NEW MEDIA

New social media have become increasingly popular components of our everyday lives in today’s globalizing society. They provide a context where people across the world can communicate, exchange messages, share knowledge, and interact with each other regardless of the distance that separates them. Intercultural adaptation involves the process of promoting understanding through interaction to increase the level of fitness so that the demands of a new cultural environment can be met. Social media and intercultural adaptation are two concepts that have become prominent in our current society.
Research shows that people tend to use new social media to become more integrated into the host culture during their adaptation and to maintain connections to their home countries. This has shown that new media attempts to investigate the impact of using new social media on the intercultural adaptation process. In-depth interviews of international students at the University of Rhode Island were conducted, and their social media usage as it impacts their intercultural adaptation was analyzed. The students’ social media use helped them to be more prepared in adjusting to their culture, build and maintain relationships, and overcome adjustment challenges. Based on the analysis, directions for future research in this line of study are also discussed.

Social media has become extremely popular among college students. It is estimated that several million students across the globe use these resources for personal interactions on a daily basis. As Web-based technologies are designed to support the social architecture of a community, educators and researchers are exploring the integration of social media in education. As scholars explore these new online communities, it is necessary to examine the use of social media tools by students of color, a segment of the population that has historically experienced inequalities associated with the use of and access to technology. The current literature review reports on the use of social media by students and faculty, the integration of social media in traditional and distance learning environments, and the pros and cons of using social media for academic practice. This provides evidence that faculty and students are amenable to using social media tools for teaching and learning and such technologies support active participation, student engagement and increased community skills. While these are benefits to using social media venues for academic practice, critics argue that the medium imposes pedagogical limitations as well as legal and security ramifications.

Education officials around the country are grappling with issues surrounding public school teachers’ use of social media. Typically concerned that social media makes it easier for teachers to engage in inappropriate communications with their students, officials have adopted guidelines that prohibit teachers from using social media to communicate with their students for non curricular purposes.

                                                               By Catherine James