abstract

Here's the abstract of my research paper. I honed what I had initially done as a significance of study and then added what should be in an abstract. Honestly, whether you guys like it or not, I think its some of my best writing and I'll probably go with it. However, if you have positive comments, I'd love to hear 'em. I could use a little encouragement about now.

I'm just ready for this project to be over. I'm not sure I'll ever have it in me to do any kind of dissertation. I can't imagine what writing something like this would be like.

So, here it is:

Much of contemporary pedagogy is based on the belief that education should be made relevant to students. Social media is one way to achieve that relevance in today’s culture. Society as a whole continues to rely on electronic exchanges of information in presentation, acquisition and production. The day of immediate access to knowledge has arrived, and it has come in the form of social media. Surveys indicate that students are heavy users of social media and are not opposed to its use in an educational setting. Social media has evolved out of the early write-only Internet to a place filled with scholarly opportunities for community. This evolution has education poised to capitalize on the collaborative and creative aspects of social media. As a result, educators around the world are experiencing success in the integration of social media into the classroom as an educational tool. This research was conducted through interviews of educators and students using social media as the sole vessel of communication. The data notwithstanding, that an entire study was researched, composed and even redacted utilizing only social media demonstrates the power of these tools. The conclusion of this study is that social media, while not problem free, can certainly be used as a tool to augment purposefully planned lessons, build community and encourage students to become producers not just consumers of knowledge. Whether the course content is focused on writing, mathematics, technology, or science, social media can be smoothly integrated into an already effective educational experience or strengthen one that is not quite engaging students.