A User Readiness Model of Social Media for Learning among Polytechnic Students in Nigeria

The adoption of Internet resources for learning continues to grow in the world today. Despite the abundant benefit of utilizing social media due to the growth of web 2.0, an internet resource for communication and interaction, its use has not been fully embraced as a teaching tool in Nigeria. Social media is becoming a prominent communication tool and found to be facilitating teaching and learning activities among students. However, the user readiness of social media in learning by the students has been challenging. Despite the wide acceptance of social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, e.t.c.) amongst Nigerian polytechnic students, they do not utilize it for academic pursuit. This study examined the Use of Social Media among students in Nigerian Polytechnics. The main objective of this study is to find out the user readiness’ factors that influence the use of social media by the students in Nigerian Polytechnic. The evaluation results show that social media is an indispensable Internet platform among Nigerian Polytechnic students

Exploring the Relationship Between Online Discourse and Commitment in Twitter Professional Learning Communities

Educators show great interest in participating in social-media communities, such as Twitter, to support their professional development and learning. The majority of the research into Twitter-based professional learning communities has investigated why educators choose to use Twitter for professional development and learning and what they actually do in these communities. However, few studies have examined why certain community members remain committed and others gradually drop out. To fill this gap in the research, this study investigated how some key features of online discourse influenced the continued participation of the members of a Twitter-based professional learning community. More than 600,000 tweets generated over six years under the hashtag #edchat were gathered. Online discourse was deconstructed to the cognitive dimension, the interactive dimension, and the social dimension. Text-mining methods were then used to automatically identify these dimensions in the tweets. Finally, survival analysis was used to quantify the influences of these dimensions on users’ commitment time to the Twitter community. The implications of the results and findings are then discussed

Educators\u27 Perceptions of Twitter for Educational Technology Professional Development: A Uses and Gratifications Expectancy Model

Throughout the years, the practice of professional development amongst educators has evolved to adapt to the needs of a changing society and a shift to online professional development (OPD) opportunities has become popular for meeting the needs of educators. As a result, social media platforms, like Twitter, have grown in popularity as outlets for OPD; however, little research has been conducted to evaluate why educators are seeking professional development opportunities through social media platforms. This exploratory study proposed to examine how educators\u27 uses and gratifications expectancy of Twitter for professional development influences their perceived e-learning experience. In addition, it sought to investigate the demographics of participants who were seeking educational technology knowledge through Twitter. Based on a review of literature, a uses and gratifications approach was the proposed theoretical model for evaluating how and why educators\u27 perceived e-learning experience was affected by four uses and gratification expectancy constructs. The participants included any educators who utilized the #edtechchat hashtags on Twitter, which is devoted to the sharing of educational technology knowledge, as well as weekly, organized Twitter chats on topics related to educational technology. The data was collected through a Web-based survey based on an adapted version of Mondi, Woods, and Rafi (2008) Uses and Gratification Expectancy Questionnaire, where the researchers examined how and why students\u27 uses and gratification expectancy (UGE) for e-learning resources influenced their perceived e-learning experience. The data was analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient and a stepwise multiple regression to discover which UGE constructs predicted educators\u27 perceived e-learning experience. All four UGE constructs showed significant effects on perceived e-learning experience; however, the stepwise regression results showed cognitive uses and gratifications expectancy to be the only significant predictor of perceived e-learning experience. The findings of this research supports previous research into uses and gratifications of Internet-based tools and may help Twitter chat moderators plan their efforts for coordinating effective professional development experiences

Deer in the headlights: Towards an understanding of how journalism students engage with complex academic research methods modules

Journalism is at a crossroad. The rise of populist governments with accusations of fake news against what has always been considered to be Fourth Estate journalism means journalists face significant challenges to produce compelling, truthful, and accurate news at a time when reality is altered by those who do not agree with what journalists say. The current journalistic climate means journalists must move beyond the lexical meanings of what it means to be a journalist to a more critical one where they have to verify and analyse the news for the audience. One of the key ways in which journalists can respond to significant challenges to practice is by becoming more critically aware practitioners. A significant step in that direction occurs in journalism programmes at the university level where students are required to produce a critically researched dissertation as part of their conditions of earning a degree. However, with journalism being a traditionally vocational programme, challenges arise because students have difficulties drawing correlations between academic research and journalism practice. Our research aims to understand how students engage with academic research method modules. Based on our findings, we argue that students can use interactive learning methods and online resources to help engage with more complex and unfamiliar content

What advice is given to newly qualified doctors on Twitter? An analysis of #TipsForNewDocs tweets

Context: Twitter is a social media platform on which users post very brief messages that can be rapidly communicated across wide geographical areas and audiences. Many doctors use Twitter for personal as well as professional communications and networking. The #TipsForNewDocs hashtag is used on Twitter to give advice to newly qualified doctors as they commence their careers. This study explores the nature and focus of such advice. Methods: An analysis of Twitter activity containing the #TipsForNewDocs hashtag was performed using Symplur health care analytics software. Tweets sent during a peak 48‐hour period in 2016 (immediately preceding the first day of work for newly qualified UK doctors) were studied. The geographical locations and professional backgrounds of participants were categorised and the content of tweets was subjected to thematic analysis. During 1 and 2 August 2016, 661 unique #TipsForNewDocs tweets were posted. A total of 621 (94.0%) were posted by people in the UK; 522 (79.0%) were posted by doctors, and the remainder by allied health care professionals and patients. Results: The majority of included tweets focused on aspects of professional development, improving personal or professional knowledge, particularly tacit knowledge, and developing ‘know‐how’. These aspects of professional knowledge have previously been described as fundamental to professional education and training. However, a significant subset of tweets focused on accelerating socialisation into the profession, an essential step in joining a professional community. The tweets relating to socialisation were often humorous and colloquial in nature. Conclusions: Despite their brief and often jocular nature, #TipsForNewDocs tweets provided meaningful advice for newcomers to the profession, often focusing on tacit learning and professional socialisation. Hashtag‐driven enquiries can be a valuable and time‐efficient way of accessing and sharing tacitly held knowledge. Social media content analysis can provide valuable insights into key educational issues

The use of micro-blogging for teacher professional development support and personalized professional learning

The purpose of this qualitative study was to look at how teachers use micro-blogging, in this case Twitter (www.twitter.com), for their own personalized professional learning and how effective Twitter is as a professional development (PD) tool. In order to measure the effectiveness of the tool, the researcher first gleaned nine essential characteristics of effective PD from the literature. This list was validated by experts in the PD community. The significance of this study was to reveal how participants actually used Twitter for PD, what their perspectives on the tool were, and how effective their experiences were with Twitter as a PD tool. Results of this study can be used to improve current practice, and provide a low cost, accessible, and available mechanism to foster an on-going, learner-centered, approach to PD, thus allowing teachers to become more involved in their own professional growth. For the 4 participants in this study, Twitter use for PD and its effectiveness varied greatly. The effectiveness of the tool depended on the participant’s fluency with the technology and attitude towards social media. For the most fluent participant, Twitter met most of the requirements for effectiveness; however, Twitter use did not automatically provide a mechanism for reflection or self-assessment; nor did Twitter use provide an evaluation of the experience, both requirements of effective PD. With added evaluation and self-assessment processes, and with a fluent practitioner, Twitter does have the potential to be a very effective PD tool with its low cost, accessibility, and availability

Prevention Strategies for HIV in Youth: a Concept Analysis

Purpose: To provide nurse educators how to address the problem of HIV/AIDS in the youth through the concept of prevention strategiesMethods: Review articles published during 2005 until 2014 that focused on HIV/AIDS prevention strategies. The databases used in this study were EBSCO, Medline, CINAHL, PubMed.Result: HIV knowledge is an important factor influencing HIV risk perceptions and risk behaviors especially among youth.The concept of prevention strategies designed and tested to address risk behavior on young people at every step along their developmental path. Strategies are very important ways for preventing HIV/AIDS, especially in youth. Conclusion: The attributes that characterize the concept of strategies are: plan, process, studying different ways, focusing on the greatest need, and analyzing and learning. Although strategies are used in prevention, they are not maximized in Indonesia. The best strategies for the different age groups have not yet been determined. With use of the best strategies, nurse educator can teach nursing students how best to reach youth and other people in the community to prevent HIV

Education All A\u27Twitter: Twitter\u27s Role in Educational Technology

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine whether current uses of Twitter by educators correlate with the literature on the uses and advantages of using Twitter in education through an examination of United States educators and West Virginia educators. Data was obtained from responses to the online survey, Education All A’Twitter: Twitter’s Role in Educational Technology, content analysis of public Twitter feeds, and semi-structured interviews that were sorted, coded, organized, and analyzed to identify emergent themes. The study had a population that included 97 survey responses, 78 Twitter feeds, and 8 semi-structured interviews. There were survey respondents from West Virginia and 26 other states in the United States, as well as international respondents. The study determined to what extent West Virginia and United States educators used Twitter for instructional strategies, professional development, and personal learning networks, as well as identified barriers and challenges educators face when attempting to employ the use of Twitter educationally. In addition, there were four ancillary findings that emerged through the study. As triangulation of the data supported the current literature, this study has several implications for current educators, policymakers, and researchers

L.E.A.P. for occupational therapy: learning to engage in advocacy participation

Advocacy is a foundational skill that contributes to professional development and enhances the mission of occupational therapy (McKinnon, 2015; Jacobs, 2012). Despite the requirement of the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) for advocacy education, students report minimal understanding of advocacy, lack of understanding to the connection to practice, and minimal tools and resources to support advocacy and political action strategies during school (Lyons et al., 2015; Restall & Ripat, 2008). Without advocacy education for students, there will be less involvement in the promotion of the occupational therapy thus decreasing strength and expansion of services for the profession and the populations we serve and making it a focus of this doctoral project. L.E.A.P. or Learning to Engage in Advocacy Participation, is a theory and evidence-based on-line learning educational platform designed to address the gap in knowledge and skills for advocacy participation for occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students. The self-guided interactive platform is accessible and available free-of-charge at www.OTadvocacy.com. L.E.A.P. describes the distinct value of advocacy participation. Unique characteristics of the platform include the choice of learning materials which provides participants the opportunity to access resources to support their own learning styles and an opportunity to apply concepts to participant’s interest at the end of each module, achieving a greater connection between new knowledge and one’s own context. The content and construct of the three modules L.E.A.P. are based on recommendations following a thorough literature review which identified meaningful frameworks that guide adult learners, elicit communication related to advocacy, and support constructs of online education. These theories include: Adult Learning Theory (Knowles et al., 2011), Situational Theory of Publics (Grunig, 1997), and the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison et al., 2010). Understanding the value of advocacy, knowledge of priorities and skill development for advocacy in occupational therapy contributes to disseminating the distinct value of occupational therapy to stakeholders. Therefore, advocacy has significant value on strengthening the occupational therapy profession and influencing change at the national and international levels and L.E.A.P. provides an opportunity to enhance these skills for students and clinicians

Relationships Among Radiologic Science Educators\u27 Years of Teaching Experience, Technological Self-Efficacy, and Digital Technology Use in the Classroom

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to examine the relationships among radiologic science educators’ years of teaching experience, technological self-efficacy, and digital technology use in the classroom. The underuse of technology in higher education is an issue. Students use technology every day and radiologic science students, in particular, are expected to use it proficiently in training and practice. It is important that these students are exposed in the classroom, as technologies beneficial to learning are available. It is also important to determine the role of years of teaching experience in educators’ beliefs about their abilities to use technology and their actual use of it in the classroom. To investigate this issue, a sample of 300 radiologic science educators was surveyed. Seventy-nine educators responded to a sociodemographic questionnaire, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, and questions from the Roney Technology Use Scale. Data were collected and analyzed for correlations. There was no significant relationship between years of teaching experience and technological self-efficacy (r(77) = .16, p = .15) or between years of teaching experience and digital technology use in the classroom (r(77) = .20, p = .08). The relationships were, however, slightly positive, suggesting that educators with teaching experience have moderate beliefs in their abilities to use technology and moderate levels of technology use in the classroom. Suggestions for future research include study of the role of age as it relates to teaching experience, didactic versus clinical instructors, and barriers that affect radiologic science educators’ technology use