Enhancing Classroom Effectiveness Through Social Networking Tools

Abstract

Reaching students hinges on understanding them and how they communicate. Marketing education, like education in other disciplines, must fit into the lives of the students. While education must challenge and transform students, it should also include recognition of the way that they think and communicate. Thus, the choices that we as instructors make in the classroom have both direct and indirect effects. Our decisions concerning teaching pedagogy lead to changes in the way that students work together and learn class material. These decisions, in turn, can have potentially long-term formative effects on their work habits and pursuit of knowledge in general. Jackson, Boostrom, and Hansen (1993) point out that classes not only attempt to impart knowledge, but also play a role in how students develop their character and see themselves and others. In short, the choices we make in how we communicate with students can affect our direct effects, including the amount of marketing knowledge that they gain, as well as our indirect effects, such as their readiness to effectively engage with the larger professional community once they graduate.As new tools for communication emerge, it is important for educators to consider their inclusion in the classroom so that students can use communication formats that are either familiar, used by marketing professionals, or can improve the quality of the class. With this in mind, we looked at differing Internet technologies and the availability of new communication tools that would be both a help in communicating useful classroom information and offer forms of expression and communication that were not available in our school's implementation of the Blackboard online class communication tool. We saw this as a way to possibly enhance the virtual element of team management and thus give our students an opportunity to develop skills associated with virtual teams.Recently, Boostrom, Kurthakoti, and Summey (2009) investigated the use of a Ning.com-based social network as a communication tool for students in a marketing research class. The goal with this project is to build on those findings by (1) using a Ning social network and collecting student data in more than one type of marketing class, (2) comparing those data to responses of students using Blackboard during the same period, and (3) offering more information broadly related to the use of social networking as a tool for class delivery.

The role of personal relevance in the value creation process of edutainment consumption

“…In the past, edutainment was mostly examined in the context of education and was examined through experiential learning and in‐class games (Bonwell & Eison, ). This stream of research often focused on the impact of edutainment on communication, persuasion, and learning outcomes (Haytko, ; Kurthakoti, Boostrom, Summey, & Campbell, ; Singhal & Rogers, ). This study extends the blended use of educational and entertainment content to a travel consumption setting.…”

The effect of cognitive absorption on marketing learning performance

“…For example, Abney et al (2019) emphasised the importance of tools such as Twitter for stimulating debate between students and teachers in marketing learning. Kurthakoti et al (2013) verified that using social networks increases the performance of work teams, while McCorkle and McCorkle (2012) concluded that LinkedIn helps individuals to acquire transversal skills, such as social communication and creativity. Social networks improve the quality of the relationships that educational institutions establish with students, because they enhance the effectiveness of communication strategies (Clark et al, 2017;Peruta and Shields, 2017).…”

The art and science of systemic wellness in Black communities: Qualitative evaluation of a multimodal theatrical production

“…This study used a directed qualitative analytic approach and a tool of analysis that was conceptually informed by edutainment and narrative transportation theory (Green and Brock, 2000). Findings from the research aim to make contribution to a body ‘of research [that is] often focused on the impact of edutainment on communication, persuasion, and learning outcomes (Haytko, 2006; Kurthakoti et al, 2013; Singhal and Rogers, 2002)’. (Chan, 2019: 200).…”