3. 21st century students
4. Matching social media activities to the 21st Century Skills and Bloom Taxonomy level
the challenge of considering the change in attitude towards 21stcentury education involves a rethinking of teaching strategies. Many educators have started to use social media in teaching different subjects (Paulsen and Taekke, 2013, p.2). How to use social media tools to help students acquire 21st century skills? Table 4 shows the activities in social media which promote students learning 21st century skills.
Table 4. Social media activities to build 21stcentury skills aligning to Bloom Taxonomy Activity 21stcentury skills Level of Bloom
Taxonomy Description
1. Create a Facebook/ Instagram/Pinterest /Twitter account and home page
✔ Creativity and innovation ✔ Create To create a social media homepage, students need to be creative and innovative. If the students can successfully create a social media homepage, he/she has mastered the creative and innovative skills and achieve the Create level of Bloom taxonomy.
✔ Media literacy
✔ Information literacy
✔ Information and communication
technologies (ICT) literacy
✔ Analyse
✔ Evaluate
Students may want to see how others create the homepage or interface. Students need to compare and differentiate some of the existing homepages and make a conclusion on what is an interesting and attractive homepage. To carry out the task, they need to be media literacy, information literacy and ICT literacy.
✔ Communications
✔ Social and cross-cultural interaction
✔ Collaboration
✔ Analyse A social media account will encourage students to communicate with others.
When they communicate, they need social and cross-cultural interaction skills to keep the communication going. In this situation, the collaboration between the learning community is kicked off and students always need to draw connections among ideas from different social backgrounds.
This step requires analyzing the level of Bloom Taxonomy.
89 45.5 percent strongly agreed and 51.4 percent of them agreed that social media provides a useful platform for
them in teaching. All of them saw the educational value in using social media for teaching. Another survey study carried out on 223 higher learning institutions’ students showed that 100 percent of the students agreed to use social media in learning.
On the average, social media users spend 2 hours and 24 minutes per day on social media platforms (Chaffey, 2020). The average time spent from the study on 223 higher learning institution students is 5 hours 30 minutes per day. Figure 3 shows the percentage of time spent (hours) by the students on social media. A majority of 41.3 percent spent 3 to less than 6 hours followed by 24.7 percent who spent 1 to less than 3 hours per day. There were 22.9 percent of the respondents who spent 6 to less than 12 hours and 9 percent of the respondents who spent 12 hours and above per day. Only 2.1 percent of the respondents spent less than 1 hour on social media per day.
Figure 3. Number of hours spent by 223 higher learning institutions students per day on social media.
Social media platforms versus Learning Management Platform
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a web based or cloud-based software program which assists in teaching and learning process and helps in effective delivery of instruction, training and development programs (Chaubey and Bhattachara, 2015, p.158). The traditional learning management platform has been used by many higher learning institutions since the launch of LMS by University of Illinois in 1960. However, as educators need to catch up with digital advancement, the use of preferred learning platforms by students to teach are challenging.
They have no other options but to ride the wave together with their students. Results of the survey conducted on the 223 higher learning institution students showed preference for social media teaching and learning platforms as compared to LMS (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Preference of social media platform for teaching and learning by higher learning institution students
88 45.5 percent strongly agreed and 51.4 percent of them agreed that social media provides a useful platform for them in teaching. All of them saw the educational value in using social media for teaching. Another survey study carried out on 223 higher learning institutions’ students showed that 100 percent of the students agreed to use social media in learning.
On the average, social media users spend 2 hours and 24 minutes per day on social media platforms (Chaffey, 2020). The average time spent from the study on 223 higher learning institution students is 5 hours 30 minutes per day. Figure 3 shows the percentage of time spent (hours) by the students on social media. A majority of 41.3 percent spent 3 to less than 6 hours followed by 24.7 percent who spent 1 to less than 3 hours per day. There were 22.9 percent of the respondents who spent 6 to less than 12 hours and 9 percent of the respondents who spent 12 hours and above per day. Only 2.1 percent of the respondents spent less than 1 hour on social media per day.
Figure 3. Number of hours spent by 223 higher learning institutions students per day on social media.
Social media platforms versus Learning Management Platform
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a web based or cloud-based software program which assists in teaching and learning process and helps in effective delivery of instruction, training and development programs (Chaubey and Bhattachara, 2015, p.158). The traditional learning management platform has been used by many higher learning institutions since the launch of LMS by University of Illinois in 1960. However, as educators need to catch up with digital advancement, the use of preferred learning platforms by students to teach are challenging.
They have no other options but to ride the wave together with their students. Results of the survey conducted on the 223 higher learning institution students showed preference for social media teaching and learning platforms as compared to LMS (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Preference of social media platform for teaching and learning by higher learning institution students
88 45.5 percent strongly agreed and 51.4 percent of them agreed that social media provides a useful platform for them in teaching. All of them saw the educational value in using social media for teaching. Another survey study carried out on 223 higher learning institutions’ students showed that 100 percent of the students agreed to use social media in learning.
On the average, social media users spend 2 hours and 24 minutes per day on social media platforms (Chaffey, 2020). The average time spent from the study on 223 higher learning institution students is 5 hours 30 minutes per day. Figure 3 shows the percentage of time spent (hours) by the students on social media. A majority of 41.3 percent spent 3 to less than 6 hours followed by 24.7 percent who spent 1 to less than 3 hours per day. There were 22.9 percent of the respondents who spent 6 to less than 12 hours and 9 percent of the respondents who spent 12 hours and above per day. Only 2.1 percent of the respondents spent less than 1 hour on social media per day.
Figure 3. Number of hours spent by 223 higher learning institutions students per day on social media.
Social media platforms versus Learning Management Platform
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a web based or cloud-based software program which assists in teaching and learning process and helps in effective delivery of instruction, training and development programs (Chaubey and Bhattachara, 2015, p.158). The traditional learning management platform has been used by many higher learning institutions since the launch of LMS by University of Illinois in 1960. However, as educators need to catch up with digital advancement, the use of preferred learning platforms by students to teach are challenging.
They have no other options but to ride the wave together with their students. Results of the survey conducted on the 223 higher learning institution students showed preference for social media teaching and learning platforms as compared to LMS (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Preference of social media platform for teaching and learning by higher learning institution students
88
89
Activity 21st century skills Level of Bloom
Taxonomy Description
2. Work in group to solve a given problem and present the works live via social media platform
✔ Critical thinking and problem solving
✔ Creativity and innovation
✔ Flexibility and adaptability
✔ Create Solving problems needs critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and innovation skills. Working in a group needs flexibility and adaptability.
✔ Communications
✔ Collaboration
✔ Initiative and self-direction
✔ Flexibility and adaptability
✔ Social and cross-cultural interaction
✔ Create
✔ Evaluate
✔ Analyse
✔
Working with group members promotes communications and collaboration skills.
Each member needs to take initiative and self-direction to find innovative solutions to the problem and share with their group members. All members need to be flexible and receptive to solutions suggested by group members. The communication between group members also promotes social and cross-cultural interaction skills
✔ Leadership and
responsibility ✔ Create
✔ The leader of the group needs leadership and responsibility skills. A leader also needs critical thinking skills to lead the group.
✔ Information literacy
✔ Media literacy
✔ Information and communication
technologies (ICT) literacy
✔ Create
✔ Group members need the information
literacy, media and ICT literacy skills to access more information for creative and innovative solutions to the problem.
90 90
Activity 21st century skills Level of Bloom
Taxonomy Description
2. Work in group to solve a given problem and present the works live via social media platform
✔ Critical thinking and problem solving
✔ Creativity and innovation
✔ Flexibility and adaptability
✔ Create Solving problems needs critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and innovation skills. Working in a group needs flexibility and adaptability.
✔ Communications
✔ Collaboration
✔ Initiative and self-direction
✔ Flexibility and adaptability
✔ Social and cross-cultural interaction
✔ Create
✔ Evaluate
✔ Analyse
✔
Working with group members promotes communications and collaboration skills.
Each member needs to take initiative and self-direction to find innovative solutions to the problem and share with their group members. All members need to be flexible and receptive to solutions suggested by group members. The communication between group members also promotes social and cross-cultural interaction skills
✔ Leadership and
responsibility ✔ Create
✔ The leader of the group needs leadership and responsibility skills. A leader also needs critical thinking skills to lead the group.
✔ Information literacy
✔ Media literacy
✔ Information and communication
technologies (ICT) literacy
✔ Create
✔ Group members need the information
literacy, media and ICT literacy skills to access more information for creative and innovative solutions to the problem.
90
Activity 21st century skills Level of Bloom
Taxonomy Description
3. Create digital story and content
✔ Communications
✔ Collaboration
✔ Creativity and innovation
✔ Create This activity allows students to create innovative story or course content. By doing this, students need creativity and innovation skills and the story they created shows that they have achieved the Create level in Bloom Taxonomy.
✔ Creativity and innovation
✔ Critical thinking and problem solving
✔ Communications
✔ Collaboration
✔ Information literacy
✔ Media literacy
✔ Information and communication
technologies (ICT) literacy
✔
✔ Create
✔ Evaluate
✔ Analyse
The process of writing the story and content helps students to collaborate with one another, sharing and constructing knowledge, organising their ideas, research and planning to find inspiration and information for the content of their story. It includes blog posts, videos, infographics and more. The process needs creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communications, collaboration skills to complete the task.
This promotes active involvement of students and challenges students to create their own lesson materials. At this level, students have achieved the highest level of Bloom Taxonomy. In the process of achieving this, they need all the skills of the digital literacy skills.
✔ Flexibility and adaptability
✔ Initiative and self-direction
✔ Social and cross-cultural interaction
✔ Productivity and accountability
✔ Leadership and responsibility
✔ Create
✔ Evaluate
✔ Analyse
The activity gives students a chance to learn career and life skills through the process of producing the story or content.
They need to have initiative and self-direction on the task, flexible and receptive to the new ideas put forward by friends, social and cross-cultural
interaction skills to tackle peers from different backgrounds, accountable and responsible for their writing. The completion of this task indicates the achievement of students in the Create level of Bloom taxonomy
9191
Activity 21st century skills Level of Bloom
Taxonomy Description
4. Digital portfolio
✔ Initiative and self-direction
✔ Critical thinking and problem solving
✔ Create
✔ Evaluate Analyse
The digital portfolios can be used to display students’ best work and their digital resume. The good work of other students may inspire, encourage, and build enthusiasm in learning among students. They need to be self-initiative and self-directed to produce good work.
Beside this, students learn the creativity and innovation skills of others. This will promote competitions among students to deliver good work and hence improve their critical thinking and problem-solving skills which are at the highest level of Bloom Taxonomy.
✔ Information and communication
technologies (ICT) literacy
✔ Productivity and accountability
✔
✔ Create
✔
To create a digital portfolio, students need ICT skills, productivity, and accountability skills to produce a good work.
5. Conduct test / quiz
✔ Initiative and self-direction
✔ Critical thinking and problem solving
✔
✔ Create
✔ Evaluate
✔ Analyse
✔ Apply
✔ Understand
✔ Remember
Preparing for tests or quiz trains students to have their own initiative and self-direction skills to access their own learning. The test and quiz questions are set according to different levels of the Bloom taxonomy. Students need to have higher order thinking skills to score high in the test / quiz.
6. Conductpolls
✔ Creativity and innovation
✔ ICT literacy
✔ Create Educators and students can obtain views from each other by posting surveys, questions, or polls. The application is available in most of the social media platforms. Students need creative and innovative skills together with their ICT skills to design the polls. By doing this, they will be at the created level of Bloom taxonomy.
92 92
Activity 21st century skills Level of Bloom
Taxonomy Description
4. Digital portfolio
✔ Initiative and self-direction
✔ Critical thinking and problem solving
✔ Create
✔ Evaluate Analyse
The digital portfolios can be used to display students’ best work and their digital resume. The good work of other students may inspire, encourage, and build enthusiasm in learning among students. They need to be self-initiative and self-directed to produce good work.
Beside this, students learn the creativity and innovation skills of others. This will promote competitions among students to deliver good work and hence improve their critical thinking and problem-solving skills which are at the highest level of Bloom Taxonomy.
✔ Information and communication
technologies (ICT) literacy
✔ Productivity and accountability
✔
✔ Create
✔
To create a digital portfolio, students need ICT skills, productivity, and accountability skills to produce a good work.
5. Conduct test / quiz
✔ Initiative and self-direction
✔ Critical thinking and problem solving
✔
✔ Create
✔ Evaluate
✔ Analyse
✔ Apply
✔ Understand
✔ Remember
Preparing for tests or quiz trains students to have their own initiative and self-direction skills to access their own learning. The test and quiz questions are set according to different levels of the Bloom taxonomy. Students need to have higher order thinking skills to score high in the test / quiz.
6. Conductpolls
✔ Creativity and innovation
✔ ICT literacy
✔ Create Educators and students can obtain views from each other by posting surveys, questions, or polls. The application is available in most of the social media platforms. Students need creative and innovative skills together with their ICT skills to design the polls. By doing this, they will be at the created level of Bloom taxonomy.
92