Social Media, Technology, and the Higher Education Classroom

This paper reflects on the ways that media technology infiltrate, push, and pull educators in the 21st century. The authors write about the importance of including new technology in our courses to better prepare students for their future careers and lives while also acknowledging the challenges that inclusion can present. By highlighting how technology serves as a facilitator for classroom participation and the ways the emergent technology can enhance a journalism curriculum, the paper points to some of the ways that emergent technology in our classes can have an enduring positive effect on our students in the future. However, the paper also points to some of the ethical challenges to be aware of within the oft-idealized land of technological innovation. Ultimately, this reflection is designed to challenge readers to think about what the role of technology in their own classrooms should or could be.