(Repost of “Spartans featured in special journal issue…” from Michigan State University, College of Education, News 12/18/24)
Faculty, students and alums from the Michigan State University College of Education are represented in a special, double-issue of Information & Learning Sciences, available now. The October 2024 publication put a spotlight on social media’s increasing presence in today’s society and its role in “incidental and purposeful learning.”
The co-editors and authors explore how social media algorithms — or, what appears when visitors use the app or how it influences what ads users see — provide both opportunities and challenges of learning.
Spartans from the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education are represented in both the editorial and the scholarly contributions:
- Professor Christine Greenhow, co-editor and author
- K. Bret Staudt Willet, M.A. ’15 (Educational Technology) and Ph.D. ’21 (Educational Psychology and Educational Technology, or EPET), co-editor and author
- Aisel Akhmedova, current EPET Ph.D. candidate, author
- Professor Marisa Fisher, author
- Benjamin Gleason, Ph.D. ’16 (EPET), author
- Jennifer Sutcliffe, current EPET Ph.D. candidate, author
“Social media algorithms can expand, disrupt and constrain how, when, where and from whom people learn,” said the co-editors in the introduction to the first special issue. “[They can also] amplify the spread of information that is accurate or inaccurate, sorting and ranking content at a speed and scale impossible for humans alone.”
Over 12 conceptual and empirical articles, scholars explore several social media platforms — such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Reddit — and include studies from the U.S., Brazil and Spain. The articles examine broad contexts of learning across K-12 and postsecondary/professional learning spaces, and they also explore various learning types, such as required, invited or self-directed learning.
“Persistent and complex challenges lead professionals to engage in self-directed learning on social media, beyond solely relying on formal and locally offered supports and training programs. For instance, social media platforms like Reddit can help beginning teachers navigating the pitfalls of entering a new profession within an ever-evolving digital and social landscape,” said Staudt Willet.
“It is important that we look critically at how social media algorithms are expanding educational possibilities as well as their potential use for misinformation, manipulation, and harm. This two-part journal special issue does just that,” said Greenhow. Greenhow, and other Spartans, recently contributed to an article on artificial intelligence and its affordances and drawbacks.
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