An Overview of Social Media in Education

Social media was first meant to be used for social interactions and to build a "online community for us all" [1]. This vision includes engaging with digital dialogue and, at times, creating a social profile as with Facebook. Social media did not have a learning or educational component [2]. Education experts are increasingly exploring the possibility that social media may have far-reaching possibilities beyond personal requirements and is more closely related with educational settings where it might contribute to a graduate who is confident and skilled in using technology. In the following opinion post, I make the case that social media can be successfully included into pedagogy. Significant parts of this short communication are closely related to issues and tensions between educators and the TEL literature, yet there are profound distinctions when discussing social media for pedagogical purposes.