Guest Post: Kasia Walaszek, Student Intern

The advancement of technology over the last couple of years has been astonishing. It seems as though no matter where you are or what you are doing, there’s a way of staying connected with the world. Now, one can access social media networks on their phone, allowing them to constantly stay up to date with the latest news, gossip and trends. Social media is not only used for personal reasons, but it is being used at schools, where students and professors go online to access various data.

I’m a student at McMaster University, and I can tell you that I can’t imagine my life without social media. Moodle is one application used that allows students, including myself, to engage in conversations online. I have used this for a lot of my classes and my internship at Brickworks Communications. In my opinion, I think that the use of social media in schools is essential, because let’s face it now-a-days who isn’t online? Going online and actively engaging is the future of communication, everyone wants to share.

In a recent article, Vadim Lavrusik illustrates how universities apply social media to everyday life in the education system. One example is Stanford University’s use of social media via mobile. They released a free iPhone application called iStanford allowing students to register for classes, look up campus maps and instantly message friends if needed. I have never heard of something like this and I was quite surprised but at the same time, I think this is a helpful tool which will only become more popular in the future.

The University of Texas also uses social media for emergency situations by instantly notifying students via Facebook. Personally, I’m not surprised at all…I am more inclined to go onto my Facebook account to check updates before anything else.

Most people are usually nervous when it comes to change – even when it comes to the way we communicate. However, if we can get over this feeling and begin to engage ourselves in social networks, we will begin to see a new world.

In Amanda Lindner’s article, she discusses that educators are now using social media and claim it is the way of future communications; first there were papers, then radio, then TV and now the Internet. I think that over time, every school will be using social media and for those who are hesitant may have to change their ways, because it will become an expectation amongst most new student. Social media is becoming a revolutionary change in the way we communicate, so get on board, because the future is friendly!