Using social media to support teaching and learning in higher education: an analysis of personal narratives
Keywords:
new media, narrative research, storytelling, knowledge sharing, ethical use of social media
Abstract
The increasing trend of using new media technologies and particularly social media (SM) among students provides an advantage for lecturers. Apparently their importance accelerated with the application of social distancing during a pandemic crisis such as the one World has been experiencing since the end of 2019. In this article, the stories of two academics are used expressing experiences, motives and perceptions on benefits and challenges of using SM to support teaching and learning in the classroom. The stories which form the data of the research describe how and why the participants started to use SM, their intended purpose and the ways of use. Besides, reasons, difficulties and positive as well as the negative sides are explored. The findings show that the virtual learning environments provided by SM facilitated the development of students’ enthusiasm and interaction with peers assertively, thus increasing the students’ participation. Because of emerging technologies, SM platforms surge and plummet quickly; therefore, it is important for institutions to either develop their platform or to subscribe to existing ones for effective knowledge sharing at an institutional level with clear ethical rules.
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References
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Moen, T. (2006) ‘Reflections on the narrative research approach’, International Journal of Qualitative Methodology, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 56–69. doi: 10.1177/160940690600500405
Moran, M., Seaman, J. & Tinti-Kane, H. (2011) Teaching, Learning, and Sharing: How Today’s Higher Education Faculty Use Social Media, Pearson Learning Solutions and Babson Survey Research Group, Pearson, Boston, MA.
Neier, S. & Zayer, L. T. (2015) ‘Students’ perceptions and experiences of social media in HE’, Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 133–143. doi: 10.1177/0273475315583748
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VUSMR. (2009) Using Social Media for Teaching and Learning, Victoria University Staff Guide. Retrieved https://policy.vu.edu.au/document/view.php?id=429
Willems, J., et al., (2018) ‘Debating the use of social media in higher education in Australasia: where are we now?’, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 135–149. doi: 10.14742/ajet.3843
Yıldırım, A. & Şimşek, H. (2008) Sosyal Bilimlerde Nitel Araştırma Yöntemleri [Qualitative research methods in the social sciences], Seçkin Yayıncılık, Ankara.
Ahern, L., Feller, J. & Nagle, T. (2016) ‘Social media as a support for learning in universities: an empirical study of Facebook groups’, Journal of Decision Systems, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 35–49. doi: 10.1080/12460125.2016.1187421
Ahmed, Y. A., et al., (2019) ‘Social media for knowledge-sharing: a systematic literature review’, Telematics and Informatics, vol. 37, pp. 72–112. doi: 10.1016/j.tele.2018.01.015
Bearman, M., Greenhill, J. & Nestel, D. (2019) ‘The power of simulation: a large-scale narrative analysis of learners’ experiences’, Medical Education, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 369–379. doi: 10.1111/medu.13747
Bennett, L. (2017) ‘Social media, academics’ identity work and the good teacher’, International Journal for Academic Development, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 245–256. doi: 10.1080/1360144X.2017.1305961
Boyd, D. M. & Ellison, N. B. (2007) ‘Social network sites: definition, history, and scholarship’, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 210–230. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x
BrckaLorenz, A., Cervera, Y. & Garver, A. (2010) ‘Interactive technology and effective educational practices’, Paper presented in Association for Institutional Research (AIR) in Atlanta, Georgia, pp. 1–29. Retrieved http://cpr.indiana.edu/uploads/AIR2010%20Interactive%20Tech%20FINAL.pdf
Connelly, F. M. & Clandinin, D. J. (1990) ‘Stories of experience and narrative inquiry’, Educational Researcher, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 2–14. doi: 10.3102/0013189X019005002
Cousins, S. & Bissar, D. (2012) ‘Adapting to the digital age: a narrative approach’, Research in Learning Technologies, vol. 20, no. 18976, pp. 1–13. doi: 10.3402/rlt.v20i0.18976
Cresswell, J. W. (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Elçi A. & Devran B.Ç. (2014) ‘A narrative research approach: the experiences of social media support in higher education’, in Learning and Collaboration Technologies. Designing and Developing Novel Learning Experiences. LCT 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8523, eds P. Zaphiris & A. Ioannou. Springer, Cham, pp. 36–42. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-07482-5_4
Foulger, T. S., et al., (2009) ‘Moral spaces in MySpace: preservice teachers’ perspectives about ethical issues in social networking’, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 1–28. doi: 10.1080/15391523.2009.10782539
Freeman, W. (2014) ‘Taming social media in higher education classrooms’, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Networked Learning, eds S. Bayne, C. Jones, M. de Laat, T. Ryberg & C. Sinclair, pp. 359–363.
Goodson, I. & Sikes, P. (2001) Life History Research in Educational Settings: Learning from Lives, Open University Press, Buckingham.
Graham, M. (2014) ‘Social Media as a tool for increased student participation and engagement outside the classroom in higher education’, Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 16–24. doi: 10.14297/jpaap.v2i3.113
Greenhow, C. & Askari, E. (2017) ‘Learning and teaching with social network sites: a decade of research in K 12 related education’, Education and Information Technologies, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 623–645. doi: 10.1007/s10639-015-9446-9
Jones, N., et al., (2010) ‘Get out of myspace!’, Computers & Education, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 776–782.
Kafalenos, E. (2006). Narrative Causalities, Ohio State University Press, Columbus.
Kaplan, A. M. & Haenlein, M. (2010) ‘Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media’, Business Horizons, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 59–68. doi: 10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003
Kramp, M. K. (2004) ‘Exploring life and experience through narrative inquiry’, in Foundations of Research: Methods of Inquiry in Education and the Social Sciences, eds K. de Marris & S. Lapan, Lawrence Erlbaum, NJ, pp. 103–122.
Lister, M., et al., (2009) New Media: A Critical Introduction, 2nd edn, Routledge, New York.
Lanclos, D. M. & Phipps, L. (2019) ‘Leadership and social media: challenges and opportunities’, in Social Media in Higher Education: Case Studies, Reflections and Analysis, ed C. Rowell, Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, pp. 141–150. doi: 10.11647/OBP.0162.13
Latif, M. Z., et al., (2019) ‘Use of smart phones and social media in medical education: trends, advantages, challenges and barriers’, Journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina: casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 133–138. doi: 10.5455/aim.2019.27.133-138
Lindo, E. (2020) ‘Ethics in analytics and Social Media’, in Advances in Information and Communication. FICC 2019. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 69, eds. K. Arai & R. Bhatia, pp. 970-982 Springer, Cham. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-12388-8_67
Maqableh, M., et al., (2015) ‘The impact of social media networks websites usage on students’ academic performance’, Communications and Network, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 159–171. doi: 10.4236/cn.2015.74015
Manca, S. & Ranieri, M. (2016a) ‘Facebook and the others. Potentials and obstacles of Social Media for teaching in higher education’, Computers & Education, vol. 95, pp. 216–230. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2016.01.012
Manca, S. & Ranieri, M. (2016b) ‘Is Facebook still a suitable technology enhanced learning environment? An updated critical review of the literature from 2012 to 2015’, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 503–528. doi: 10.1111/jcal.12154
McCormack, C. (2004) ‘Storying stories: a narrative approach to in-depth interview conversations’, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 219–236. doi: 10.1080/13645570210166382
Moen, T. (2006) ‘Reflections on the narrative research approach’, International Journal of Qualitative Methodology, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 56–69. doi: 10.1177/160940690600500405
Moran, M., Seaman, J. & Tinti-Kane, H. (2011) Teaching, Learning, and Sharing: How Today’s Higher Education Faculty Use Social Media, Pearson Learning Solutions and Babson Survey Research Group, Pearson, Boston, MA.
Neier, S. & Zayer, L. T. (2015) ‘Students’ perceptions and experiences of social media in HE’, Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 133–143. doi: 10.1177/0273475315583748
O’Bannon, B. W., Beard, J. L. & Britt, V. G. (2013) ‘Using a Facebook group as an educational tool: effects on student achievement’, Computers in the Schools, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 229–247. doi: 10.1080/07380569.2013.805972
Özer, I., Karpinski, A. C. & Kirschner, P. A. (2014) ‘A cross-cultural qualitative examination of social-networking sites and academic performance’, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, no. 112, pp. 873–881. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1244
Penn, C. S. (2017) ‘What’s the difference between Social Media and new media?’, Awaken Your Superhero. Available at: http://www.christopherspenn.com/2016/10/whats-the-difference-between-social-media-new-media/
Polkinghorne, D. E. (1995) ‘Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis’, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 5–23. doi: 10.1080/0951839950080103
Raspopovic, M., et al., (2017) ‘The effects of integrating social learning environment with online learning’, International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 141–160.
Riessman, C. K. & Quinney, L. (2005) ‘Narrative in social work: a critical review’, Qualitative Social Work, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 391–412. doi: 10.1177/1473325005058643
Rodríguez-Hoyos, C., Haya Salmón, I. & Fernández-Díaz, E. (2015) ‘Research on SNS and education: the state of the art and its challenges’, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 100–111. doi: 10.14742/ajet.995
Sanacore, J. (2008) ‘Turning reluctant learners into inspired learners’, The Clearing House, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 40–44. doi: 10.3200/TCHS.82.1.40-44
Sandoval, J. A. (2018) ‘Researcher–participant relationships’, in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods, ed M. Allen, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc., pp. 1466–1468. doi: 10.4135/9781483381411
Smythe, W. E. & Murray, M. J. (2000) ‘Owning the story: ethical considerations in narrative research’, Ethics & Behavior, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 311–336. doi: 10.1207/S15327019EB1004_1
Sun, Y. C. (2010) ‘Developing reflective cyber communities in the blogosphere: a case study in Taiwan higher education’, Teaching in HE, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 369–381. doi: 10.1080/13562510903556075
Suprapto, F. & Rosmala, D. (2011) ‘Study of social networking usage in higher education environment’, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 67, no. 2012, pp. 156–166. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.316
Swan, K. (2005) ‘A constructivist model for thinking about learning online’, in Elements of Quality Online Education: Engaging Communities, eds J. Bourne & J. C. Moore, Sloan-C, Needham, MA.
Tess, P. A. (2013) ‘The role of social media in higher education classes (real and virtual): a literature review’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. A60–A68. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.032
Tiryakioğlu, F. & Erzurum, F. (2011) ‘Bir Eğitim Aracı olarak Ağların Kullanımı’, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on New Trends in Education and their Implications, pp. 1031–1047. Siyasal Kitabevi, Ankara, Turkey. ISBN: 978-605-5782-62-7
VUSMR. (2009) Using Social Media for Teaching and Learning, Victoria University Staff Guide. Retrieved https://policy.vu.edu.au/document/view.php?id=429
Willems, J., et al., (2018) ‘Debating the use of social media in higher education in Australasia: where are we now?’, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 135–149. doi: 10.14742/ajet.3843
Yıldırım, A. & Şimşek, H. (2008) Sosyal Bilimlerde Nitel Araştırma Yöntemleri [Qualitative research methods in the social sciences], Seçkin Yayıncılık, Ankara.
Published
2020-07-23
How to Cite
Kara N., Çubukçuoğlu B., & Elçi A. (2020). Using social media to support teaching and learning in higher education: an analysis of personal narratives. Research in Learning Technology, 28. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v28.2410
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Section
Original Research Articles
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