Social Media Use in Journalism Education

Abstract

Social media use has become essential for journalists. Although previous research has explored how journalists use social media, less is known about how journalism and mass communication programs incorporate social media in their coursework. Based on our survey of 323 students and 125 faculty in American universities, this study offers a comparative analysis of social media use among journalism faculty and students, both personally and in coursework. Faculty and students in our sample report using Facebook more frequently for personal reasons, whereas Twitter is the main platform required by faculty members for class assignments. We also found that students' majors and faculty's experience in the industry influenced not only how they evaluated the utility of social media in coursework but also how they utilized various platforms in classes.

Online journalism education in Rwanda: students find value in the Experiential Learning Approach

“…What constitutes quality journalism education for the new media age needs to consider the nature of curriculum and its related infrastructure, but more importantly, the methods of delivering the training content (Kothari & Hickerson 2016;Veglis 2013;Bor 2014;Salaverría 2011;Buckingham 2007).…”

“…Inculcating the right digital skills for the new media age involves interrogating how the capacity is being built in the training institutions (Kothari & Hickerson 2016;Veglis 2013;Jeanti 2015). Students' perceptions of their educational experiences are crucial in shaping their learning process and outcomes (Eliasson & Jaakkola 2014;Bor 2014).…”

Fostering Innovation in International Journalism Education with Social Media in Beijing

“…immediate, informative/information-rich, insightful) over other social media [3]. According to a recent report by Pew Research Centre, 59% of Twitter users said they follow breaking news via Twitter in a real-time mode [4].…”

“…As they find, 65% academics have asked students to share articles from news media via SNSs as a part of routine practice for the course [3]. This aims not only to cultivate students' awareness for recent news, but also to provide real, good writing examples for them to follow.…”

“…In response to this call, Kothari and Hickerson surveyed a sample of journalism academics (n=125) across the US universities to examine how social media have been incorporated into the design of their coursework, with comparison to related student feedback [3].…”