Social-media sites on Web find niche in college classes

Social-media Web sites aren't just for fun anymore — they've become homework for some local college students.

Facebook and YouTube have replaced scripted oral presentations and pen-on-paper writing exercises in Bardo Padilla's Spanish class at Pima Community College.

And at the University of Arizona, freshmen in an honors class are required to participate in an online social network.  Using social media in college classrooms can keep students and professors more engaged in learning, say teachers who are pioneering this strategy.