Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Chapter Two
both the early stage research on web technologies represented by blogs and wikis as well as
recent research on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Bradley (2009)
and Grosseck (2008) gave emphasis on recognition of higher education and promoting the
experiences, and pedagogical practices, and has been advocating innovations and changes
to stay current with the changed education market. Ajjan & Hartshorne, 2008; Chen &
Bryer, 2012; Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman, & Witty, 2010 indicated several factors
and investigated in the context of higher education, faculty use and student engagement on
social media and their usage in education. Heiberger & Harper, 2008; Hsu & Ching, 2012;
Junco, Elavsky, & Heiberger, 2012 studied impact of social media and its relation to
academic achievement. Yang and Chang (2011) concluded that university students showed
more positive attitudes toward peer interaction and academic achievement through
interactive blogs. The study by Junco et al. (2011) showed that the use of Twitter
averages (GPA). However, in the other study Junco (2012), the author found that time spent
on Facebook was significantly negatively related to college students‘GPA, and was weakly
Most studies investigated individual social media tools such as MySpace, Facebook, or
Twitter as innovations in education, and this research trend seems reasonable considering
the sweeping generalization of the term social media itself. It indicates that social media
using Facebook and other similar new technologies for supporting teaching and learning
than faculty, who prefer traditional technologies. In his review of social media in higher
education classes, Tess (2013) concluded that most universities have the infrastructure and
support for social media use, but instructors are slow in adopting it for educational purposes.
In addition, while social media may have the potential to promote personal learning
learning (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2011), some caution against the use of social media for
academic purposes due to the ‗‗commercially contoured‘‘ nature of social media services
(Friesen & Lowe, 2011, p. 193) or simply ‗‗an academic form of a ‗moral panic‘ without
Patel (2010) gives us a visual way of seeing the rise of social media. In his article, he draws
and reports that the rise of social media among three target groups (Baby Boomers,
Generation Xers, and Millennials) is dramatic. Not only has the usage of these technologies
grown, Patel notes that the tenants of learning and work productivity also improve
dramatically as we move along the target groups. In fact, this notion of using social media
as a learning tool has carried over to the business world.Baird and Fisher (2005) are credited
with conducting the first major examination of potential uses of social media in education
and identify key advantages that social media platforms provide today's neo-millennial
learners. Their study readily points out that today's students have been raised in the "always
on" world of interactive media, the Internet, and digital messaging technologies and,
therefore, have very different expectations and learning styles than previous generations.
This net-centric generation values their ability to use the Web to create a self-paced,
customized, on-demand learning path that includes multiple forms of interactive, social,
Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010; Kolek & Saunders, 2008; Pasek, More, & Hargittai, 2009
Pasek et al. 2009 examined the relationship between Social media usage and academic
performance, and found there was no relationship between between Social media usage and
grades.Saunders (2008) found that there were no differences in overall grade point average
(GPA) between users and non-users of Facebook. Kirschner and Karpinski (2010), on the
other hand, found that Facebook users reported a lower mean GPA than non-users;
additionally, Facebook users reported studying fewer hours per week than non-users.The
The first appearance of the social networking site was in 1997 and the first site appeared
was SixDegrees.com to establish personal profiles, especially for users of the site with
commentary on the news on the site and the exchange of text messages between users. This
site was followed by the site MySpace.com in 2003, and then Facebook.com appeared this
site allows users to exchange news and information among themselves and to allow friends
to access their own files. The latter site not only affects the scope of the virtual community,
but also affects the reality of the lives of social, political, cultural, and religious clients.
These networking sites used by most people to interact with old and new friends (Asemah
& Edegoh, 2012).The world has changed rapidly with the development of technology; this
has led to use the technology as the best way to explore the vast area of knowledge. The
“Journal of Cases on information technology” has published study (Mensah & Nizam,
2016) based on an objective analysis of the use of social media by college students and
study the positive and negative effects on students’ academic performance and behavior.
The most important findings of the study are that there is a positive and negative impact on
the social networking sites on the academic performance and the behavior of the student, in
that the university student is attracted to social networking sites for many reasons, including
the search for information that can be accessed easily and in an unsafe and unreliable way.
This will reduce their ability to learn and research effectively. In addition, students who are
heavily involved in the activities of networking sites during study have a lack of
concentration and distraction. The study also found that these students lose an important
aspect of real human communication skills as they spend long periods in the unfavorable
and may even be affected negatively, physically and mentally. Academic excellence or
and in employment. Because of this, many people feel less with ways that can enhance
the world and has encouraged many studies on the terms of its promotion. The role of
academic achievement as one of the factors predicting and success in life and also in the
aspect of academic placement in schools for higher institutions as well as the level of
Today, most young people and students have Facebook accounts. The most important
reason is the growing use of Facebook in all aspects of working life, while many researchers
blame the quality of teachers bad, while attributed to the prevalence of the phenomenon of
Facebook madness and became a master of the minds and consciousness. According to
(Oche & Aminu, 2010), it is noted that students are very divided in social media and spend
about 24 hours online. Even in the classroom and lecture theaters, it has been observed that
some students are always busy in chatting and communicating, during lectures and which
should guide these times toward learning, scientific research and innovation along the lines
of students’ attitudes to meeting new online friends and discussing issues of most
importance. Most students suffer from setbacks as a result of social media preoccupation.
As per the study of (Obi, Bulus, Adamu, & Sala’at, 2012), it was observed that the use of
these sites also affects students’ use of English and grammar. Students use short forms of
writing words in their chat rooms; they use the same thing in the classroom.
On the other hand, social networking sites can assist students in developing themselves,
enhancing their knowledge and creativity, leveraging their knowledge exchange, and
increasing their technical skills. Through the optimal use of social networking sites, students
can access as much knowledge and information as possible that enhance their academic
performance and excellence learning (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The most important
conclusions of Hadeel Al-Obaidi’s study at the University of Bahrain (2016) (Harrath &
Alobaidy, 2016) on the students of the Arabian Gulf that there is a positive impact of this
technology at their academic level through the useful and optimal use of social networking
sites. Analysis of the study showed that students are aware of and have a good level of
awareness of using social networks for academic purposes. A large proportion of students
expressed satisfaction with its use as a useful means of collecting data and searching for
useful information. In addition, social networks have helped students to join educational
networks, interact with colleagues and access e-learning resources. A study conducted by
US researchers (Junco, Heiberger, & Loken, 2011) found that adolescents writing SMS
through mobile phone can negatively affects their ability to speak properly, and that
messages cause a delay in speech and learning skills significantly. The researchers
explained that teenagers who use text messages to communicate with their peers
permanently commit many linguistic errors in addition to their reliance on colloquial words,
conducted by Mosa’d Al Sharari about students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it has been
concluded that there is a negative impact on students from the use of Facebook and the most
important effects watching unethical images and video, meet new bad friends and the loss
of study time. More than 78% of male and female students were negatively affected by their
use of social media sites in the 16-20 age group, and 67% of students in Saudi Arabia did
We will first define social media to establish a platform for further understanding its role in
facilitating learning process. Social media could be defined as a group of Internet platforms build
on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 that allow the creation and exchange
of user-generated content (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). According to Bryer and Zavatarro (2011),
social media gather various technologies including blogs, wikis, networking platforms (social
networks), virtual worlds and media sharing tools that serve social purposes with the emphasis on
the authors suggest, social media in the educational context has a wide variety of implementation
and use both in terms of outcomes and media through which it can be facilitated. Additionally,
different social media platforms contributes differently to the learning experience. For example,
wikis being tool for collaboration as opposed to blogs that are more focused on authorship (Bryer
and Zavatarro, 2011). However, each of the social media platforms that can be used in an
educational environment should focus on integrating and contextualizing knowledge in the most
efficient way.
What some scholars emphasize is the contemporary susceptibility of social media with
constructivist learning theory and a learner-centered model. This approach focuses on learning as
a social process in which one constructs the knowledge, as opposed to simply gaining it through
the traditional model of learning (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996). George Siemens (2005) in his
article on a learning theory in the digital age has further explained the existing learning theories in
the context of social media, thus explaining that, as opposed to traditional view, learning does not
happen inside the person. Rather, numerous connections are important to facilitate the process.
Therefore, Siemens has proposed the new learning theory view called connectivism that relies on
• Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
activities.
• Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning
of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a
right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information
Johnston, 2013). In this context, the interactions and collaboration that social media can provide
in the learning process will contribute to knowledge construction through meaningful and smart
connections, contextualization and synthesis of learning problems. It can also contribute to the
more efficient assessment of learning outcomes. Moreover, social media places students into
familiar surroundings and helps advance information literacy and metacognitive development
(King, 2011). The fact that communication through social media often times requires interpretation
learning.
With Facebook exceeding 1.5 billion active users and many other platforms with hundreds of
communication platform in the developed world. Social media is an integral part of both our
professional and our private lives. Additionally, social media likely gained popularity as an
important communication and educational tool within higher education in response to the high
adoption rate among students and its potential role in improving student participation (Draskovic,
Caic and Kustrak, 2013). It could be argued that social media platforms present educational,
ethical, economic, and revolutionary changes in the organization and structure of the higher
education system worldwide (MeabonBartow, 2014). Indeed, the support for using social media
platforms within the higher education environment is currently growing (Ellefsen, 2016; Fasae and
According to Foroughi (2011, p 3), the learning environment could benefit from the application of
Although social media introduced more active ways of learning for students, sometimes it seems
that instructors do not share same level of enthusiasm due to concern that less formal
communication via social media might erode their authority (Draskovic, Caic and Kustrak, 2013).
Furthermore, utilization of social media as a teaching and communication tool requires additional
effort and proper level of computer literacy. Many of today’s students are highly proficient in their
use of digital media (Bodle, 2011). On the other hand, the overall level of digital literacy and
competency of faculty still requires some improvement and more systematic approach to the
To address the problems of student collaboration, engagement and interaction, many higher
education institutions use e-learning platforms known as Course Management Systems (CMS) to
ensure a more satisfactory and meaningful experience. Facilitating student participation is not only
collaborative features that such closed systems enable, is not always efficient in terms of true
collaboration and the sharing that social media facilitates (Bryer and Chen, 2012). In addition,
CMS as a learning tool cannot be entirely considered in the context of social media and its benefits
and-mortar classroom surroundings where students are treated as information receivers and not as
Social media is also important through virtual communication or what can be called a computer-
mediated communication (CMC). Regarding this particular channel, Mazer, Murphy and Simonds
(2007) argue that “the use of CMC in the instructional context could ultimately have a positive
effect on the student-teacher relationship, which can lead to more positive student outcomes.
Additionally, these findings may offer an explanation with regard to communication between
students and their teachers.“ In this particular article, the authors discussed the teacher-disclosure
through Facebook (i.e. the amount of information that an instructor discloses to students) and the
impact on student motivation, learning and classroom climate. They found a positive correlation,
meaning that higher disclosure enhances mentioned factors. This is important because not only it
provides a valuable insight for instructors in terms of whether their students might view such
activity as positive, but it also provides instructors with a certain power of creating their digital
presence on Facebook can therefore not only enhance student motivation and learning, but also
As many studies suggest (e.g. Ellefsen, 2016; Fasae and Adegbilero-Iwari, 2016; Sheldon, 2015;
Draskovic, Caic and Kustrak, 2013; Pestek, Kadic-Maglajlic and Nozica, 2012; Dabbagh and
Kitsantas, 2011), social media has potential as an educational tool that could improve student
motivation and in-class participation levels. However, use and implementation of social media in
the classroom depends on both student and instructor. Unfortunately, instructors typically share
rather conservative attitudes towards using both social media and contemporary technology, and
prefer using more traditional media (Mayberry et al., 2012; Roblyer et al., 2010). This gap between
lecturers and students and their perceptions of social media’s role in higher education (Draskovic,
Caic and Kustrak, 2013) could be bridged with better understanding of student motivation and
Theoretical Background
As mentioned above, starting from cave paintings, people have always used communication.
Communication allows us to form relationships with others, which was defined as “social” level
needs by Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Dessler, 2008). With the advancement of
technology, communication has become easier. Nowadays, people can spread their thoughts and
opinions with a couple of clicks via social networks. “the need to belong is a powerful,
fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation” (Baumeister & Leary,1995, p.497). The
importance of belonging can be understood from the previous statement and it is mentioned that
social networks satisfy the need of belong of individuals (Krasnova et al., 2008; Seidman, 2013).
According to Nadkarni and Hofmann (2012) Facebook is also used for self-presentation while
Peluchette and Karl (2010) further mentioned that some students share inappropriate materials on
Facebook in order to get the attention of their classmates. Teacher use of Facebook is received to
have a positive effect on students where it is argued that it increases their motivation and learning
(Mazer et al., 2007). Likewise, there are a variety of studies that have been carried out to
demonstrate there is a relationship between Facebook use and individual characteristics ranging
from agreeableness to esteem level (Lee, Moore, Park, & Park, 2012; Winter et al., 2014). In
addition, Lee, Ahn, and Kim (2014) stated that extroverts use Facebook (status/photo share and
using like button) more often than introverts. According to Grieve and Kemp (2015), extraversion
and openness are related in the context of Facebook connectedness and Marshall et al. (2015)
mentioned that there are more Facebook shares of social activities amongst extroverts. Photo/video
sharing and album uploads show significant differences among different personalities (Eftekhar,
Theoretical Framework
According to the literature review sections, the research is anchored on two theories: The Uses and
Gratification theory and the Connectivism theory. As was previously mentioned, social media
offers today’s youth a portal for entertainment and communication and it is becoming one of the
This study aims to explore the university students’ perception of using social media on their
academic performance and relate it to their actual academic performance, the results will reveal
whether they have control over their social media consumption or not. Uses and gratification
approach identifies the needs and motives behind online media usage. According to Olise &
Makka, (2013) the theory was developed by Elihu Katz in the early 1970’s Uses and gratification
theory suggests that social media users have power over their media consumption and assume an
active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives and that they are responsible
for choosing media to meet their desires and needs to achieve gratification (Olise & Makka, 2013).
Uses and gratification of the social media approach focuses on why and how people use social
media to satisfy their needs (Larose, Mastro, & Eastin, 2001). This study aims to explore to what
extent do university students using social media in academic related purposes and whether it
Connectivism learning approach emphasizes the role of social media context in how learning
occurs and explains how Internet technologies have created new opportunities for people to learn
and share information across the World Wide Web and among themselves (Siemens, 2005). The
theory was developed by Stephen Downes and George Siemens (Transue, 2013). Connectivism
theory suggests that students are encouraged to seek out information on their own online and
express what they find and that learning may reside in non-human appliances. Connectivism
suggests that the use of technology to help individuals to be connected with knowledge and
information ought to improve the learning process not vice versa (Evans, 2014).