Rey Junco is a social media scholar who investigates the impact of social technologies on college students. One of Rey’s primary research interests is the effect of social media on student psychosocial development, engagement and success. His research has focused on informing best practices in technology use with students in the areas of advising, student affairs and teaching. Through research findings, Rey has shown that technology, especially social media like Facebook and Twitter, can be used in ways that improve educational and psychosocial outcomes. Rey has recently published papers on the academic effects of multitasking, the digital divide in cell phone ownership and use, using social media to promote civil discourse on college campuses and how Twitter can be used for academic purposes in order to increase student engagement and improve grades.
Best known for his innovative research on how students use technology, Rey conducted the first large, multi-institution survey of student technology use, which he wrote about in his book, Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know about Today’s Students. Rey further explored students’ Internet usage in his second book, Using Emerging Technologies to Enhance Student Engagement, in which he conducted a comprehensive analysis of social media’s role in student engagement, technology’s potential to improve retention and blogs’ potential to improve students’ writing and marketing skills.
Rey earned his doctorate in education in counselor education and his master’s in clinical psychology from Penn State University. Rey also earned his bachelor of science in psychology from The University of Florida. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Academic Development and Counseling and the director of Disability Services at Lock Haven University where he teaches first year seminar courses for undergraduates and graduate courses on social media in higher education.