Abstract
This study analyzed current uses of emerging Social Media technologies in higher education with the intent to better understand which tools teachers are using in the classroom. A total of 189 faculties in higher education from three North Indian Universities were invited to participate, with 54 completing the survey. The survey included open-ended questions as well to offer an alternative analysis approach. In this study, the respondents claimed that the intrinsic factors of a lack of time and training were the main barriers to use, and reported positive views of Social Media use in class, with 75% saying that these tools would benefit students and 83% saying they would benefit teacher-student interactions. In contrast to these results only 44% of the respondents used at least 4 of the 13 listed Social Media tools with students. The reported uses did not match with the reported benefits, and this would support the results that extrinsic factors (time, training, support), instead of intrinsic factors (beliefs, motivation, and confidence) are the main barriers to faculty in this study using more Social Media in education.
The top five Social Media tools used, in order of preference, follow:
(a) Video sharing with tools e.g. YouTube;
(b) Instant messaging;
(c) Blogs;
(d) Social communities, such as Facebook; and
(e) Podcasts or video casts.
Introduction
Several erudite have described social media as a technological system that is ideally designed for the purpose of collaboration and communication within the community. Online blogs, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram etc. are typical inclusions of social media (McEwan, 2012).
Social media has been constantly evolving its features and facilities it provides. Due to the relentless ongoing up gradation activities in every aspect of social media and social networking sites to meet the radical user demands, a singular définition and description of social media is challenge in itself. Some social media platformsare designed with specific features to meet the requirements, and are articulated at a specific group of users. Dating websites fall in this particular category of social media platforms. Ning is a platform specifically designed for users who want to create and operate their own social networks.Facebook represents all the capabilities of social networking sites, where we may enjoy all features of what can be included in the definition of socializing (Quan-Haase, 2010)
Advent of Social media enhanced the value of social media. The internet evolution makes us cognize the development of this participatory podium that conceptualizes the importance of production, distribution and democratization of information. Social media is rightly characterized by conversation, connectedness, community, openness, and participation (Castro-Romero, 2015).
Social media in the educational field has been a debatable topic among educators, education researchers, and social media researchers. Several researches highlight the importance of social media technologies for a well-controlled and efficient resource utilization complementing the educational activities inside and outside the classroom. They justify that use of these technologies not only facilitate teacher-student and student-student interaction but also improve student learning, help develop their skills and competencies, and their level of satisfaction into new learning paradigms (Haya Ajjan, 2015)
Seamean & Tinti-Kane find blogs and wikis to be the most used social media for educational purposes like content creation, comments addition, and completing individual assignments (Jeff Seaman, 2013). Blogs not only support E-learning, but also promotes social interaction among teachers and students for information learning experiences.
While ranking different social media platforms, research finds Facebook to beat the top in popularity and user base. It crossed user base of 35,000,000 in the year 2012. MySpace is found to be the second most popular social networking platform followed by LinkedIn at the third position. However, when it comes to researching the impacts of social media in education, most of the research has been focusing the most popular social network i.e. Facebook (Tess, 2013).
The role of social media in education has been a hot area of research for years now. The question of whether social media plays a positive or negative role in academia is still debatable among social media and education researchers. However, this issue is multifaceted and the answer is not
that simple. The purpose of this research is limited to study and investigate the effects of social media on students’ performance.
One of the independent variables is whether a student uses social media platforms or not. Another independent variable can be the amount of time spent on these social media. The dependent variable will be the students` performance on some courses. The major questions to be answered by this research are the following:
1. Does use of social media has any negative impact on students’ performance?
2. Does use of social media has any positive impact on students’ performance?
3. How do social media affect the students` performance?
4. Is there any difference in performance on a particular course between students who use social media and those who don’t?
Definition of Terms:
Social Media: Websites, blogs, content management systems and web and mobile applications that enable users to connect to peers and other users, create and share content and/or participate in social networking.
Student Performance: student performance or academic achievement is the extent to which a student has achieved his/her educational goals and objectives usually measured through examinations and continuous assessment.
Social Networking Site (SNS): is a platform to build social networks or social relations among people who share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections.
Literature review
Innovativeness is the willingness to try new things (Hurt, Joseph, & Cook, 1977) and (Rogers, 2003) defined an innovation as any idea, concept, or technology perceived as new by the user and characterizes innovativeness as willingness to adopt new innovations sooner than others in the same system. According to (Bernoff, Pflaum, & Bowen, 2008), 75% of the adults surveyed in 2008 in the United States reported using Social media tools online for personal and professional reasons; this was up from 56% in 2007.Social media tools are relatively new in education and, thus, are still an emerging technology for many faculty. The term Social media generally describes the new way that users interact on the Internet. (Wheeler, Open content, open learning 2.0: Using wikis and blogs in higher education., 2010) Explained Social media as a term used to describe the participative and social elements of the World Wide Web. Social media tools allow for interactive, global, multicultural, and social connections online. In this study, the term Social media is defined as Web-based technologies that allow users to view content and to generate content with each other through virtual social connections. (Haya Ajjan, 2015)
According to the American Distance Education Consortium an integral component of a quality online program is excellent course design that engages students in active and effective learning. Many researchers analyzed the importance of instructional design that supports quality student-teacher interactions and strong social connections (Moore, 1989). Active and effective learning should also include design that accounts for different learning styles. Dede et al. (Dede, 2005)noted that design that engages active learning should include aspects of modern technologies, which students consider integral to a quality-learning program. This is true of any delivery format using technology, whether face-to-face, hybrid, or online. In this study the Low-innovation tools refers to low-innovation technologies that teachers have already been using for 15 or more years; it would be difficult to find any teacher that does not already use them in education, such as email. The highly innovative social media tools in this study include tools such as blogs and Twitter. (Solomon & Schrum, 2007)
The main advantages of Social media tools are the collective intelligence gathering, the lifelong learning opportunities afforded to the user and the learning and connection opportunities for teachers and students in and outside the classroom (Klamma, Chatti, Duval, Hummel, Hvannberg, & Kravcik, 2007). Faculty who use Social media tools become models of responsible and productive ways to use them because Social media tools are used in professional organizations and businesses, so faculty who integrate them into education, thus, mimic professional requirements in the real world. The use of Social media affords the instructor stronger connections and learning communities in online learning contexts (Wheeler, On using wiki as a tool for collaborative online blended learning, 2009). Often faculty members do not need to train students on how to use Social media tools because three in four adults in the United States are already using them (Bernoff, Pflaum, & Bowen, 2008). Faculty can also better communicate with students in hybrid and online learning contexts because these tools are already principal forms of communication for many people. As outlined by (Yan, 2008).
Technologies adopted in schools today, including blogs, wikis, social networking, and online learning communities, are keeping teachers and students connected in and out of class. They are
creating opportunities for groups to share, collaborate, showcase and grow together. In addition, they allow exchange of information and ideas not only within the confines of a classroom, but across schools, districts, states and the world.
Another benefit is that some Social media tools directly enhance classroom management, such as the use of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to offer instant updates and course materials access (Bell, 2009). Faculty can also increase interactivity and educational quality through Social media tools because they attend to constructivist and social learning theories through building stronger connections in virtual contexts (Haya Ajjan, 2015) (Bell, 2009) (Klamma, Chatti, Duval, Hummel, Hvannberg, & Kravcik, 2007) (Smaldino, Lowther, & Russell, 2008) (Wheeler, Learning space mashups: Combining Web 2.0 tools to create collaborative and reflective learning spaces., 2009b). Stronger teacher-student connections can lead to less transactional distance between the students and the course, which leads to lower attrition rates (Moore, 1989) (Palloff & Pratt, 2007).While all these benefits align with use of Social media tools in education, (Haya Ajjan, 2015)found that faculty members are not readily adopting their use regardless of the fact that the same faculty reported the benefits of Social media to education.
Finally, Social media tools are, by nature, socially constructed, collaborative, and support collective information gathering. Their use integrates constructivist and social learning theories into the classroom (Haya Ajjan, 2015) (Wheeler, On using wiki as a tool for collaborative online blended learning, 2009) (Wheeler, Learning space mashups: Combining Web 2.0 tools to create collaborative and reflective learning spaces., 2009b) .Experts in the field emphasized the importance of electronic learning design that supports social student-teacher interactions and connections in distance learning (Moore, 1989) (Shin, 2003) (Swan, 2002). Through the use of Social media tools, stronger social and collaborative interactions and connections can be easily created.
As an emerging technology, Social media tools are already being successfully used as a benefit to education by some institutions and faculty. In a study of two English language classrooms, blogs, wikis, podcasts, and RSS were integrated into the course curriculum (Shihab, 2008). The teachers utilized these tools as journal writing opportunities for students, for group facilitation tactics, and for recording important poetry recitals and interviews that students needed to listen to. The teachers reported that Social media technologies made them more efficient teachers and the results found that both the teachers and students reported high satisfaction with Social media tools in the classroom and improved learning experiences (Shihab, 2008). In a study by (Cocciolo, 2010), the use of Social media tools to enhance community participation was explored. Columbia University created two different institutional repositories. One was based on Social media tools while the other was not. The study found that the use of Social media tools in the repository related to a significant increase in community participation (Cocciolo, 2010). In other studies by (Wheeler, On using wiki as a tool for collaborative online blended learning, 2009) (Wheeler, Open content, open learning 2.0: Using wikis and blogs in higher education.,
2010)blogs and wikis were blended into the course curriculum to enhance student learning and increase the collaborative social learning context of the courses. Wheeler noted that students who are geographically separated can still interact and help form communities of practice through the use of wikis and other Social media tools. Wheeler further noted that Social media tools benefit student learning in the new media-driven world.
However, some research suggests that faculty are not using educational technology in a way students perceive as useful to their learning (Keengwe, 2007), or not implementing emerging technologies at all (Haya Ajjan, 2015).Even with training, faculty members are slow to adopt higher tech tools (presentation software, digital imaging, video) over low-tech tools (Internet searching, electronic mail [e-mail]; (Ertmer P. , 2005). In a study looking at university faculty’s perceptions and uses of Social media tools in higher education, Ajjan and Harshorn (2008) found that, even though many of the faculty in the study indicated positive views of Social media use in education that in reality few were actually using them with their students. The discrepancy is that while many of the faculty surveyed in Ajjan and Harshorn’s study saw a benefit to using Social media in the classroom, they did not plan to use those tools. Of the faculty surveyed, 47% and 46% felt that the use of blogs would improve student learning and would increase classroom interactions, respectively, but 62% of those surveyed did not use them and did not plan to use them. Knowledge of the usefulness of Social media does not necessarily lead to its diffusion in educational contexts.
Methods
In this study, the self-reported uses of and barriers to use of Social media technologies by faculty were examined. Faculties from various universities in the North India were contacted with invitations to participate. The study had the following research questions:
1. What are faculty members’ self-reported uses of social media benefits them?
2. What participants’ perceived barriers to the use of Social media technologies?
The purpose of this study was to analyze self-reported uses or barriers to use of Social media tools in an effort to shed light upon intrinsic versus extrinsic reasons why faculty do or do not use Social media in the classroom. Open-ended survey questions were included to offer an alternative analysis approach.
Results
A total of 189 study invitations were sent out with eighty-one attempts. After removing abandoned attempts and incomplete survey data a total of fifty-four fully completed surveys were available for analysis, with a final 29% response rate. The following demographics comprised the study: 25 (53.7%) females and 29 (46.3%) males’ ages 18 to over 55, of which over 83% were Caucasian and US citizens. As expected of higher education faculty, respondents had high levels of education, with 96% having a bachelor’s degree or above. The respondents included a lot of newer teachers, with 55% having taught 15 courses or less at the time of the study. Another 32% had from 7-20 years of experience, and 13% of respondents were veterans having taught 46 courses or more. Only 30% of respondents were a part of any online personal learning networks or social groups, though 64% were members of professional organizations related to their teaching area. Of the respondents, 89% taught face-to-face, 65% taught technology-integrated face-to-face, and 41% taught online.
Research Question 1: What are faculty members’ self-reported uses of Social Media technologies as reported on the survey?
The faculty members were asked which Social Media tools they used with students and to rate their level of use and experience in their use with students on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (no use at all) to 5 (expert use) of that tool in the classroom with students.
The top five Social Media tools most used Social Media tools follow: (a) video sharing, with 70% of participants used this tool with students; (b) instant messaging and chatting, with 48%;
(c) blogs at 39%; (d) social communities at 37%); and, (e) podcasts or video casts at 30%. The full results of reported Social Media uses can be viewed in Table 1.
The faculty respondents were also asked the following open-ended question in which they listed one use of a Social Media tool in class: “Please describe one way you use a Social Media tool in your classroom. In what context and with whom?”
Thirty (55%) participants listed ten Social Media uses in class:
1. YouTube: searching for YouTube videos relevant to course topics. This was listed by several faculty members who claimed it as useful in showing videos that highlighted course topics, with one specifying that the lack of classroom videos available to teachers makes YouTube that much more useful.
2. Instant messaging and chat: using Skype for virtual office hours and virtual classroom instruction, and for communication with students.
3. RSS feeds: gathering student information.
4. Podcasts: using as a method for groups to plan projects and to reflect on learning and experiences in the format of an audio learning journal.
5. Blogs: using for discussion of course topics and information. One faculty member described using student blogs in class to help increase student participation on the topics. A second faculty member outlined the method of using student blogs for reflection and analysis of their community based service learning. A third faculty member had students use blogs as a course learning journal.
6. Online grading, quiz and exam tools: using online tools to create online quizzes for the end of each chapter reported by one teacher because these online tools give immediate results to the students. The specific tools used were not listed.
7. Social media: outlining how one class set up a class Facebook page so that students could share pictures and comments in one online location. The use of social networks was also listed as a means to build connections and relationships with online students.
8. Twitter: using tool to print a list of tweets from Twitter and having students discuss emerging themes among them (listed by a communications professor). Another respondent listed Twitter as a method to keep in quick contact with students concerning course announcements and supplemental online material and links related to class topics.
9. Social media tools: using online social media to connect with guest lecturer and professionals so as to show students the role that Social Media plays in current communication (research). [This was listed by a communications professor. The specific tools used were not given.]
10. Social publishing: using Scribd as a way to disseminate Open Educational Resources to students more quickly.
Table 1: Faculty Reported Use and Experience of Social Media Applications
M (5-pt.
Social Media tool f % scale Max. SD
using
Video sharing (YouTube, etc.) 38 70 2.69 5 1.357
Instant messaging and chatting 26 48 2.07 5 1.301
Blogs 21 39 1.63 5 1.087
Social communities (Facebook, Myspace, etc.) 20 37 1.85 5 1.295
Podcasts or video casts (iTunes, Podcast Alley, etc.) 16 30 1.59 4 1.019
Virtual office applications 13 24 1.46 5 0.946
Other (LMSs, such as Moodle and Blackboard were 12 22 1.70 5 1.317
listed−not Social Media tools, but 47 participants listed
them, seeming to think they are).
Micro blogging (such as twitter) 11 20 1.39 5 0.878
Mobile education (m-education) 11 20 1.43 5 0.964
Wikis (Not use of Wikipedia, but use of a wiki with 10 19 1.43 5 1.002
students)
Multi use environments / virtual worlds 9 17 1.26 5 0.620
RSS (Really Simple Syndicate feeds) 8 15 1.26 5 0.757
Photo sharing (Flickr, Photo Bucket, etc.) 8 15 1.31 4 0.797
Social bookmarking and tagging (Delicious, Digg, etc.). 5 9 1.22 4 0.691
Note: N= 54, except for ‘other’, where n = 47. The minimum for all categories was 1. f= frequency, LMS = learning management system
Research Question 2: What are participants’ perceived barriers to the use of Social Media technologies as reported on the survey?
Study participants were asked to select any barriers to using Social Media tools in the classroom. The top two reported barriers were, first, no training on how to use them (31.5%), and, second, no time to learn how to use them (29.6%). The full results are documented in Table 2.
For the Other choice concerning barriers, seven faculty members listed the following reasons (these are quotes so spelling errors were left in place):
“Cost associated with their implementation or that they do not server the purpose that we desire.” [Female]
“I have trained on some of these (e.g., shifting my PowerPoint lectures to more disability-friendly formats, such as voice-over recordings for visually impaired, etc., but I cannot find the time to do all the other things necessary for professional development and these).” [Male]
“I think the students would need training more so than me and the amount of time that would take outweighs the benefits.” [Female]
“I use the Social Media that I deem relevant / easy to use for me: Youtube, e-mail, etc. I do not use blogs, wikis, or podcasts because I do not have any experience with them. They may be more beneficial, but I never took the time to learn them.” [Female] “Class time is not always enough, not all topics relevant to using Social Media.” [Female]
“See my response to question 35, [which was] . . . It’s time consuming to design and may not have much ROI if participation by the students is not required. They will mostly ignore any sort of participation that is not rewarded. They also do not need classes to use Social Media technology, so it doesn’t have much inherent incentive for them.” [Male]
“There are concerns about privacy, copyright issues, and FERPA.” [Male]
Table 2: Faculty Reported Barriers to the Use of Social MediaApplications
Barrier Total Total
f %
No training on how to use them. 17 31.5
No time to learn how to use them. 16 29.6
Lack of administrative support 12 22.2
No technology support for using them. 11 20.4
I see no barriers to Social Media use. 10 18.5
There is never any need or point to use them. 9 16.7
No interest in using them. 8 14.8
Other (cost to implement, time, training, some tools used and some not, class 7 13.0
time, time consuming, concerns for privacy, copyright, FERPA).
No response / prefer not to respond. 3 5.6
Note: N= 54. f = frequency
The participants were asked if they felt Social Media technologies would benefit student learning, and if they would benefit teacher-student interactions (see Table 3). Seventy-six percent of the respondents said, “Yes, that they felt these tools could benefit student learning,” and 83% said, “Yes, they felt such tools could also benefit learning community connections.” Forty-one
percent (11) of the female participants and 48% (12) of the male participants used at least four of the 13 listed Social Media tools (44%) of the 54 total participants.
Table 3: Faculty Perceptions on the Use of Social Media in Education in Percentages (N = 54)
Question Yes No Not
sure
Do you feel that use of Social Media technologies in education (any 75.9 7.4 16.7
delivery formats, including online) can benefit student learning? Social
Media tools include blogs, micro blogging (Twitter), podcasts, video casts,
video, photos, RSS, Wikis, virtual worlds, etc.)
Do you feel that use of Social Media technologies in education (any 83.3 11.1 5.6
delivery formats, including online) could benefit teacher-student
connections or interactions?
he faculty members were asked an open-ended survey question in which they gave any reasons they had for not using any Social Media tools in the classroom. This question allowed analysis of the data from a different angel in whom the instructor could highlight their own reasons for using or not using Social Media technologies in the classroom. Thirty-five (65%) participants answered this open-ended survey question, providing the following reasons (where quotes were used, spelling errors were left in place):
“Cost prohibitive to use or implement.”
“Need more training to feel comfortable with the formats and tools.”
“Not knowledgeable enough, lack of awareness, do not know how, lack of exposure, not tech savvy.”
“No preparation time, no time to research, develop them for effective incorporation.” “Not available; not mainstreamed enough (it was unclear what participants meant by these two, but seems to have meant the infrastructure of being able to use such technologies within a classroom).”
“Social Mediacontent is too subjective to teach with.”
“Does not fit with the class type, not appropriate to the context of the class.”
“Not necessary to do so, would not improve learning, satisfied with current resources used, no return on investment.”
“Prefer face-to-face communication and feel students would be reluctant to add teachers to social networks.”
“Learning curve for students to use, which takes time away from them doing traditional assignments; Some are gimmicky fads.”
“I like to be more face-to-face in the classroom, I believe that students today are so exposed to Social Mediatechnologies that they do not need to be exposed to them constantly in the classroom as well.”
“The more toward technological means has adversely affected face-to-face interaction skills. I am trying to get people to talk to each other . . . the old fashion way.”
“Not structured into the curriculum, material, syllabus.” “Too complicated to use in class.”
And, for the final reason listed, a long comment left by one faculty member on the topic:
“I barely have the time to keep up with clicker technologies, software upgrades to Windows, PowerPoint, Excel, Blackboard, all the online professional required training (e.g., sexual harassment, defensive driving), AND keep my existing technological hardware working (my iPhone is acting up, I just had to make an emergency trip to Fry’s to replace my keyboard, I upgraded my smart mouse to a green laser for better visual acuity, etc.). Add to this increasing assessment requirement in which we are expected to redesign our curricula and grading practices so that all the data we generate about student performance is now accessible for assessment reports, and I DO NOT HAVE TIME! Finally, despite excellent efforts on my campus to provide training and access and support systems in place for these technologies, THERE IS LITTLE ACTUAL INCENTIVE to invest the time it requires in such learning curves, IF we also expect to maintain our grant writing, routine course development, triaging 50-100 emails a day, and of course, publishing (to avoid perishing).”
Discussion
In spite of the benefits to using Social Media in education, members of faculty may or may not adopt them due to both extrinsic and intrinsic variables. In this study self-reported uses and barriers to use of Social Media tools were also analyzed in an effort to shed further light upon intrinsic versus extrinsic factors as to why faculty did or did not use Social Media tools. The data were analyzed to look for patterns and relationships. The most used Social Media tools, in order of highest use, follow:
• video sharing, such as YouTube, at 70%;
• instant messaging and chatting, such as Skype, at 48%;
• blogs at 39%;
• social communities, such as Facebook, at 37%; and
• podcasts or video casts, such as found at iTunes or Podcast Alley, at 30%.
A large portion of the faculty used YouTube, and it was the most often listed. Seventy percent of the faculty reported using YouTube as a way to enhance classroom teaching by having visual learning tools on the course concepts. Forty-eight percent of the study faculty reported using instant messaging and chatting tools, such as Skype, to communicate with students. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents reported using blogs to enhance student learning. They reported several different uses of blogs in the classroom. Some used blogs as a kind of personal learning journal in which students would create and run a blog on the course topics as a way to reflect on their learning. One faculty member outlined how that instructor’s students would keep blogs to reflect on their community-based service learning. Another faculty member noted that student comments on blog posts on the course topics increased student participation on the topics. Thirty-seven percent of the faculty reported using social communities, such as Facebook to help enhance student-teacher connections and to build stronger learning communities. One faculty member noted that this was necessary because that instructor was an online instructor who would never meet the students face-to-face. Finally, 30% of study participants reported using podcasts or video casts in their curriculum. One faculty member said podcasts were used by students as a kind of audio-learning journal on course topics.
The other eight Social Media tools were used at lower frequencies (<24% of respondents), though one use of note is that a faculty member outlined the use of Twitter as a way to update students instantly on class announcements, online resource and weblinks, and other important course updates. A surprising find in this study was that only 9% (5) of the respondents used any social bookmarking and tagging sites, such as Delicious. Online social bookmarking tools by description would seem to be perfect resources for both students and teachers, as it would allow a teacher to bookmark the best resources and web sites online for students to easily find and use when they write papers and do other course work (Solomon & Schrum, 2007)and yet only 5 of 54 respondents reported using it with students.
The top five reported barriers to using Social Media in the classroom follow:
• no training on how to use them, at 32% or 17;
• no time to learn how to use them, at 30% or 16;
• no administrative support, at 22% or 12;
• not enough technology support, at 20% or 11; and
• never any need or point to use them, 16.7% or 9.
No time and lack of knowledge or training were the most listed barriers to using more Social Media in the classroom, both of which could be alleviated by administration if on-the-job training as a part of the normal workday were offered. Almost 19% (10) selected that they saw no barriers to using Social Media. Overall, the study participants listed more extrinsic barriers to using Social Media in the classroom than intrinsic.
Approximately 75% (n=41) of the participants felt Social Media technologies would benefit student learning, and about 83% (n=45) said that Social Media tools would benefit teacher-student interactions. Interestingly though, while such a high percentage positively reported on the benefits to education with the use Social Media tools, only 44% (n=54, including 29 females and 25 males) used at least four of the 13 listed Social Media tools in their classrooms. So while, on average, 80% of the study participants said they do feel Social Media can enhance student learning and student-teacher connections, only 48% are actually using Social Media tools in the classroom. These findings are corroborated by the findings of (Haya Ajjan, 2015)whose study participants said that Social Media would be a benefit to student learning, but the adoption rates did not match and reported teacher beliefs, and found that strong intrinsic factors shared their motivation and willingness to successfully adopt new technologies with students. The difference between the findings of Ajjan and Hartshorne and this study was that they found intrinsic barriers to adoption to be more important while this study found extrinsic barriers to be more important.
In this study, extrinsic barriers were reported as the main barriers to Social Media integration, such as lack of training and lack of time. The willingness and motivation (intrinsic factors) were present, but respondents reported needing more time and training in order to effectively use new technologies in the classroom.
As an example, one male respondent said, “I have trained on some of these (e.g., shifting my PowerPoint lectures to more disability-friendly formats, such as voice-over recordings for visually impaired, etc.), but I cannot find the time to do all the other things necessary for professional development and these.” In another example, a female respondent said “I use the Social Media that I deem relevant/easy to use for me: Youtube, e-mail, etc. I do not use blogs, wikis, or podcasts because I do not have any experience with them. They may be more beneficial, but I never took the time to learn them.” A particularly relevant comment left by a male clearly expressed personal frustration with the lack of time, “…I DO NOT HAVE TIME! Finally, despite excellent efforts on my campus to provide training and access and support systems in place for these technologies, THERE IS LITTLE ACTUAL INCENTIVE to invest the time it requires in such learning curves…”
Therefore, a large number of the study participants see a positive value in the use of Social Media in education, but they require training and time (and external incentives) in order to feel more confident or knowledgeable about uses to be motivated to use them. These concerns could be alleviated with more on-the-job training programs, incentives for teachers, and release-time given to complete the training necessary. To highlight that point, in answer to the question about why Social Media has never been used in class (if this were the case), one male respondent said personally he did not use them and replied, “It hasn’t seemed appropriate to the context of the class yet.” This same respondent did not list a single barrier to use of Social Media in class selecting that he did not see any barriers to Social Media use in education. This respondent also positively responded to the benefits of Social Media for teacher-student interactions. Overall, this was an innovative and moderately optimistic person who was not using Social Media in education not because the individual saw no value and not because the individual perceived any
barriers. Instead the individual was not using Social Media in education as the individual did not recognize the value to the learning needs of the students. In cases such as these training that included case studies would be invaluable for supplying best practice methods to effectively utilizing Social Media for enhance student learning experiences and offering examples of use for instructors unsure how to integrate them into their curriculum but who are willing to try if they see the value.
Conclusions
In this study, all respondents, regardless of gender, claimed that the extrinsic factors of a lack of time and training were the main barriers to integrating more Social Media tools into their classrooms, rather than intrinsic factors (beliefs, motivation, and confidence). Furthermore, when asked about the benefits of Social Media, the respondents, regardless of gender, reported positive views, with 75% saying that these tools would benefit students and 83% saying they would benefit teacher-student interactions.
This is in contrast to some other available studies. Such as in a study by (Ertmer P. A.-L., 2006) where exemplary technology-using teachers were analyzed, they found that, even in the face of many extrinsic barriers, such as lack of funds and time; these teachers managed to overcome all problems and successfully implement technology into their classrooms. The teachers did not view the extrinsic barriers as a major problem. It is suggested that extrinsic factors are less important than intrinsic factors in people’s behavior choices. The motivation to succeed in technology adoption was possible through a more positive attitude about the usefulness of technology in education.
Only 44% of the respondents in this study used at least four of the 13 listed Social Media tools with students, which is in contrast to 75% of the respondents reporting benefits to student learning with Social Media tools. The reported uses did not match with the reported benefits, and this would support the results that extrinsic factors (time, training, support), instead of intrinsic factors (beliefs, motivation, and confidence) are the main barriers to faculty using more Social Media in education at these institutions. Many respondents saw the value in using Social Media tools in education, but had not seen the value to their particular course. Training that included case-studies and examples of best practices would help motivate many willing and keen faculty to start using more Social Media in the classroom.
An implication is that administration at universities needs to create professional development programs that are available during work hours, and that give employees the time off from regular duties in order to attend the trainings. Some limitations of this study were that due to a small population a random sample was not possible, and therefore the results cannot be generalized to the greater population. A second limitation is the low survey attempt and completion rate of 29%. A larger sample may have produced different results.
Some areas for future research would be to look closely at how release time may positively affect innovative teaching and learning practices. Another interesting area of research would be to evaluate how examples and case-studies would motivate teachers to implement more Social Media tools, because people are more likely to implement new innovations they see their peers using successfully.