Social Networks as Learning Environments for Higher Education

Learning is considered as a social activity, a student does not learn only of the teacher and the textbook or only in the classroom, learn also from many other agents related to the media, peers and society in general. And since the explosion of the Internet, the information is within the reach of everyone, is there where the main area of opportunity in new technologies applied to education, as well as taking advantage of recent socialization trends that can be leveraged to improve not only informing of their daily practices, but rather as a tool that explore different branches of education research. One can foresee the future of higher education as a social learning environment, open and collaborative, where people construct knowledge in interaction with others, in a comprehensive manner. The mobility and ubiquity that provide mobile devices enable the connection from anywhere and at any time. In modern educational environments can be expected to facilitate mobile devices in the classroom expansion in digital environments, so that students and teachers can build the teaching-learning process collectively, this partial derivative results in the development of draft research approved by the CONADI in “Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia”, "Social Networks: A teaching strategy in learning environments in higher education.

Social Networks as Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments for Second Language Teaching in Higher Education

In the post-pandemic era, the Digital 2023 Report highlights a rapid expansion in the global user base of social networking sites (SNSs). Despite the lack of formal integration of SNSs in second language (L2) education, which could enhance real-time creation, collaboration, and communication in the target language and culture, L2 learners still actively use these technologies outside of educational settings. This exploratory study utilizes a descriptive survey research design with a purposefully selected sample of 239 undergraduate and graduate students in their first and second years of language studies. These students pursue commonly taught languages, such as Spanish, as well as less commonly taught ones, such as Arabic, Persian, Slavic (Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Russian, and Polish), Turkic (Turkish and Uyghur), and Uralic (Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian), in addition to others, such as Mongolian. The diverse range of languages enables a thorough investigation of the use of SNSs among college-level L2 learners in the United States, including both widely taught and less commonly taught languages. The findings of this study show that the target age group exhibits distinct preferences in their choice of social platforms for personal use compared to those used in L2 classrooms. Furthermore, the outcomes underscore the significant impact of age, gender, and the method of course delivery on the usage patterns of social networking sites

Radio 2.0 in Higher Education Communities: An approximation of Aveiro University Members perceptions

The web 2.0 raises new challenges and opportunities in many different fields of activity, namely because it introduces different approaches and possibilities to the relationship among participants both at institutional and individual levels. On the Higher Education context many changes are occurring due to the introduction of new learning paradigms, many of them take advantage of web 2.0 technologies to configure more effective and diverse scenarios to support the work of students and teaching staff. Social networks are currently being adopted in many Higher Education communities as platforms to support the interaction among community members, taking advantage of the potential of those networks to foster strong and meaningful relationships and support the awareness and consolidation of group identity. This potential is being explored to promote new possibilities for teaching and learning that include new approaches such as the personal learning environments. This article addresses the potential that radio services have for Higher Education communities in a web 2.0, focusing on the case of the University of Aveiro (Portugal). The article explores the perceptions that Aveiro academic members have about webradio potentialities in terms of sense of belonging creation and community cohesion

The state of the art in student engagement

There is an extensive literature conducted from a range of theoretical perspectives and methodologies on the role of groups and student learning in higher education. However here the concept of the ‘group’ is heavily contested at a theoretical level but within higher education practice, characterizing the group has tended to be clear cut. Groups of students are often formed within the parameters of specific educational programs to address explicitly defined learning objectives. These groups are often small scale and achieve tasks through cooperative or collaborative learning. Cooperative learning involves students dividing roles and responsibilities between group members, so learning becomes an independent process and outcome. On the other hand, collaborative learning involves students working together by developing shared meanings and knowledge to solve a task or problem. From this perspective, learning is conceptualized as both a social process and individual outcome. That is, collaborative learning may facilitate individual student conceptual understanding and hence lead to higher academic achievement. The empirical evidence is encouraging as has been shown that students working collaboratively tend to achieve higher grades than students working independently. However the above perspectives on student engagement assume that groups are formed within the confines of formal learning environments (e.g. lecture theaters), involve students on the same degree program, have the explicit function of achieving a learning task and disband once this has been achieved. However, students may also use existing social networks such as friendship groups as a mechanism for learning, which may occur outside of formal learning environments. There is an extensive literature on the role and benefits of friendship groups on student learning within primary and secondary education but there is a distinct lack of research within higher education. This ebook is innovative and ambitious and will highlight and consolidate, the current understanding of the role that student based engagement behaviors may serve in effective pedagogy. A unique aspect of this research topic will be the fact that scholars will also be welcome to submit articles that describe the efficacy of the full range of approaches that have been employed to facilitate student engagement across the sector.Aston Universit

EduBridge social - bridging social networks and learning management systems

The exponential growth of social media usage and the integration of digital natives in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) have been posing new challenges to both traditional and technology-mediated learning environments. Nowadays social media plays an important, if not central, role in society, for professional and personal purposes. However, it’s important to highlight that in the mind of a digital native, social media is not just a tool, it is a place that is as real and as natural as any real-life world place where formal/informal social interactions happen. Still, formal higher education contexts are still mostly imprisoned in locked up institutional Learning Management Systems (LMS), while a new world of social connections grows and develops itself outside schools. One of the main reasons we believe to be persisting in the origin of the matter is the absence of a suitable management, monitoring and analysis tools to legitimize and to efficiently manage the relationship with stud ents in social networks. In this paper we discuss the growing relevance of the “Social Student Relationship Management” concept and introduce the EduBridge Social system, which aims at connecting the most commonly used LMS, Moodle, and the most popular social network, Facebook.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The influences of capital development strategies choice on international management students' collaborative knowledge creation: Turkey and Ecuador

The paper presents the first phase of international (four countries) study that explores the influence of social capital and personal learning networks (PLN) development approaches used by international management students in multicultural learning environments and the types of social and academic networks they develop on their collaborative knowledge and cross-cultural competence development, in particular, on their preparation for international careers. A comparative analysis is conducted within four international programs (in Turkey, Ecuador, UK and US) that offer international education in English language for local and international students. The paper presents the preliminary results of a comparison in two locations – Turkey and Ecuador. The study applies the concepts of collaborative knowledge development, social capital and social networks. The study uses constructivist grounded theory [1] to uncover the process of social capital and collaborative knowledge creation. Based on the data, collected through semi-structured interviews, and analyzed through dımensıonal analysis [2]; [3], the study develops a process model, which takes into account the core social identity of the learner, as well as the existing and emergent social personal learning ties, built on social capital. An additional goal of the study is to uncover the overlapping social and personal learning networks international and local students participate in and develop, to trace the knowledge sharing routes and to pinpoint knowledge creation hubs in these networks. As the result of the study, recommendations are developed for higher educational institutions (HEIs) and multinational enterprises (MNEs) regarding the steps they can take to promote collaborative and cross-cultural knowledge creation among their members. The connectivism theory of social learning [4] suggests loose and pragmatic ties appropriate to knowledge sharing and creation in the interconnected networked social reality of the 21st century as they combine social and informational resources that operate in a chaotic environment and recognize rather than create patterns of meaning. While we are not proposing any final theoretical models at this point, it is likely that the learners who are engaged in multi-dimensional and loosely connected PLNs characterized by multiple networks consisted of weak ties and who utilize problem solving models of knowledge creation are more likely to become cross/interculturally competent and are more likely to be prepared for global careers. However, the preliminary findings show that international students lack the skills and desire to create functional PLNs and tend to engage in multiple binding networks characterized by strong emotional bonds but limited knowledge creation. While is it premature at this stage to suggest any specific steps that IHEIs and other multicultural learning environments might take to encourage social and technological networking among international students and other members of academic environment, some tentative recommendations are presented

The affordances of mobile learning for an undergraduate nursing programme: A design-based study

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThe global use of mobile devices, and their connectivity capacity, integrated with the affordances of social media networks, provides a resource-rich platform for innovative student-directed learning experiences. Technology has become embedded in the daily lives of students, who become more approachable when technology is used within the higher education context. In 2014 the Educause Centre for Analysis and Research partnered with 213 higher education institutions across the United States of America. It was established that 86 percent of undergraduate information technology students owned a smartphone and half of that percentage owned a tablet. A systematic review on mobile learning in higher education focusing on the African Perspective in 2017 concluded that there was an increase in the use of mobile learning in higher education. Higher education institutions continue to move away from traditional, lecture-based lessons towards new, innovative teaching and learning methodologies to facilitate emerging pedagogies and strategies, thereby enhancing student learning. The adoption of technological innovation could promote the unfolding of a social process that over time could enhance social connectedness among young students and their older adult educators. Mobile learning is fundamentally defined as “learning with mobile devices” and it has the potential to extend the philosophies of learning through innovation It was identified that research in the field of m-learning can be divided into four areas, namely: pedagogy; administrative issues and technological challenges; ensuring sustainable development in education using m-learning; and the impact of new applications. With the increased need for nursing professionals, promoting the quality and effectiveness of nursing education has become crucial. It is thus important to establish learning environments in which personalised guidance and feedback to students regarding their practical skills and the application of their theoretical knowledge within clinical learning environments is provided

Tinklalaidės neformaliajame mokymesi: socialinių medijų naudojimas asmeninės mokymosi aplinkos, asmeninio mokymosi tinklo kūrimui

The use of second-generation web technology (WEB2) in education is emphasising the role of social media as educational sources. Researchers that are analysing personal learning environments (Schaffert, Kalz, 2009; Dabbagh, Kitsantas, 2012), personal learning networks (Couros, 2010) suggest the importance of social media, although this emphasis is attributed to the collaborative interaction of learners. To comprehensively assess the potential of podcasts as social media in the creation of personal learning environments, personal learning networks, the research described in this article does not restrict the definition of podcasts as the potential of collaboration provided by social media. In this article, attention is directed towards the potential of podcasts in the creation of personal learning environment and personal learning networks. By using integrated information behaviour module analysis to determine if the students of Lithuanian higher education institutions value the potential of informal learning provided by podcasts. To determine if these technologies are used for the formation of personal learning environments, personal learning networks, a discussion group research was conducted. During the research the analysis of participant podcast usage showed there is interaction between media content used for recreation and media content used for formal and informal learning. This means that the participants of the research use podcasts to create personal learning environments. On the other hand, this interaction is minimal, created only by the learners and reasoned by the search of educational podcasts. The analysis of the experiences of the discussion participants revealed that the collaborative interaction between learners involved in the research in searching, sharing and using podcasts in the process of learning is not intensive, it is typically fragmented. This allows to point out that the communities that use podcasts for informal learning are not forming. This shows that the potential of podcasts in creating a learning network is not fulfilled, and that podcasts don’t inspire participatory learning.Antrosios kartos saityno technologijų (WEB2) naudojimas mokymesi nurodo socialinių medijų kaip mokymosi šaltinių, išteklių reikšmės augimą. Šiame straipsnyje dėmesys atkreipiamas į tinklalaidžių potencialą besimokančiųjų asmeninės mokymosi aplinkos, asmeninio mokymosi tinklo kūrimui. Mokslininkai, analizuojantys asmeninę mokymosi aplinką (Schaffert, Kalz, 2009; Dabbagh, Kitsantas, 2012), asmeninius mokymosi tinklus (Couros, 2010), nurodo išskirtinę socialinių medijų svarbą. Tačiau toks socialinių medijų sureikšminimas siejamas su besimokančiųjų bendradarbiaujamosios sąveikos užtikrinimu. Šiame straipsnyje pristatomame tyrime siekiant visapusiškai įvertinti tinklalaidžių kaip socialinių medijų potencialą kuriant asmeninę mokymosi aplinką, asmeninį mokymosi tinklą, neapsiribota tik jų kaip socialinių medijų teikiamų bendradarbiavimo galimybių įvertinimu. Taikant integruoto informacinės elgsenos modelio tyrimo prieigą nustatant, kaip Lietuvos aukštųjų mokyklų studentai vertina tinklalaidžių neformaliojo savaiminio mokymosi potencialą: ar šios technologijos naudojamos asmeninei mokymosi aplinkai, asmeniniam mokymosi tinklui formuoti, buvo atliktas diskusijų grupių tyrimas. Tyrimo metu atlikta diskusijos dalyvių tinklalaidžių naudojimo analizė parodė, kad yra formuojama sąveika tarp pramogoms ir formaliajam bei neformaliajam mokymuisi naudojamo šių naujųjų medijų turinio. Tai reiškia, kad tyrimo dalyviai tinklalaides naudoja asmeninės mokymosi aplinkos kūrimui. Tačiau ši sąveika yra minimali, kuriama tik pačių besimokančiųjų, ji grindžiama mokymosi turinio tinklalaidžių saviieška. Diskusijos dalyvių patirčių analizė atskleidė, kad bendradarbiaujamoji sąveika tarp tyrime dalyvavusių besimokančiųjų ieškant, dalijantis, naudojant tinklalaides mokymuisi nėra intensyvi, jai būdingas fragmentiškumas. Tai leidžia pastebėti, kad neformaliojo mokymosi naudojant tinklalaides bendruomenės nesiformuoja. Tai rodo, kad tinklalaidžių potencialas neišnaudojamas dalyvaujamojo mokymosi tinklo kūrimui, tinklalaidės neinspiruoja dalyvaujamojo mokymosi

Information Technology in Education: Recent Developments in Higher Education

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of recent developments of Information Technologies in Education (ITE), particularly in higher education, to answer students and teacher’s needs, according to the real time rapidity characteristics of the process of learning and teaching. The internet, mobile computing, social networks and many other advances in human communications have become essential to promote and boost education, technology and industry [1]. In this sense, the learning and the teaching process have to take such developments into account. As a consequence the teaching profession is evolving from an emphasis on delivering information to an emphasis on creating learning environments [2]. Indeed, the new challenges related with the integration of ITE into all aspects of the learning process require revising the traditional educational paradigms that have been prevailed for last years. Thus, on the one hand, the theoretical framework of this paper is based on literature about information technologies, in general, and information technologies in higher education, in particular. On the other hand, the empirical framework reflects the best practices in this field used in the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (IPG, Portugal). The results of the paper show that the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are facing new challenges, not only to promote an adequate education in each field of study to the students, but, also, to develop them with skills and knowledge required to leverage information technology effectively to the workplace on firms

The influence of relationship networks on academic performance in higher education: a comparative study between students of a creative and a non-creative discipline

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