Student’s Perspectives Concerning the Use of Social Media as

Communication and Educational Tools in a Tertiary Environment

Uwe Terton

, Irene Visser

, Cindy Davis

, Karen Sutherland

, Alix Stubbs

and Maureen O’Neil

Arts Research in the Creative Humanities, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Australia

Faculty of Education and Research, Australian Catholic University, Banyo, Australia

Keywords: Social Media, Blended Learning, Real-life University Students, Communication, Engagement, Community.

Abstract: Social media is currently being used to effectively engage and communicate with students in universities

across the globe. As Beidelman (2015, p.1) acknowledges, “Social media is a tool that teachers can use to

make their classroom more engaging, relevant and culturally diverse”. This action research project is

entitled “Increasing student engagement and community via the integration of social media technologies to

enhance/inform blended learning at University”, and was funded by a University Exploratory and

Enhancement Learning and Teaching Grant. This paper focuses on the first phase of a two-phase project.

The overall purpose of the project was to explore whether a blended learning approach, that combines the

University’s existing Learning Management System (LMS) with social media applications, strengthens the

quality of teaching, and therefore enhances the level of student learning, engagement and community. The

first research phase constituted an online survey, distributed to 647 students within six University

disciplines and investigates university students’ perspectives and attitudes in relation to the use of social

media as a pedagogical tool. Respondents reported varying views on the issue. The overarching positive

themes were: communication, connection and engagement. Neutral themes included: the win/lose situation

and social media being a supplement to teaching. Negative themes comprised: distraction, poor use of time

and face-to-face being a more appropriate form of learning. A small proportion of respondents reported

having no opinion on the matter and one student raised the need for students to increase their social media

usage in the higher education setting.

1 INTRODUCTION &

BACKGROUND

Over the last decade, there has been significant

growth in the use of social media tools within all

levels of the blended learning and teaching realm

(Beidelman, 2015). There appears to be a climate of

enthusiasm to utilse social media technologies that

have the potential to improve communication and

facilitate student learning (Blankenship, 2010).

Millea, Green and Putland (2005) describe the

current cohort of students as ‘Digital Backpackers’,

who carry a multitude of convergent devices that

keep them continually connected. There is also an

acknowledgement among educators that ‘Net

Geners’ (the Internet Generation) interact and learn

differently from their predecessors in that they have

distinctive methods of thinking, interacting,

communicating and engaging with course content,

and with each other (Bosch, 2009; Cao & Hong,

2011). It is therefore in the best interests of higher

education to uncover ways in which technology can

be “utilised to take advantage of existing student

skills and preferences” (Velliaris et al., 2012, p.25).

There is also strong evidence to support how social

media can facilitate the creation of Personal

Learning Environments (PLEs) which help learners

aggregate and share their learning achievements,

participate in collective knowledge generation and

manage the development of meaning from their

studies (Dabbaghi, & Kitsantas, 2010). Despite this,

some academics have raised concerns relating to

privacy issues and the integrity of teaching content

delivered to students (Moran, 2011; Ishizuka, 2010).

Overall, the literature suggests that social media is

increasingly being used as a tool to develop both

formal and informal learning spaces and

experiences, that begin as an individual learning

Terton, U., Visser, I., Davis, C., Sutherland, K., Stubbs, A. and O’Neil, M.

Student’s Perspectives Concerning the Use of Social Media as Communication and Educational Tools in a Tertiary Environment.

DOI: 10.5220/0006530403470352

In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2018), pages 347-352

ISBN: 978-989-758-291-2

347

platform or PLE and enable individual knowledge

management and construction. Subsequently social

media is also evolving into a learning platform

where knowledge is socially mediated (Dabbaghi &

Kitsantas, 2010; Jones, 2002; Cych, 2006) and

communication is enhanced (Frand, 2000).

After reviewing the literature, it became apparent

there is a scarcity of research that explores

university students’ perceptions and attitudes

regarding the use of social media as a pedagogical

tool. This knowledge gap led to the development of

the following research question:

RQ1. How do university students feel about using

social media as part of their university course?

2 METHODOLOGY

This paper focuses on the first phase of a two-phase

action research project undertaken in a university in

Queensland, Australia. The purpose of the overall

project was to explore whether a blended learning

approach that combines the University’s existing

Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard,

with social media applications, would strengthen

the quality of teaching and therefore, enhance the

level of student learning, engagement and

community.

In order to improve the transformation of

research knowledge to everyday educational

practices within tertiary education, a pilot action

research project was undertaken that embedded

social media into real-life teaching settings.

The project was executed in iterative research

cycles, leading to continuous improvements; this

also ensured that the research team was able to react

flexibly to new or changed requirements.

An online survey was used to gather data

regarding students’ perceptions and attitudes about

the use of social media within their courses, as well

as other information regarding how students access

and use social media and the platforms they use.

This paper predominantly focuses on the

responses to question six from the survey (How do

you feel about using social media as part of a

university course?) because it directly addresses the

research question. This approach was adopted

because the authors felt it was imperative to gauge

the impact, on students, of using social media in the

classroom prior to recommending its use to other

academics across the wider institution.

The survey collected both quantitative and

qualitative data.

Phase One – an online survey was distributed to

647 students undertaking the following courses:

Authors Public Relations: Contemporary

Perspectives

Authors (Graphic Design)

Authors (3D Design)

Authors Current Directions in Psychology

Authors Applied Psychology in health Care

Authors International (Current Directions in

Psychology)

322 (49%) students responded to our question

(Question 6).

Phase One results provided both a good indication

of how students feel about using social media as

part of a university course and a view of how they

use it in their daily lives. The study also identified

students’ knowledge of, and most preferred, social

media platforms; this information was used to

inform Phase Two of the study. The total timeframe

for the study was 24 months in total.

3 RESULTS

Thematic analysis was conducted on the qualitative

data, obtained from the survey, to identify themes.

NVivo 10 word queries were also used to analyse

some of the qualitative data, with resulting images

displayed in the form of word tags.

The quantitative data obtained via the online survey

was analysed using Survey Monkey frequencies and

descriptive statistics.

3.1 Overall Results

322 survey responses were received, an overall

response rate of 49%.

Demographic information:

71.76% of the respondents were female.

73.85% were aged 16-25 years.

88% of respondents used social media to keep in

contact with friends and family.

20% use social media as an academic tool.

The most frequently used social media tools were:

1. Facebook

2. Snapchat

3. Instagram

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4. YouTube

5. Google+

6. Pinterest

7. Tumblr

8. Twitter

9. LinkedIn

10. Flikr

11. Reddit

The majority of respondents indicated YouTube and

Facebook were the most effective social media tools

for use within the university; Flikr, Tumblr and

Reddit were considered the least useful.

3.2 Question 6 Results

Students were asked: How do you feel about using

social media as part of a university course?

An overwhelming majority of 80.6% (n= 724.6)

sees social media as part of their courses as

something positive that helps them to stay

connected, informed, engaged & supported; 8.3%

stayed neutral, whereas just 11.1% believes that

social media in their courses are distracting,

overwhelming, uncomfortable & annoying, invades

privacy and is not for teaching.

Students could select more than one answer from

Table 1 below, hence the high response rate of 899.

Table 1: Question 6: How do you feel about using social

media as part of a university course?

Connected to the university

“Social Media Platforms at university

should only be used casually as an

optional extra to aid students. Social

media platforms such as Facebook can

be used as a form of communication

outreach for students, as most students

have Facebook integrated into their

everyday lives.”

147

Informed

“I've noticed some lectures have Twitter

accounts, in which they occasionally

post course relevant information or

helpful hints. This is great as many

students have Twitter feeds, allowing

easy accessibility to the various types of

info posted. Though to have this

information released solely to Twitter

users (obviously unintentional) is a

practice that should not be used, and is

146

in the universities responsibility to

control.”

Connected to fellow students

“Would be good to have a page each

dedicated to your course so people

could ask questions etc without having

to message people individually. It also

allows students to connect with other

people in their course.”

131

Connected to the university community

“I use this to enhance my cultural life at

uni and for textbook second hand

shopping.”

127

Engaged 95

Supported 79

Neutral

“Unsure.”

Distracted

“'Can be a distraction.”

“Blackboard seems to have adequate

networking and info. Social media can

often be a barrage of mindless drivel

with a few golden nuggets, ultimately a

time waster that can be prone to

misinterpretation and can reduce

people’s ability to engage in real

conversations with real people.”

Social media not for education

“While using social media is great for

keep updated on OTHER people, I find

that using Twitter for university

education a little unnecessary as we do

keep up to date with ALL updates via

Blackboard. There is a phone app for

Blackboard and even emails for larger

messages where your limit on Twitter is

only 160(?) letters. The enthusiasm

towards teaching your students and

helping them understand the field they

are about to undertake is encouraging

but it is brought back when that

excitement is about Twitter.”

“I would prefer it being used on a more

commonly used social media like

acebook as

or example I don’t have

Student’s Perspectives Concerning the Use of Social Media as Communication and Educational Tools in a Tertiary Environment

349

twitter. I did have Twitter once but

found it uninteresting and boring.

Although I feel social media is more for

entertainment and down time for

yourself.”

Uncomfortable & Annoyed

“Not happy to use a media I wouldn't

normally just for education purposes.”

Overwhelmed

“Worried I might need to use social

media more often.”

Privacy invaded

“Doesn't bother me that much,

everything I have on my social media

accounts is private and I rarely post

anything.”

Total: 899

Positive: 725 = 80.6%

Neutral: 75 = 8.3%

Negative: 99 = 11.1%

Total: 899=100%

4 DISCUSSION

The quantitative results indicated that the majority

of students (80.6%, 725) felt positively about the

use of social media in their university course.

However, it must be noted that nearly 100 students

in the sample perceived the use of social media, as a

pedagogical tool, to be negative. This suggests that

to be inclusive, educators must consider those

students who prefer not to use social media

technology and ensure that a range communication

channels are used, rather than relying purely on

social media to reach students.

In total, 15 qualitative comments were received

regarding Question 6: How do you feel about using

social media as part of a university course?

5 (33%) comments were favorable regarding the

use of social media within courses, 6 (40%) were

neutral/unsure, and 4 (27%) of the comments

expressed a rejection towards social media use in

the university teaching context.

Some students (5) felt that social media was a

good tool for connecting and sharing

ideas/resources and to ‘keep updated on OTHER

people’. Students viewed social media as an

additional tool to ‘keep up to date with ALL updates

via blackboard’. The choice of social media tools is

deemed critical to the success of the teaching and

learning experience:

‘but it is brought back when that excitement is

about Twitter’

‘I would prefer it being used on a more commonly

used social media like Facebook as for example I

don’t have Twitter’.

Clearly social media is valued as a way to connect

students and staff:

‘I use this to enhance my cultural life at uni.’

‘It also allows students to connect with other people

in their course.’

‘Would be good to have a page each dedicated to

your course so people could ask questions etc.

without having to message people individually.’

Respondents highlighted that social media makes

information more accessible to students: ‘allowing

easy accessibility to the various types of info

posted’, however, cautioned that critical important

information, of value to all students, should be kept

as a ‘core source on the university's website,

blackboard, emails etc. and from there, it can be

strung out to which ever social media sites chosen.’

Some respondents (6) reported neutral/unsure views

regarding social media used as an educational tool:

‘Not sure until I try.’

‘Never Used.’

‘I haven't used it much yet, too early in semester’

(low level of experience suggested); another

respondent expressed neutral feelings about the use

of social media in his course ‘Doesn't bother me

that much.’

Some respondents (4) voiced negative views

regarding the use of social media, for example.

‘Social media can often be a barrage of mindless

drivel.’ This respondent also stressed that social

media is prone to misinterpretations, possibly to

delayed feedback from conversation partners. ‘…a

few golden nuggets, ultimately a time waster that

can be prone to misinterpretation and can reduce

people’s ability to engage in real conversations

with real people.’

Three other respondents stated:

‘not happy to use a media I wouldn't normally just

for education purposes.’

‘Can be a distraction.’ (Highlighting the distractive

nature of social media.)

‘Worried I might need to use social media more

often.’ (Concerned about being forced to use more

social media more than would like.)

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5 LIMITATIONS & FUTURE

DIRECTIONS

Previous studies have shown that technology

impacts on student performance as a fundamental

antecedent of technology use and adoption (Kulik,

1994; Cradler, 2002; Olsen 2005; Luppicini, 2005).

Although research suggests increasing efforts to

adopt and utilise social media in tertiary education,

we know little about whether students and

academics perceive such tools as an improvement to

their learning activities or as distracting, overly

complicating the learning experience and an

increase in workload.

The research findings contribute to the existing

knowledge regarding using social media experience

within the tertiary education context; it embeds

social media tools into courses and investigates the

perceptions of students using these tools during

their studies.

Analysis of the results provides some indication

of how social media is perceived in tertiary

education, however, it is important to note some

limitations and recommendations for future

research.

The variables used were self-reported measures.

The data is therefore subject to the errors and biases

that commonly occur when respondents are asked to

self-report, in this case regarding their perceptions

of social-media use within the higher education

setting.

Phase One of the study focused on students

studying in Semester 1 and this cohort was not

included in Phase Two of the research. This means

that changes in perception are difficult to identify

and track. It would also be useful to include

academic staff in future studies to ascertain how

they feel about utilising social media within tertiary

education. For this reason, the project has been

extended to address these issues in further phases of

research.

The large sample invited to undertake the survey

(647 students studying interdisciplinary programs)

is viewed as representative of the general student

population at the university. Unfortunately, only

322

students responded to Question 6, which is less

than 50%, and cannot be considered as a

representation of the overall university’s student

population.

6 CONCLUSION

The research findings show that the use of social

media in tertiary education increases the levels of

engagement between students, with teaching staff,

and with the university. Students enjoy using simple

and easily accessible social media tools, due to the

enjoyable social connectedness and associated fun

elements.

Social media is an effective communication tool

that can enhance the learning process, especially as

it enables engagement with tutors and course

coordinators. It also assists with the easy

distribution of information regarding lectures,

courses and careers. Facebook in particular is

favoured as a learning tool to interact with tutors

and students and to facilitate group work.

However, teaching staff are advised to use

caution to ensure the use of social media within the

learning environment has a clear purpose and

outcome and is not just be used for the sake of it.

The negative aspects of using social media are

clearly a concern for some students: the addictive

element, complexity and intruding nature.

Therefore, due to these issues, the compulsory use

of social media in the learning environment is

discouraged. Teaching staff are encouraged to take

great care when implementing social-media into

their teaching practice, and should consider which

tool would work best for a particular student cohort.

Research findings have been disseminated to

educators at the university and beyond (via research

papers and conference presentations etc.). Phase

Three results will provide more insight into the

topic and will include the views of teaching staff.

It is recommended that future research further

investigates this topic by focusing on the

differences in the way individuals use and value

social media within the higher education setting.

Studies that examine the introduction of social

media policies within tertiary education are also

encouraged.

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