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Social Media in Higher Education: A Review of Their Uses, Benefits and Limitations

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Technology in Education. Innovations for Online Teaching and Learning (ICTE 2020)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1302))

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Abstract

As a prevalent type of internet technology for social interaction and collaboration, social media have been increasingly used for educational purposes. This paper presents a review of the research work on their uses, benefits and limitations for teaching and learning in higher education contexts. It covers a total of 77 articles published from 2010 to 2019 which were collected from Scopus and Google Scholar. The uses of social media revolved around two major areas—as a learning management system and a means to enhance students’ engagement. The benefits of using social media covered students’ satisfying experience in collaborative learning, engagement in learning activities, real-time communication, and knowledge sharing, as well as communities of practice; and such benefits have been shown to have a relationship with the improvement of learning outcomes. The limitations covered concerns about blurring boundaries between public and private life and between teachers and students; the effectiveness for the construction of knowledge; a lack of pedagogical and technical skills; and compatibility with instructional design. The studies also reveal the changing role of teachers and their need to innovate teaching practices with effectively utilised features of social media. Finally, the results suggest future work to be done for promoting the educational use of social media and enhancing their effectiveness, such as support from institutional policies on technology-enhanced learning and the promotion of teaching innovations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Open University of Hong Kong, Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong

    Kam Cheong Li & Billy Tak-Ming Wong

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  1. Kam Cheong Li
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  2. Billy Tak-Ming Wong
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Correspondence to Billy Tak-Ming Wong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Lap-Kei Lee

  2. University of Macau, Macau, China

    Leong Hou U

  3. The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Fu Lee Wang

  4. The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Simon K. S. Cheung

  5. The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Oliver Au

  6. The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Kam Cheong Li

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Li, K.C., Wong, B.TM. (2020). Social Media in Higher Education: A Review of Their Uses, Benefits and Limitations. In: Lee, LK., U, L.H., Wang, F.L., Cheung, S.K.S., Au, O., Li, K.C. (eds) Technology in Education. Innovations for Online Teaching and Learning. ICTE 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1302. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4594-2_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4594-2_21

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-33-4593-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-33-4594-2

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