Abstract
Social media has nowadays become an important driver for sharing information, knowledge, and marketing promotion, used by enterprises and universities around the world. After COVID-19 crisis businesses and organizations have accelerated procedures for the implementation of new technologies. This research aims to shed light and to add to the existing literature in regard to the Greek case and the implementation of social media in Higher education. This study investigates Greek Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) students’ actual use of social media for educational purposes. The research questions are the following: What is the higher education students’ use of social networks for educational purposes in the classroom? How can universities integrate social media as an important tool to ameliorate their curriculum and knowledge sharing? A structured questionnaire was sent to a convenient sample of forty-eight students from Greek universities and a focus group with three students from a Greek university was created to support this research. This consists a pilot study research which is part of a broader study and preliminary results illustrate that at the moment there is little or no use of social networks for educational and creative purposes in Greek HEIs, although students believe that media and technology in general can help the education process. Understanding why and how social media can be integrated in the classroom might become a key competitive advantage for universities in the future. When using social networks for educational purposes and also for sharing information and promotion, universities can significantly improve their research opportunities, profit, academic and organizational arrangement.
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1 Introduction and Background of Research
Everyone involved in school can benefit from the use of communication technology and social media in the educational process, including students and teachers [1]. Social media has an important role in our everyday lives [2], impacting especially the lives of emerging adults, as they spend approximately six (6) hours per day using social media and often explore multiple platforms simultaneously [3].
There are many and different definitions of social media. In this article I use the term to describe the network tools that can be used by students and academics to consume, produce and share educational content. Thus, social media may include large platforms such as Facebook, Skype, WeChat, Google drive, You Tube, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp as well as individual web and blog sites.
1.1 Should We Promote Social Media in HEIs?
At this point we will examine how the literature describes some of the the positive and negative aspects of using social media in the classroom. Greenhow and Galvin explain how social media can improve online education by [4]: (a) widening the context for learning beyond the class to larger networked publics; (b) introducing a hybridization of expertize (e.g. past learners, practicing professionals); (c) mixing different types of information and resources; and (d) re-shaping instructors’ roles as facilitators [4]. The researchers propose strategies for educators concerning social media, starting with knowing students through personal profiles [5].
Then students’ collaborative digital content creation can promote quality interaction [4]. Students could for example be encouraged to work together to create a blog, website, video, video channel or other account hosted through a social media platform as YouTube and Twitter. Office 365 and Google Apps can facilitate students accessing and working together synchronously and asynchronously on various types of digital products [4].
With Facebook fan pages, launched in November 2007, many universities created official Facebook presence for their university [6]. As Reuben explains, these pages, similar to personal profiles, can be used by universities, and include wall posts, discussion boards, photos, videos, and many other applications [6]. Such pages can also give the opportunity to universities to communicate with their ‘supporters’ (people who have liked the page) through direct and targeted messages [6].
It is also that with YouTube we can watch and share videos that everyday people around the world can easily upload and share. Universities can share easily their original videos via this platform to a wide audience, without costs. Students and teachers can also be inspired and even use this tool for academic purposes, to create content and share information [6].
The online photo site Flickr can be also used to upload photos of the university with students, alumni, faculty and staff. Then blogs can be a great tool, with academics and students as authors and interactions via posts and comments by the readers. Twitter can be a very important tool to use during courses as well, exchanging instant short messages, posing questions or comments, during the course, always supervised in the correct way by the academic delivering the course.
With the increased focus on technology in education and business, this will help students build skills that will aid them throughout their lives. Additionally, social media can help a student overcome any kind of isolation [7]. Social networking sites can also help students develop leadership skills as they focus on building online communities with common interests or activities.
In addition, social media can be effective for research, because it encourages students to be creative while also making it easier to access relevant materials and engage in various activities to learn more about a subject [8].
Rustan explains how using social media to collaborate on group projects and discuss assignments seems to be a great idea [8]. For the researcher students become more engaged in the learning process when using suitable communication technologies. It is possible to create cooperative spaces with social media, such as social networks, for students to communicate with professors and other students [8]. Students’ abilities to compose texts, research subjects, present viewpoints, and engage in debates can all be improved by leveraging social media platforms [8].
Nevertheless, there are some negative effects of social media that higher educational institutions and academics should take into consideration. Raut and Patil provides some effects of social media that can negatively impact learning, when students check social media networks at least once during a 15 min study period [7]. Furthermore, the popularity of social media, and the speed at which information is published, has created a lax attitude towards proper spelling and grammar, which reduces a student’s ability to effectively write without relying on a computer’s spell check feature [7].
Additionally, there are students who rely on the accessibility of information on social media and the web to provide answers [7]. Students and teenagers tend to believe whatever they read in social media, without really examining the information. This might cause serious problems to the students and the society as a total. It is also that most students don’t constantly evaluate the content they’re publishing online, which can bring about negative consequences. Especially COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of developing critical thinking skills in students as a fact-finding strategy to address the rising popularity of misinformation and disinformation found on social media sites [11]. Kefalaki and Karanicolas highlights the importance of building a capacity to recognise fake news while seeking out reliable and valid information sources, exploring strategies to address fake news by international and local organizations [11].
Then, the more time students spend on social sites, the less time they spend socializing in person [7]. Students who spend a great deal of time on social networking are less able to effectively communicate in person. This effect has serious consequences to the students in their later life as well [7].
At the same time educators should consider the ethical dimensions of integrating social media into education, as they blur boundaries between public and private life (data privacy) [4]. To avoid problems, it is important that instructors talk openly with students about the potentials and pitfalls of integrating social media and establish shared expectations and ground rules [4].
Even if numerous universities around the world already use social media such as Facebook, my space, twitter, YouTube and some form of blogs on their site, there are some concerns like, (a) the loss of control, when there might be comments allowing two-way dialog that can lead to such a fear, (b) time commitment, as workload is already something academics and many students have to deal with [6]. (c) information overload, because of the many different platforms and forms to use them should also be taken into consideration, and (d) the fact that anyone can create an official account for your university calls universities to reserve their names and create their own space themselves [6].
1.2 The Use of Social Media in HEIs and the Case of Greek Universities
Colleges and universities start to embrace social media realizing their potential power [6]. A plethora of studies indicate the benefits of integrating social media into educational settings [4, 12], and especially the benefits of teaching with specific social media such as Facebook [5, 13, 14], Twitter [15, 16] or WhatsApp [1].
Social media in combination with communication technology can improve the quality of learning, and that everybody in university (academics, stuff, and students) can benefit [8]. Relevant social media groups can improve the competencies of academics’ through participation in a variety of academic activities [9, 10]. Additionally, numerous research activities, like conferences, seminars, symposiums, workshops, courses, can become more effective through the use of communication technology [8].
2 Methodological Approach
The case study of Greek Universities aimed to investigate the use of social media after COVID-19 and to add to the exciting literature. We used bibliographical research, a structured questionnaire sent to a convenient sample of students from various universities in Greece, with the help of Microsoft forms and also questionnaires distributed one by one by the researcher to initiate the pilot research. Forty-eight (48) students in total filled out the questionnaire from 5 to 15 July 2023. The questionnaire was given and filled in Greek.
The questionnaire consisted of eleven (11) questions, including a first question that they agree to complete it and another specifying their sex (masculine, feminine, and other). Then, there were seven (7) multiple choice questions and two open questions that students could choose to reply or not.
We also held a focus group of three students. Fruitful discussion gave us the opportunity to better understand the students’ thoughts on the use of social media in the classroom. The questionnaire was inspired by the study of Figueras-Maz et al. [17] that demonstrated the little use of social networks for educational and creative purposes in Spanish universities.
3 Results
Results of the pilot study showed that most of the students (40%) already use their mobile phones more than five (5) hours per day. At the question “which is the most often use of your phone, tablet or/and computer”, most of the students (27%) replied to communicate and visit social media. Of course, it is important to say that a significant number of students (18%) use this technology for education purposes as well. At the question “which technological means you use in the classroom”, most of the students replied that they use the computer (41%) and their mobile phones (31%). At the question “why you use electronic devices in the classroom”, most of the students (26%) claimed to visit the courses online platform and generally consult material on the internet that has to do with their course to find information. At the question “what technology tools you recommend to improve your courses”, most of the students answered Youtube (29%), Google drive (16%) and LinkedIn (15%). At the question “Do you believe your teachers would be open to use social media in the classroom”, most of the students (37%) gave a negative answer and some of the students (33%) replied that they didn’t know.
At the open and not compulsory to answer question, ‘Why do you believe that your teachers would be/ or would be not open to use social media in the classroom?’, I received twenty-nine (29) responses. Most of the students who answered this question (51.7%), agreed to the importance of using social media in the classroom, with the guidance of their teacher, as this can ameliorate the course and can help knowledge sharing. One student cited “teachers should use social media as it is now a part of our daily life. Integrating it carefully and with safely into teaching would potentially make this process more engaging, enjoyable and creative, using tools that students are already familiar with’’. Then some students (34.5%) explained that teachers of a certain age do not know how to use social media and this is why they do not wish to spend time on organizing the course in such a way. I cite what one student said: “Due to the age gap, teachers feel uncomfortable with the use of social media”. Two (2) of the students answered that using social media totally depends on the teacher's temperament, his/her age, and his/her familiarity with new media as well as his/her creativity, i.e. how the educator perceive can utilize social media beyond their defined and trivial use.
The results of the study showed that students appreciate that the use of social media in the classroom can help the course become better. Nevertheless, students believe that most academics are not willing to organize the course in such a way, due to the age gap and the fact that this would demand from them a lot of time and energy (focus group research). Additionally, students believe that their teachers are afraid to use social media in the classroom because of possible cases of coping or sharing themes during the exams. This is a reason why teachers do not want to integrate this type of technology in their course (focus group research). Then, there where answers of students (24.13%) explaining that educators are not willing to use social media because they are afraid of cases of exam subject’s dissemination and/or copy in general. Two students consider that academics suppose that if they use social media in the classroom students will have too many distractions and they will not be attentive to the course. At the question which social media platforms students use more often, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram come first with a 23%, a 22 and a 19% respectively. The gender of the students that answered the questionnaire was 63% female and 37% male students. The last open and free to answer question requested students if they would like to mention something related to the use of social media (suggestion, complaint, idea). Students sited that they would be open to the use of social media in the classroom as, new media can improve interactivity and communication with students and provide supplementary material especially through YouTube, Google drive, Viper and Facebook. Nevertheless, there were also answers explaining that educators should be attentive as too much exposure to social media is not good. A respondent mentioned: “Monitoring the process is important for students as there is exposure to potentially large reproduction of posts without consent”.
4 Discussion and Conclusion
Our research showed that university students agree to the importance of using social media in the classroom, with the guidance of their teacher, as this can ameliorate the course and help knowledge sharing. YouTube, Face book and Instagram are for the students the most popular platforms of social media that educators could also use in the classroom.
The age gap seems for the students’ one important reason that educators do not propose social media in the classroom, as they feel uncomfortable with the use of social media. Subject’s dissemination and/or copy in general is another factor mentioned by the students that retains academics from using social media in the classroom.
To overcome the negative effects of using social media without control, parents are the first to moderate their children’s’ access to social media by reducing the amount of time they spent on social network sites [7]. Then, the guidance of educators when using social media in the classroom can help students avoid negative effects.
It is important to remember that platforms based on social media place the control of learning into the hands of learners themselves, not to forget that young people are motivated to learn more from each other than from adults [7]. Two key features for supporting instructors [18] that can also inspire the Greek case, follow: (1) analyze the teaching scenario and suggest the best-match class of social media from an instructional design perspective, and (2) provide guidance on the suggested technology’s usage for instructional purposes [18] can support instructors’ use of social media in the classroom.
Last but not least, three strategies to enrich interactions in remote learning environments in higher education [4], can also inspire the Greek case: (a) Establish social media as an informal backchannel or as a means for alternate student-driven communication tied to the course; (b) Actively encourage and model using social media for relationship-building tied to the university course and university, (c) Incorporate what students share in their social media into the classroom as this shows that the educator value each student.
It should be taken into account that information and communication technologies are well adopted in higher education and their further implementation can take place [19] as long as we organize and take into consideration factors as the ones we have noticed in this paper. The use of social media for educational purposes and also for sharing information and promotion can help universities improve their research opportunities, profit, academic and organizational arrangement. Further research is needed to provide specific proposals and methods for universities to become both successful ‘enterprises’ to cover their expenses and accomplish their educational purpose.
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The publication of this research work was fully funded from the University of West Attica, Greece.
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Kefalaki, M. (2024). The Use of Social Media in Higher Education. The Case of Greek Universities. In: Kavoura, A., Borges-Tiago, T., Tiago, F. (eds) Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism. ICSIMAT 2023. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51038-0_34
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