Integration of Social Networking in Design Education in China

Article Summary
The study by Jiang, Tang, Peng and Liu (2018) looks at using social networks as a tool to facilitate collaboration among students and interaction between teachers and students in a Chinese high school. The investigations into the utility of social networks were conducted among various design and technology classrooms in high schools throughout China. Based on the findings, Jiang et al. (2018) were able to produce a theoretical framework for web-based design learning and teaching system in the style of social networking. They tested their framework and found that the most important features of the framework are its ability to facilitate innovation, collaboration, and interaction.
The researchers additionally “validated necessary techniques and design features required to make an education-related social networking site effective and affective for the students and teachers” (Jiang et al., 2018, p. 189). The overall finding was that social networking sites help to enhance the collaborative and interactive aspects of learning for design and technology students and teachers.
The study begins with a discussion of the prevalence of social media usage in China with nearly 500 million people using social media, or 1 in 3 Chinese. Teenagers make up a substantial portion of the social media using population, which means that high school students are naturally going to be adept at using social media to network, communicate and potentially collaborate and interact with one another.
The researchers also show that there is demand in modern Chinese classrooms for design and technology instruction. With 1000 design schools but only 10 of them being of high quality, there is a problem of deficiency in Chinese design schools that needs to be addressed. Design education at the high school levels lags behind Europe and the US. Because Chinese schools focus on memorization, the students miss out on the collaborative and interactive experience needed for design education. In order for innovation and creativity to be encouraged, schools should focus less on memorization and more on collaboration and interaction. That is where using social networking comes into play.
The research question the study asked was ‘‘How does integrated social networking and computational techniques support design education in high schools in China?” (Jiang et al., 2018, p. 194). The researchers described the social networking site used as one that allow engagement with participants, content and teachers to come together in an overlapping and integrative manner.
The researchers monitored discussions by group members using the social networking system in design courses. They looked at how students researched and shared information, how they commented on what others were doing, and how they interacted with the teacher. Together students were able to harness collective intelligence, collect a great deal of data via the social networking site, and enrich and enliven their own work.
The researchers recommended that, based on the findings of the study, schools should collaborate with one of the major players in China’s Internet industry in order to “develop a new and fresh environment supporting students in China who are interested in design and technology” (Jiang et al., 2018, p. 205). This would ensure that an effective framework is used among all design and technology high schools in China and that a proper social networking standard is achieved.
Resources used to support this study were:
· Bell, G. (2009). Building social web applications. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media. This book looks at how to construct social media platforms to facilitate interaction and communication among social networking peers. It offers important insights into what makes these platforms successful.
· Boyd, D. (2008). Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. This book looks at why teens use social media and what keeps them coming back to the platforms. Teens like the interactive nature of these platforms and prefer this type of communication as digital natives.
· Lenhart, A. (2009, April 10). Teens and social media: An overview. Retrieved October 20, 2011, from http:// www.pewinternet.org/2009/04/10/teens-and-social-media-an-overview/ This article discusses the role that social media plays in the lives of teens. Social media is very important to them and the article explains that this upcoming generation relies upon it heavily for information.
· Mc Carroll, N., & Curran, K. (2013). Social networking in education. International Journal of Innovation in the Digital Economy, 4(1), 1–15. This article explains that social networking can enhance education for students because they are already going to be avid social media users and prefer this type of platform for interactivity.
· Mooney, C. (2009). Online social networking. Detroit, MI: Lucent Books. This book explains the utility and power of online social networking. It shows what users can do and how it enhances their lives.
References
Jiang, H., Tang, M., Peng, X., & Liu, X. (2018). Learning design and technology through social networks for high school students in China. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 28(1), 189-206.