This study investigates the core categories and characteristics of the social media technologies (SMTs) that undergraduate students choose to use in their own learning, outside of the formal curriculum. Within a mixed method research methodology, this inquiry employed 30 semi-structured interviews and an online survey (N = 679) to explore why and how undergraduates across disciplines view SMTs to be a meaningful part of their own university learning. Together, the qualitative and quantitative results demonstrate that several contextual relationships exist, including an important relationship between the particular ways of meaning making students identified and the specific social media...
This paper takes a fresh look at the Clark/Kozma debate from the perspective of 21st century new media technologies in general and serious games in particular. After a brief re-cap of the key elements of the debate, a relatively recent article by R.E.Clark is summarized that brings serious games into the conversation. Clark’s allegations are addressed and the case is made that digital games form a distinct medium that can not easily be lumped in with other educational technologies. The author draws on over a decade of personal experience teaching with games to move the debate to the next level and offer some recommendations for when and how games can be used effectively in formal contexts.