The Use of Social Media as a Learning Environment of Vocational
Education
Mafrur Udhif Nofaizzi, Andri Setiawan, Faathir
State University of Malang, Malang, Indonesia
Keywords: Social Media, Learning Environment, Vocational Education.
Abstract: Nowadays, learning is not only taken in the classroom but also taking in the virtual class. Social interaction
between learner and instructor is mostly brought on the social media. The use of social media as a learning
environment in vocational education can support the learner for learning everywhere. This paper addresses
this question: how the social media is used? Which social media is widely used? What the learning objectives
will be achieved by using social media?. The systematic review methodology was carried out in this study.
The literature was collected from the international journal database such as ERIC and Sciencedirect. Based
on the analysis, the findings are presented into three categories namely, learning activities, type of social
media, and learning outcome of the learner. The interaction activity and assessment were commonly used in
social media. Facebook became a social media platform that is widely used. The social media is mostly used
to enhance the engagement of learners in the learning process.
1 INTRODUCTION
The integration of social media into the learning
process has been an interesting topic to investigate
deeply. Social media is a technology that can
overcome learning difficulties outside the classroom.
There are three aspects to note in utilizing social
media in the learning process, (1) Technological
literacy i.e., the individual's ability in operating
technology, (2) Information literacy i.e., the ability to
retrieve, access, and utilize the information, (3)
Critical Literacy i.e., the ability in assessing and
evaluating media and information (Woonsun and
Jaewoo, 2014).
The use of social media as a communication tool
outside the classroom can provide the learner
opportunity to solve the problem by means of
collaboration. (Nookhong and Wannapiroon, 2015)
stated that social media can be used as a supporting
tool for communication between learner and
instructor, such as, collecting data, sharing
information, and exchanging thoughts. The
interaction built through social media is crucial in
providing the opportunity to share ideas, ask
something, and collaborate in solving learning
problems (Won et al., 2015). Learning activities built
using social media can improve the ability to
collaborate.
The benefit of integrating social media into
learning i.e., the learner not only read the content but
can also create content based on the information that
has been obtained, the so-called User-Generated
Content (Konert, 2014). Social media provides the
opportunity for learners to select and make the
appropriate content to meet the needs of their
learning. Besides the content, the learner can also
choose and assess the validity of the information
contained in social media. (Alabdulkareem, 2015)
stated that social media allows the learner to create
and test the knowledge acquired.
Vocational education learning system is specially
designed to meet the needs of the world of industry
and the business. Vocational education is regarded as
a key factor in improving and maintaining the global
competitiveness of national industries (Rauner and
Maclean, 2009). The implications of these goals
against vocational education curriculum is to apply a
dual system of education. The dual education system
is a combination of theory learned in the classroom
and skills in the workplace.
The purpose of this study is to examine the use of
social media on vocational education through
systematic review. Thus, this study points out the
following questions, (1) How are social media used
Nofaizzi, M., Andri, S. and Faathir, .
The Use of Social Media as a Learning Environment of Vocational Education.
DOI: 10.5220/0008407100150020
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Learning Innovation (ICLI 2018), pages 15-20
ISBN: 978-989-758-391-9
Copyright
c
2019 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
15
as learning environment in vocational education (2)
Which is the most commonly used social media as a
learning environment in vocational education? (3)
What is the purpose of using social media in
vocational education?.
2 METHOD
This article presents the results of a study about the
use of social media on the vocational education. The
method used was a systematic review. A systematic
review is a study of the question formulated clearly
that uses systematic and explicit methods to identify,
select and critically appraise relevant research, and to
collect and analyse data from the studies included in
the review (Moher et al., 2009). There are four stages
to be performed in the study of systematic review,
namely, (1) Identification (2) Screening (3) Eligibility
(4) Included. The source of the study of literature is
searched using the database Journal of ERIC and
Sciencedirect.
Use two basic keywords that will be used as
reference in the keyword search literary sources,
namely (1) social media (2) vocational education. to
expand the search, two of these keywords are
followed by the following key words are "Social
Media", "Social Network", "Web 2.0 "," Facebook ","
Youtube "," Edmodo "," Blog ". As for the keyword
"Vocational Education", "Vocational Training
School", "Education", "Technical Education". The
combined keywords from both domains are also used
in the search. So it brings the right articles with topics
that will be covered in the study. Articles that are
collected are limited in 2010 to 2018. The articles will
be selected into the study of systematic review will be
limited to the field of education. Searching articles
focus on learning activities using social media, social
media is applied to the students in school, as well as
the challenges of using social media in learning.
3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Figure 1 shows the four stages in the process of
systematic review, i.e., (1) Identification (2)
Screening (3) Eligibility (4) Included. The
Identification stage obtained 312 articles from two
database journals using the keywords "social media"
and "vocational education." Then, the articles that
correspond to the topic were being selected, 6 articles
were removed, only 306 articles remain. On screening
stage, the activity was screening the full-text article.
171 articles were removed because of not providing
the full-text article, 135 articles remain. The full-text
article will be examined based on the required
variable as a process of systematic review. On
Eligibility stage, the activity was examining the paper
thoroughly begins with examining title and abstract.
If correspond topic found, then proceed to review the
entire paper. The result found that 126 articles were
removed. In the end, on the included stage there are
only 9 articles correspond to variable needed for the
systematic review.
Figure 1: Diagram flow PRISMA
3.1 Usage of Social Media as a
Learning Environment in
Vocational Education
Learning activities on social media in vocational
education was varied. 55.55% utilize social media as
an instructional tool between users (Hanley et al.,
2013; St. Onge and Hoehn, 2015). Besides, it is also
utilized for creating learning content (Schwertel et al.,
2014), sharing learning experience (Hanley et al.,
2013), delivering learning resources (Callan and
Johnston, 2017), and evaluating (Oishi, Seki and
Kondo, 2017).
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Table 1: Analysis of learning activity on social media.
Activity on social
media
Percentage
Interaction
55.55%
Create content
11.11%
Sharing learning
experience
55.55%
Delivering learning
materials
22.22%
Evaluation
44.44%
3.2 Social Media Platforms Used
Based on the review, social media platform that is
widely used is Facebook by 77.78% (Hanley et al.,
2013; Schwertel et al., 2014; St. Onge and Hoehn,
2015; Mardiana, 2016; Callan and Johnston, 2017;
Oishi, Seki and Kondo, 2017; Ranginwala and
Towbin, 2018), followed by Blog, YouTube,
Google+, wiki, Google Hangout, Instagram, and
Twitter. In terms of the learning process, (Hanley et
al., 2013) use Facebook only, and (Schwertel et al.,
2014) uses many social media, such as Facebook,
Blog, and Wiki simultaneously, but with a different
purpose. The results of the study of social media
platforms used as learning environments in
vocational education can be seen in Table 2.
Table 2: Analysis of social media platforms used.
Activity on social
media
Percentage
Facebook
77.78%
Blog
33.33%
Youtube
22.22%
Google+
22.22%
Wiki
11.11%
Instagram
11.11%
Twitter
11.11%
3.3 Purposes of Social Media Used
Social media is used for many purposes. Most of the
reviewed article mention that the purpose is to
improve the learner in learning (Hanley et al., 2013;
Mardiana, 2016; Callan and Johnston, 2017). Some
mention that the purpose is to improve critical
thinking skills (Huang et al., 2017), and to improve
technical skills in the workplace. other studies
mention the use of social media for increasing
collaboration among learners. This proven effective
based on findings (Hanley et al., 2013). In addition to
social media is also effective as a complementary
learning. (Moghavvemi et al., 2018) using youtube as
a source of information to enhance the understanding
of the learner when outside the classroom.
Table 3: Overview of the articles.
Author
Year
Usage of Social Media
Subject
Evaluation
tool
Outcomes
Country
Schwertel
., et al.
2011
Social media to
organize, evaluate,
interact, and create
information
Vocational
students
from IT
sector
-
Web-based training
modules for learner,
social navigator dan
online course for
teacher and trainers of
vocational IT
education
Germany
Hanley.,
et al.
2013
Facebook as
communication tools
and deliver the
learning experience
Students
from the
Nitec in
info-
communica
tion
technology
course
Survey
Engagement student
and collaborative
learning
Singapore
Onge and
Hoehn
2015
Delivery resources
course,
communication with
students regarding
assignments and due
dates.
Students
Pharmacy
education,
age 18-55
years
Questionnai
re survey
Facebook and Google
+ as distance learning
platforms for
Pharmacy learners.
USA
Huang., et
al.
2016
Use of Google+ for
interaction and
sharing project,
Technical
and
vocational
Interview
survey to
collect
the use of PBCL
(Project-based cloud
learning) model which
Taiwan
The Use of Social Media as a Learning Environment of Vocational Education
17
Hangouts for
interaction, both
ssynchronized and
non-synchronized
discussion, and Blog
as the assessment tool
on learners’
performance.
University
students,
age 20-22
years
qualitative
data and
questionnai
re
integrated with Google
Services to improve
learners’ critical
thinking.
Mardiana
2016
Teaching and learning
process
Students
information
technology,
age 18-35
years and
lectures,
age 25-65
years
Interview
and
questionnai
re
Facebook to engage
students and lecturers
Indonesia
Callan., et
al.
2017
Deliver materials and
assessment
Student,
teacher, and
employers
Interview
and
Questioner
Common use of social
media, the impact of
engagement student
and employer, and
evaluation process
Australia
Oishi.,et
all.
2017
Facebook as an e-
portofolio on CSP
(Career Support
Program) to promote
learning process and
assess students’
activities interactively
and authentically
Fourth-
years
students
Questionnai
re survey
CSP Facebook to help
learner getting
particular skills or
technical skill in the
workplace
Japan
Moghavv
emi., et al.
2017
Youtube as a
complementary tool
for teaching
Students in
the Faculty
of Business
and
Accountanc
y
Questionnai
re
YouTube as a
complementary for
blended learning
Malaysia
Ranginwa
la and
Towbin
2017
Twitter and Instagram
used for resource
sharing,
communication, and
assessment for faculty
members, fellows, and
staffs. Facebook used
for patients'
engagement, families
and employees (i.e.,
events,announcements
and new facilities).
The blog used for
educational purpose to
patients and families.
Learners,
educator,
patient,
employee
-
Social media used for
employee engagement,
radiology, and medical
education community,
and social media
channels.
USA
3.4 How to Use Social Media as a
Learning Environment in
Vocational Education
Based on the results of the study of literature found
that the use of social media in learning education
Commissioner is varied. Social media is mostly used
for interaction. (Hanley et al., 2013) mentions that the
interaction through social media occurs in three forms
i.e., interactions between learners, interaction of
learner with content, and the interaction of learner
with instructor. Thus, it shows that the use of social
media can be used as a tool of learning. The
advantages of the use of social media are because it
costs cheaper than web-based training. (St. Onge and
Hoehn, 2015) mention that social media can also be
used to discuss and collaborate in the search for
learning resources on the internet. Interactions
between users in real time can provide input directly
about the credibility of the learning resources that are
available to you through the internet. In addition as a
space of social media, interaction can also be used as
an assessment. (Oishi, Seki and Kondo, 2017) using
social media for authentic assessment. Portfolio is
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used as a benchmark in assessing learning activities
through social media like, comment, post-learning
experience into techniques to collect data that will be
assessed.
3.5 Commonly Used Social Media
Platform
The most commonly used social media platform is
Facebook. A more complex feature and cost factor are
the reason to use Facebook instead of web-based
platform (Mardiana, 2016). There are 3 categories of
Facebook usage in learning, (1) Facebook is an
effective medium for communication, (2) Facebook
can enhance the learning experience of the learners,
(3) Learners perceive Facebook as learning medium
(Hanley et al., 2013). Besides, there is Blog that
allows sharing information with a bigger character
limit than Facebook. (Huang et al., 2017) utilize Blog
in many ways, such as, presentation and summarizing
the learning material. Blog has the advantage as an
easily accessed mass media through search engines.
3.6 The Purpose of Using Social Media
The main purpose of social media in learning is to
attract the learners in the learning process. The
research by (Moghavvemi et al., 2018) showed that
31% of learners spent more than an hour per day using
YouTube for learning and entertaining. Learners’
interest becomes a key success factor of the learning
process. Another purpose is to improve critical
thinking skills through direct interaction in social
media. (Oishi, Seki and Kondo, 2017) use social
media as tool for authentic assessment based on the
investigation from comments and posts.
4 CONCLUSION
The main purpose of this study is to examine the use
of social media as learning environment in vocational
education. The integration of social media into
learning process has been a lot done by many
educational institutions. The utilization of social
media in vocational education gives a significant
positive impact. Thus, social media is a proper tool to
solve learners’ learning difficulties.
The result of the study is divided into 3, the way
to use social media in learning, the most widely used
social media platform, and the purpose to achieve in
utilizing social media. The result is then described
and presented in the form of data analysis.
The integration of social media into learning in
vocational education shows a positive impact. Ease of
social media access and feature to encourage the
learners in online learning environment considered as
the key factors to attract learners in learning. The
utilization of social media for assessment considered
as the proper way because of its advantage in
recording the learning activities authentically. Most
of the learners are being too immersed in using the
social media that considered to be beneficial for
instructor in assessing the learning activity outside the
classroom. The selection of social media platform
should be adjusted to the needs in learning because
each social media has different purposes and features.
Facebook has been the most commonly used social
media platform because it has more services than
others do. The main purpose of instructor in utilizing
social media is to increase the interest of the learners
in the learning process.
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