Social media technologies and the first year of university: Connecting

with teachers, connecting with peers.

Kelli McGraw, Shaun Nykvist & Michelle Mukherjee

Queensland University of Technology

kelli.mcgraw@qut.edu.au

Context

Learning and teaching that uses social media technologies is not constrained in higher education institutions to the same extent that it is in school settings…

Schools:• Internet firewalls &

‘blocked’ sites• Inconsistent Wi-Fi access• Restricted access to admin

rights on devices• Conservative policies on

teacher-student networking

Universities:• No ‘blocked’ sites

(replaced by ‘code of conduct’ rules)

• Superior Wi-Fi access• More students using own

devices• Teacher-student

networking supported by policy (to an extent)

Aims

We are exploring the use of personal mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets) and social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) in a blended learning environment, with an emphasis on QUT student first year experience.

More specifically we have sought to:● Identify how students in the Faculty of Education currently use

personal mobile devices and social media ● Identify the extent to which lecturers are using personal mobile

devices and social media within a blended learning environment (with an emphasis on units of work taught in the first year)

● Explore the relationship between tertiary students’ use of mobile devices and social media and how this is supported through current teaching and learning practices

‘Social Media Technologies’ (SMT)

In order to capture the complex relationship between tools and devices, the term ‘social media technologies’ is used to describe:

• the range of social networks available for use, as well as• the devices used to access these networks via

smartphone and tablet ‘apps’ and browser extensions.

LiteratureThis study was interested in determining whether the potential for student use of social media technologies (SMTs) reported in the literature was taking place in the researchers’ institution and how this contrasted with the patterns of usage from the academic staff teaching these first year students.

• Virtual environments allow all students to engage in peer to peer social and learning centred activities (Menzies & Nelson, 2012)

• Facebook has been identified as a means through which students can express opinion; social media found to create links between international and local students (McCarthy, 2010)

• Facebook could create a more comfortable classroom climate and increase learners’ motivational levels (Goertler, 2009)

• Facebook can also expand learning beyond a traditional classroom into informal learning settings (Bull et al., 2008; Yang, Wang, Woo, & Quek, 2011).

What about other social media platforms?

Can we get a bigger sample size please?

The data (so far)

Survey data from first-year students in the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology from 2012 (N=538), 2013 (N=537) and 2014 (N=397) are used to examine students’ experience and perceptions.

Survey data from academics that teach first-year students collected in the third year of the study (2014) to examine the ways that academics use and perceive these technologies.

Sample: • Response rate = over 80% for each of the years. • Over 70% of respondents in each of the surveys were

female (in line with enrolments).• Age profile of first year Faculty of Education student

respondents = majority aged 15-22 (62% in the 18 – 22 years age range and 22% in the 15 – 17 years age range).

Some key findings (1)

The data from the student survey indicates that there was a strong use of social media tools by the students in each of the years…

SMT Use (‘regularly’ or ‘almost always’)*

Facebook 84% in 2012; 87% in 2013; 86% in 2014 (4-6% ‘never’)

Instagram 54% in 2013; 50% in 2014 (~1/3 = ‘never’)

Tumblr 16% in 2013; 18% in 2014 (~2/3 = ‘never’)

Twitter 8% in 2012; 11% in 2013; 6% in 2014 (~3/4 = ‘never’)

Snapchat 13% in 2013; 45% in 2014

vs. Email 89% in 2012; 88% in 2013; 91 in 2014

*4 point Likert scale = ‘never’ / ‘occasionally’ / ‘regularly’ / ‘almost always’

Some key findings (2)

Student survey data also indicates a lack of use/familiarity with the types of online communication tools more conventionally used in university course work…

Communication via…

Use (‘regularly’ or ‘almost always’)

YouTube (posting) 7% in 2012; 4% in 2013; 4% in 2014 (69-86% ‘never’)

Online publishing 14% in 2012; 10% in 2013; 11% in 2014 (69-74% ‘never’)

Discussion forums 7% in 2012; 9% in 2013; 5% in 2014 (71-78% ‘never’)

Facetime 10% in 2013; 13% in 2014 (58-67% ‘never’)

Skype video chat 20% in 2012; 24% in 2013; 18% in 2014 (33-39% ‘never’)

Some key findings (3)Device ownership Staff (2014, n=6) Students

Laptop 100% 93% in 2012; 92% in 2013; 94% in 2014

iPhone 100% 47% in 2012; 59% in 2013; 80% in 2014

iPad 83% 17% in 2012; 27% in 2013; 57% in 2014

Android smart phone 33% 23% in 2012; 28% in 2013; 35% in 2014

Android tablet 33% 3% in 2012; 7% in 2013; 10% in 2014

vs. desktop PC 83% 45% in 2012; 43% in 2013; 63% in 2014

Cloud storage Staff (2014, n=6) Students*

Dropbox 100% 39% in 2013; 36% in 2014

Google Drive 33% 12% in 2013; 22% in 2014

iCloud (Apple) 67% 66% in 2013; 71% in 2014

Sky Drive (Microsoft) 17% 10% in 2013; 18% in 2014

*Skipped Q: n=252 in 2013; n=151 in 2014

Food for thought…Please indicate below, your experiences surrounding the use of ICT by your teachers in your school education.

Answer Options Never Occasionally Regularly Almost AlwaysResponse

Count

My teachers used portable digital devices (e.g. ipad, tablets, smart phones) in the classroom

265 150 56 30 501

My teachers used a data projector 21 132 229 120 502

My teachers used an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) for classroom activities other then projecting work

234 141 87 41 503

My teachers used digital presentations (e.g. PowerPoint) in the classroom

46 121 202 133 502

My teachers communicated with students and parents via email

161 138 125 80 504

My teacher shared electronic documents with students 131 141 143 88 503

My teacher allowed students to submit project work and assessment electronically

171 159 95 78 503

My teacher used a wiki with the class 359 104 29 9 501

My teacher encouraged blogs with the class 397 82 18 5 502

My teacher encouraged international collaboration with other students

348 103 39 11 501

My teacher used online videos and resources in the classroom

85 180 159 78 502

2013 survey responses

Some student commentsWhen asked: ‘Do you think there is a place for mobile devices such as phones, tablets and laptops in the classroom?’…

• I don't think students should be using mobiles but other tech is fine• I think it's good for children to learn on laptops and tablets but not every lesson,

definatly no phones!• Being a student myself I feel tablets, laptops, mobile phones can be a distraction as

they offer internet services, access to games etc.• Only to a certain extent, for learning purposes only, not for socialising• It enables easy access to resources• It will get the students more engaged in learning• Phones, tablets and laptops allow students to feel more independent about there

education• Yes, because there are currently already schools using tablets in classrooms• I don't think that students have the capacity to separate work and play from an

object that can do both• This is a yes and no answer. It depends on the age group of the students. I would

say yes there is a place for them amongst mature aged students such as in Tafe or Uni but definitely not in Primary or Secondary education. It is far too distracting for young students.

Discussion

• Facebook, email & laptops FTW! Majority of students and staff use all of these.

• Contrary to predictions that younger students are moving away from Facebook, other platforms are not overwhelmingly being taken up.

• However…problematic to assume that students will use Facebook for learning purposes!

• Device ownership & cloud storage use is higher in the staff cohort, but student use is on the rise (enabling BYOD strategies with fewer equity concerns?).

• However…students and staff present with different digital literacies and cultural practices. Social media vs. academic usage.

• Successful use of SMTs for learning is not yet linked to assessment, a key driver of student and staff behaviour (Selwyn, 2014).

• Capacity for SMTs to encourage ‘social learning’ is not largely recognised by first-year students in our cohort.