Weapons of Mass Instruction: The Creative use of Social Media in Improving Pedagogy

Abstract

Pedagogical approaches in colleges and universities are in a constant state of flux and conscientious instructors are constantly seeking novel strategies for reaching and engaging their students meaningfully to promote deep learning. It is in this context that the instructors at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) reached for technology to work more effectively with students to improve student learning. They faced challenges not unlike those encountered by their peers in other similar higher educational institutions. One of the most persistent of such challenges in a large number of institutions is that of reaching and engaging students in active learning so that they learn by doing or being actively involved in learning experiences. The challenges of SUNO instructors were enhanced by the advent of Hurricane Katrina and subsequent storms, which displaced students scattering them away from campus to proximate and distant locations throughout the nation. This paper is a case study that will discuss how SUNO instructors implemented the use of social media for the delivery of instruction to reach and engage these students in a more meaningful manner.