Social Networking Sites and the Edu-Social Experience in Higher Education Institutions
Author
Hamdi, Nourhan Abdelsalam
Date
2018Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Social Networking Sites are becoming an integral part of modern educational activities.
Therefore, this research aims to comprehensively investigate how the usage of SNSs
affects the educational and social experience of students and educators in higher education.
The study also explores opportunities and challenges facing SNS as an educational tool,
and aims to bridge a technology-based factor, i.e., SNS, with social factors, across an
educational theoretical framework. The research intends to answer three research
questions: (1) How do faculty and students view and use SNS in higher education
institutions? (2) How does using SNS in higher education institutions affect the
educational and social experience? (3) What are the opportunities and challenges facing
SNS, as a learning tool, in higher education institutions?
The study is based on the theoretical foundations of the Community of Inquiry (CoI)
framework that was developed by Garrison et al. (2000) as an instructional design model
for e-learning. Its purpose is to provide a framework for the use of computer-mediated
communication in supporting educational experience. The CoI is defined as the
intersection of social, cognitive, and teaching presences, and was adopted in this research
to conceptualise educational experience.
A case study strategy is employed, and mixed data collection and analysis methods were
conducted over four consecutive stages. First, a web application was developed to extract
the interaction that is taking place on the CMT Facebook group. The application is
designed to help in classifying and analysing the extracted data using content analysis
techniques. Second, findings of the content analysis helped in devising structured
questionnaires that were used to survey 525 students. This data was analysed through
descriptive statistics, correlation and regression models. Third, semi-structured interviews
were conducted with 21 faculty members at CMT. Finally, five focus groups with 30 CMT
students were conducted.
The data obtained from online interaction and questionnaires was triangulated with the data
gathered from interviews and focus groups. Results show that Facebook is extensively
used as a non-formal learning tool for various college-related activities. Findings indicate
that Facebook substantially satisfies social and teaching dimensions of the educational
experience, but despite this, its use as a platform that supports intellectual discussions
proved to be insufficient. The study shows interesting results, such as the appearance of
implicit types of interaction, and how the nature of different courses affects its
compatibility to be taught using Facebook affordances. Moreover, some issues related to
students‘ and faculty members‘ privacy emerged as concerns for using Facebook in higher
education. The study concludes with contributions to knowledge and to practice, and
finally, recommendations were proposed to effectively use SNS in parallel with traditional
learning management systems.
Description
PhD Thesis - School of Management
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, subject and abstract.
-
Building the ‘Connection’ Between the Student, their Peers and the Lecturer: How Social Media can Enhance Student Engagement and Afford Informal Learning Opportunities
Sophie, Meace; Catherine, Naamani; Carroll, Fiona (iated, 2018-07-15)One of the key objectives of the Pedagogy for Employability strand of the University of South Wales (USW) Student Experience Plan , is the creation of ‘transformational learning and social bridges’ which build ‘rounded ... -
Risks: Hacking, Identity Theft and Burglary that are associated with students (aged 18-24) in sharing personal data through Social Media Applications.
Donoghue, Benjamin (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2017-04)As social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are becoming more popular, so does the increase in users. With more individuals joining these sites, the associated risks will rise. This study will research the ... -
An investigation into the effects that the social media platforms Facebook and Pinterest have on the planning stage of weddings
Cradduck, Paige (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2018-04)This dissertation attempts to identify to what extent social media is impacting how people plan their weddings. Social media has become more and more popular over the years, therefore this study researches how the growth ...