Prospects and Challenges of Using Social Sites in Higher Education

Afifa Khanam, Uzma Quraishi, Shabana Kausar

Abstract


Social networking is a virtual thread of grouping individuals. The present study has explored the prospects and challenges of using social sites in higher education. The study involved mixed method for collecting comprehensive information about the issue. A survey was conducted to randomly selected 21 university teachers and 279 university graduate and post graduate students. A significant difference was found between the perceptions of students having technological facilities in their universities and those having no facilities in higher education. Most of the participants supported the statements related to utility and possibility of using social sites for disseminating course schedules, outlines of courses, reading materials (audio, video, photofigures, print), discussing course problems, exchange of educational ideas and looking for better opportunities of admissions and career. The qualitative part of the study employed a series of focus group discussions conducted with students and teachers of graduate and post graduate level to highlight the opportunities and issues involved in disseminating instruction through social sites. Participants opined that social sites could provide flexible, versatile, attractive and creative educational activities. The major concerns came to light were publicity distraction, irregular use of social sites and extinction of specialized curricula by the universities. It was recommended that universities should take well planned initiatives with specially designed courses and generate interactive communities for class communication to ensure the use of social sites for educational purposes.

Full Text:

PDF HTML MP3

References


Bateman, D., & Oakley, C. (2009). The Classmate PC 1:1 eLearning project in Australia. Melbourne: Deakin University in partnership with Intel Australia Pty Ltd.

Bonk, C.J., & Graham, C.R. (2006). The handbook of blended learning environments: Global perspectives, local designs. San Francisco: JosseyBass/Pfeiffer.

Boyd, D. (2006). Friends, fraudsters, and My Space Top 8: Writing community into being on social network sites. First Monday, 11(12).

Boyd, D. M & Ellison, N. B (2007) Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html 39573

Brown, J.S. and Adler, R.P. (2008). Minds on Fire: Open education, the long tail, and learning 2.0. Educause review, vol. 43, 1, pp. 16–20. Available at http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/minds-fire-open-education-long-tail-and-learning-20 (accessed 3 February 2016 ).

Dunn, L. (2012). Why it’s time to start BOYD in your school on edudemic. http://edudemic.com/2012/12/why -its-time-to-start-byod-in-your-school/ (last accessed on 3/02/2016).

Ellison, N., Steinfeld, C., & Lampe, C. (2006). Spatially bounded online social networks and social capital: The role of Facebook. Paper presented at the Annual conference of the International Communication Association, Dresden, Germany.

Ellison, N., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1143−1168.

Fogel, J., & Nehmad, E. (2009). Internet social network communities: Risk taking, trust, and privacy concerns. Computers in Human Behaviour, 25(1), 153-160.

Garrison, D. & Vaughan, N. (2008). Blended learning in higher education: Framework, principles, and guidelines. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Gibs, J., & Bruich, S. (2010). Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression. US: The Nielsen Company.

Grossman, L. (2010). Person of the year 2010: Mark Zuckerberg. Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037183_2037185,00.html

Hamid, S., Chang, S., & Kurnia, S. (2009). Identifying the Use of Online Social Networking (OSN) in Higher Education. Paper presented at the In Same places, different spaces, Ascilite Auckland 2009.

Hemmi, A., Bayne, S., & Land, R. (2009). The appropriation and repurposing of social technologies in higher education. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning,25(1), 19-30. 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2008.00306.x

Herhskovitz, A., & Nachmias, R. (in press). Online Persistence in Higher Education Web-supported Courses. To appear in The Internet and Higher Education.

Hughes, A. (2009). Higher education in a Web 2.0 world: Report of an Independent Committee of Inquiry into the impact on higher education ofstudents' widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies. UK.

Jones, M. C., & Twidale, M. B. (2005). What's in a name? Exploring the connections between abstraction and appropriation. [text]. International reports on socio-informatics 2(2), 43-47.

Kear, K., Woodthorpe, J., Robertson, S., & Hutchison, M. (2010). From forums to wikis: Perspectives on tools for collaboration. Internet and Higher Education, 13, 218–225.

Kennedy , G., Dalgarno, B., Bennet, S., Gray, K., Waycott, J., Judd, T., et al. (2009). Educating the Net Generation: A Handbook of Findings for Practice and Policy. Carlifornia, USA: Creative Commons.

Kennedy, G., Judd, T., Churchward, A., Gray, K., & Krause, K. (2008). First Year Students' Experiences With Technology: Are They Really Digital Natives? Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET 24), 24(1), 108-122.

Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42374-0.; first published in 1990 as Institute for Research on Learning report 90-0013

Lockyer, L., & Patterson, J. (2008). Integrating Social Networking Technologies In Education: A Case Study Of A Formal Learning Environment. Paper presented at the Eighth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies.

MacDonald, R. & Marsh, J. (2005). Disconnected Youth?: Growing up in Britain's poor neighbourhoods. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Journal of Social Policy, Vol. 36, Issue, 02.

Mason, R., & Rennie, F. (2008). E-Learning and social network handbook: Resources for higher education. Madison Ave, New York: Routledge.

Nachmias, R., Mioduser, D., & Forkosh-uch, A. (2008). Innovative Pedagogical Practices Using Technology: The Curriculum Perspective. In Knezek, J. and Voogt, J. (eds.). International Handbook of Information Technology in Education. NY: Springer, 163-179.

Ngonidzashe, Z. (2013). Challenges and perceptions towards use of social media in higher education in Zimbabwe: a learners’ perspective. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 5.pp. 242-249

Panckhurst, R. & Marsh, D. (2008).Communities of Practice. Moving from Institutional Platforms to the Open Web as a Platform”, 4-5 February 2008, Paris, 6 pages.

Prensky, M.(2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 95

Ramanigopal, C., Palaniappan, G., & Hemalatha, N. (2012). Social networking: Problems and prospects of the knowledge society. International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce, 1(2), 116-129.

Roblyer, M.D., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Witty, J.W. (2010). Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking sites. Internet and Higher Education, 13, 134-140.

Schultz, B., & Sheffer, M.L. (2007). Sports journalists who blog cling to traditional values. Newspaper Research Journal, 28(4), 62-76.

Selwyn, N. (2007). Citizenship, technology and learning - a review of recent literature: Bristol: Futurelab.

Selwyn. N, (2012). Social Media in Higher Education. The Europa World of Learning 2012. Routledge 2011, all righr reserved. www.worldoflearning.com

Thrall, C.A. (1982). The conservative use of modern household technology. Technology and Culture, 23(2), 175-194.

Zepke, N. & Leach, L. (2010). Improving student engagement: Ten proposals for action. Active Learning in Higher Education. 11: pp.167-177.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30971/pje.v33i2.48

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Maintained by: Software Section, Directorate of ICT