Application Of Social Media Platforms In Higher Education

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Abstract

• Keywords: Information technology, Innovation, Social media.

Introduction

Modernisation is a trend of life these days. Gone are the days when one remained contented and satisfied with one’s lot, with one’s social status, manners, standard of living and so on and so forth. A change has become very common now. This is an age of information and technology.

Education has to be revolutionised in accordance with the times and new aims of life with changed needs and requirements of the people and the society. All that will have to mould education fully so as to make it modern. Social media allows people to share ideas, post news, ask questions and share links; allowing information to reach a wide audience. Websites and Applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. Most popular social media sites are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat etc.

College and higher education provides a platform for try new things, getting out from your comfort zone, learning about new things. Social media is one of the successes of Mantra for students. Literacy has changed or modified from being able to read and write, to the ability for individuals to understand information however it may be presented. Individual will need to gather information from various sources, process the information and store the information. Despite the positive impacts of social media has had on education, there are constraints also as we are faced the problems of difference between generations X and Y, Securities and private issues etc.

Literature review

Aleksandrova and Parusheva (2017) in the study entitled, “SOCIAL MEDIA IN HIGHER EDUCATION FROM STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE ” Review three main area of interest, namely using social media in the process of learning, creation and distribution of education-related content. The study examines the usage of and the attitude to various social media applications. Results show that the application of social media is largely initiated by students and not so much by teachers. Facebook groups are preferable social media for communication with colleagues and content sharing.
Owusu Boateng & Afua Amankwaa (2016) this study focused on the impact of social media on student academic life in higher education. After studying the phenomena that are of interest to the study, and transcribing the various responses of the participants, even though some of the responses were not transcribed because they were all communicating same idea, the results reveal that social media is widely used by students of higher institution. At least every student makes use of one social media. Moreover, data revealed that, participants are in support of the idea that social media contribute a significant quota to the development of their academic life.
M. Talaue et al. (2018) Based on the findings, social media becomes an integral part of the student’s full life, took up most of his spare time. The time spend by the respondents on social media stressed that the impact on their academic performance ends up negative. So, the social media, which also has a familiar name as a social networks or web, chooses students as its potential victims. All kinds of computer technologies, mobile phones have significantly expanded the scope of both positive and negative factors of the spiritual and intellectual development of the younger generation. Thus, it can be concluded that social media have a dual impact on student achievement, and it is necessary to approach adolescents’ use of social networks with ultimate responsibility.

Research Methodology

The following methodology was followed for the present study.

Objectives of the study

The present study aims

To study the types of social media platforms used by college students.
To identify the key success factors of social media on higher education.
To find out the adverse effects of social media for college students.
To know the initiatives taken by universities and colleges in India .

Methods of Data Collection

The present study was based on both Primary and Secondary Data.

Primary Data: Primary data will be collected by interacting with students in Chandigarh.
Secondary Data: The secondary data will be collected from published books, journals, research papers, magazines, daily newspaper, internet and official statistical documents.

Research Type

The study is descriptive in the sense that it is carried out with the objective of describing a particular situation of students.
The study is analytical in nature as an attempt has been made to find out the cause rather than result.

Selection of study area: The study area is in city of Chandigarh.

Selection of the sample size: 50

Findings

1. Most preferred social media for academic purpose

No of users who have registered is shown in Table 1 :-

Social Media No Of Users

Facebook 45
Whatsapp 49
Twitter 10
Linkedin 20
Others 15

The rate of participant ownership of an account on social networking sites and academic-networking sites is shown in Figure 1.

Majority of the students use Whatsapp for sharing information. Only 32% have an account with facebook, 15% have an account with Linkedin, and only 7% have one with Twitter.

2. Key success factors of social media in higher education

Fosters communication and collaboration -Blogging represents a growing activity among professionals and students who appreciate blogs for their mix of informal commentary, links to resources and personal touch. SNSs offer people opportunities to share life experiences, vent frustrations, offer reflections on social issues and express themselves in a non-threatening atmosphere. SNSs also enable community involvement in locating expertise, sharing content and collaborating to build content, and allow knowledge workers to extend the range and scope of their professional relationships.
Social networking supports Research and Development (R&D). Researchers create new knowledge while using existing knowledge. Their activities often take place in a social context made up of informal exchanges, brainstorming, idea exploration and cross-fertilisation. Social networking allows researchers to draw from a social network of information and people outside of their traditional “circle of friends”.
Social networking promotes accumulation of social capital. Social capital, resources accumulated through relationships among people, has been linked to positive social outcomes, including: better public health, lower crime rates, and more efficient financial markets. Facebook lowers the barriers to participation so that students who might otherwise shy away from initiating communication or responding to others are encouraged to do so, and, amongst highly-engaged users, strengthens relationships that would otherwise remain weak.
Motivation and Learning Opportunities-believes that classroom blogging has the potential to motivate students, to build online collaboration, and enhance learning opportunities. Literacy in the classroom may be promoted through the use of storytelling and dialogue. This describes SNSs as educational tools because they allow students to develop ideas and invite feedback. Social networking helps teachers promote reflective analysis and the emergence of a learning community that goes beyond the school walls.
Learning Tool in Libraries. Clyde believes that blogging in schools is an information-related activity that requires and develops information skills in students and should therefore be supported by school libraries. Social networking can be used by librarians to raise their visibility, augment or eliminate stereotypical images of librarians, increase Research Article – SACJ No. 49, September 2012 15 research assistance traffic via Facebook message boxes and make library services and librarian assistance more convenient.
Enables Educators to be Better Advisors. Comments that students post on the site may provoke thoughtful conversation. SNSs may provide helpful information to educators and help them deal with certain situations better; one educator knew to go easy on a student when he saw his status change from “in a relationship” to “single”. Students may also feel more comfortable approaching educators who are present and friendly or who interact casually with them on Facebook; it gives students the encouragement they need.
Digital Learning as a Substitution Process. Online learning is a new social process that is beginning to act as a complete substitute for both distance learning and the traditional face to-face class. The believe that face-to-face courses, blended with online learning technologies and methodologies, are generally rated by students as significant improvements over face-to-face (only) classes.

Adverse impact of social media for college students

These social media influence the academic performance of students negatively, because they distract from the students studies.
Using social media require spending money and are wastage of time and by this way it will affect the students’ academic life. Addiction to social media is problematic issue that affects the students’ academic life. Students can play online games and visit these sites just by logging into them.
It can affect the bonding process between the teacher and the student as social media becomes a communication tool rather than face to face conversation and thus the transactional distance is increased.
Also since not all the teachers are experts with ICT they may be lax in updating the course content online which can slow down the learning among students.
It may shift the attention from the primary goal of the learning process to developing ICT skills, which is the secondary goal.

Notable initiatives of use of ICT in education in India include:

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) uses radio, television and internet technologies.
National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning: a concept similar to the open courseware initiative of MIT.it uses internet and television technologies.
Eklavya initiative: Uses internet and television to promote distance learning.
IIT-Kanpur has developed ‘Brihaspati’, an open-source e-learning platform (Virtual classroom).
UGC initiated scheme called “ICT for teaching-learning process” for achieving quality and excellence in higher education.
UGC is encouraging creation of e-content/learning material for the teaching-learning process and management of education in colleges and universities.
UGC INFONET, A network of Indian universities and colleges, by integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the process of teaching, learning and education management.
Premier institute like Calcutta have entered into a strategic alliance with NIIT for providing programmes through virtual classrooms.
Jabalpur University is using mobile learning centre.
Apart from enhancing students’ learning experience, role of ICTs in Capacity building /training of educational personnel has a very large potential. National level institutes can provide a leadership role in enhancing technical and managerial manpower in different disciplines through ICT networks and collaborations.

Conclusion

“Knowledge Is Constantly Being Created, Shared And Received”

For an effective teaching-learning process “Social Media” is one of the successes Mantra for academicians. It is very helpful for future’s growth and development of higher education. Even Teachers have posted content for students to view or read outside the classroom. The curriculum now requires pupils to become “DIGITALLY LITERATE”. ICTs allows for the creation of digital resources like digital libraries where the students, teachers and professionals can access research material and course material from any place at any time. Social Media can allow us to gather information, post our thoughts, create discussions and get a varied response from people all over the world.

References

Aleksandrova and Parusheva.(2017). SOCIAL MEDIA IN HIGHER EDUCATION FROM STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE. International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences & Arts.4, 709-716.
Owusu Boateng & Afua Amankwaa. (2016). the Impact of Social Media on Student Academic Life in Higher Education. Global Journal of HUMAN-SOCIAL SCIENCE: G Linguistics & Education.16(4),1-8.
M. Talaue ,Ali AlSaad et all. (2018). THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED COLLEGE STUDENTS. International Journal of Advanced Information Technology (IJAIT).8(4),27-35.
Dahlstrom, E.; De Boor, T.; Grunwald, P.; Vockley, M. ECAR: National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology.Availableonline:https://library.educause.edu/resources/2011/10/ecar-nationalstudy-of-undergraduate-students-and-information-technology-2011-report (accessed on 30 October 2018).

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