, if students see others in their network share information/evens they find to be in common or interesting, they’ll be more likely to like/join/attend those events and make friends. Thus by exposing commonalities and building community around the student population, Facebook fosters more student involvement within the university!
I love working RoomSync because I feel we realize this rising trend in World-Facebook integration; We try to understand its future implications in order to keep transforming and keep up with today’s fast-paced world.
Best Regards,
Emily