Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life

Based in extensive research, this book helps student affairs and other higher education professionals see the value in using social media with students and offers strategies for doing this effectively, in order to enhance student learning. Specifically, it:

• Provides a research-based understanding of how students use social media.
• Describes how social media can harm and benefit student development and academic outcomes.
• Dispels popular myths about how social media use affects students. For instance, there is no evidence to show that using social media detracts from face-to-face interactions while there is evidence to show social media use supports such interactions.
• Recommends appropriate strategies to use social media to improve student learning outcomes including improved critical thinking skills, content knowledge, appreciation of diversity, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, community engagement, and student persistence.
• Discusses the connection between educationally relevant uses of social media in the classroom and student success.
• Promotes the use of social media to engage students, to teach online civil discourse, and to teach digital identity management.