Students’ Attitude towards Social Networking Sites (SNSs): A Case Study of Central Institute of Technology (CIT) Kokrajhar, Assam

The present study investigates the use of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) by the students of Central Institute of Technology (CIT) in Kokrajhar, Assam. The survey and random sampling technique have been used for the collection of data. Around 200 structured questionnaires were distributed among the students of CIT, Kokrajhar and filled-in questionnaires were collected on the same day itself and analyzed for data interpretation in the form of tables and charts. The study explored that all the respondents were aware of SNSs and are using more than one SNSs websites, it has found that Facebook is use in large number, while YouTube and Instagram follow it. Mobile is the most preferred tool for accessing SNSs, a majority expressed that low internet speed was the main problem, also indicates that students are using SNSs for entertainment purpose. The majority 47.47% of the CIT students are satisfied, while 35.35% are partially satisfied and very few 17.17% are highly satisfied

Use of Social Media in Collaborative Learning among the Post Graduate Students of Selected Universities in India

Purpose – The very purpose of this research work is to explore the use of Social Media (SM) in collaborating learning among the postgraduate students of three central universities in India; University of Hyderabad (UoH), English and Foreign Language University (EFLU) and Pondicherry University (PU). Design/Methodology - A descriptive random survey method is adhered to this study with a framed questionnaire to collect data from the postgraduate students of these three universities. A total of three hundred questionnaires (100 per university) are distributed individually out of it, two hundred and fifteen (71.66 %) questionnaires are retrieved back from the respondents. Questionnaires are categorized into four parts; 1) Demographics, 2) general uses of SM, 3) purpose of using SM, and 4) barriers in using SM. For data analysis, SPSS 22 version and Microsoft Excel sheet are used. Findings - Amongst the respondents, majority 60.93% were males, whereas the remaining 39.07% were females. In addition to it, 111 respondents (51.67%) were below the age group of 25 years and the rest 104 respondents (48.37%) were above 25 years. The study confirms that all the respondents use social media (social media: 100 percent, n = 215). The results show that the majority of students in the survey from all three universities are using YouTube. Result also finds that smartphones hold the top position in terms of devices used for accessing SM tools. Further, it highlights that male respondents are using more SM than their female counterparts’. In addition to it, the survey shows that, interestingly, lack of adequate security and lack of reliability of information are significant barriers. Research Limitations - The study has taken only three central universities into its consideration. The population of the study is also only limited to postgraduate students. Implications – The study underpins the use of SM in an essential aspect of higher education in a developing country, India. Originality/Value – The study is the first one of its kind where it explores cross-institutional research in terms of the use of SM among the postgraduate students in collaborative learning

Emerging technologies and social media are creating environment flexible for the Libraries: A brief review

Purpose- The basic purpose of this paper is to find out the Library professionals how these libraries perceive the importance of social media and emerging technologies what would make the difference in the libraries and how they help libraries to create environments flexible and exclusive. Design/methodology/approach – the survey method and qualitative research design were used to determine the data as per the set of objectives of the study. Findings – This study revealed the perception of library professionals about the use of social media and emerging technologies is very high. The reviewed literature has identified the importance and use of emerging technologies and social media in libraries. Practical implications –The findings of this study can help library professionals to engage themselves to use social media and emerging technologies to bring innovation into library sources and services. Originality/value –This study calculated the present situation of social media and emerging technologies used for marketing in the Libraries environment

Продвижение открытой науки библиотеками на примере ГПНТБ СО РАН (начальный этап)

The author argues that research community is more interested in the open access (OA) initiatives rather than in the open science in general. She points out the insufficient methodological support of the open science research, civil science research ethics, and other components of open scientific knowledge and engagement of social actors. The author relates these factors to the urgency of intensified efforts to promote the ecosystem of open science. The analysis findings enable to suggest three main units to organize library efforts within the framework of open science, i. e. methodological support and education; outreach activities and marketing; law and business information processing. Depending on the library structure and staffing, the functions can be divided between its departments – from methodological and public relations department to technology and innovations support departments, – or, optionally, concentrated in just one. The author illustrates the first steps in promoting open science as a whole with the experience of “The library for open science” platform being designed by the research department of the State Public Scientific Technological Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 2022.В научном сообществе преобладает заинтересованность в инициативах открытого доступа (ОД), а не в открытой науке в целом. Указано на недостаточное методическое обеспечение научных кадров материалами, связанными с организацией исследований в рамках открытой науки, этике проведения исследований в рамках гражданской науки и иными составляющими открытого научного знания и участия социальных акторов. В связи с этим объясняется текущая актуальность интенсификации усилий по продвижению открытой науки как экосистемы. Результаты анализа предлагают три основных блока, группирующих деятельность библиотеки в рамках открытой науки: методическая поддержка и образование; массовая работа и маркетинг; работа с правовой и бизнес-информацией. В зависимости от структуры и кадрового потенциала библиотеки работу по каждому из направлений можно как разделить по подразделениям – от методических отделов и отделов массовой работы до центров поддержки технологий и инноваций (ЦПТИ), – так и выборочно сосредоточить в одном. Кроме того, частичное пересечение таких блоков выделяется в деятельность по интеграции библиотеки в исследовательский процесс. Первым шагом по продвижению открытой науки как целого является разработка платформы «Библиотека для открытой науки», выполняемая отделом научных исследований открытой науки ГПНТБ СО РАН с 2022 г

Perceptions of Saudi male and female postgraduate students regarding the impact of social networking sites and apps on their academic life: A study of Umm Al-Qura university – makkah

This paper outlines a study exploring the perceptions of Saudi male and female postgraduate students regarding the impact of using Social Networking Sites and Apps (SNSAs) on their academic engagement and academic relationships. While research on SNSA use within the higher education environment does exist, mixed gender research has often presented challenges in Saudi Arabia, due to the educational segregation. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data through surveys, individual interviews and focus groups involving 313 male and 293 female postgraduate students at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. Findings illustrated that both males and females engaged with SNSAs at a moderate level of use for academic purposes, and they perceived more positive than negative impacts associated with the academic use of SNSAs. Correlational analysis demonstrated a large positive correlation between academic engagement and academic relationships. Gender differences were not extensive however, the quantitative analysis highlighted more prominent involvement with SNSAs by females which is interesting, in light of social restrictions experienced by females in Saudi society

Plataformas digitales y reputación académica: análisis del área de Biblioteconomía y Documentación en España

Analysis of the preferences of Spanish academics in the Library and Information (LIS) area in the use of digital platforms to disseminate and promote their research activity from an academic reputation point of view. The study population consist of the 255 academics belonging to the departments of the reference area of ​​12 Spanish public universities. The methodology is developed from a systematic exploration by manual search of the population in a set of digital platforms: personal blog, personal website, ORCID, Twitter, Linkedin, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Mendeley and the Exit Directory. Three main variables of analysis were defined from the perspective of academic reputation building: presence of digital profiles, digital identity management and visibility of scientific production. Results show that ResearchGate and Google Scholar are the most popular platforms among the studied community and allow us to intuit the absence of a strategy or method for the conscious management of digital platforms and academic reputation.Análisis de las preferencias de los académicos españoles del área de Biblioteconomía y Documentación (ByD) en el uso de las plataformas digitales para difundir y promocionar su actividad investigadora como estrategia de reputación académica. La población de estudio está compuesta por los 255 académicos adscritos a los departamentos del área de referencia de 12 universidades públicas españolas. La metodología se desarrolla a partir de la exploración sistemática mediante la búsqueda manual de la población en un conjunto de plataformas digitales: blog personal, página web personal, ORCID, Twitter, Linkedin, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Mendeley y el Directorio Exit. Se definieron tres variables principales de análisis desde la perspectiva de la gestión de la reputación académica: presencia de perfiles digitales, gestión de la identidad digital y visibilidad de la producción científica. Los resultados revelan que ResearchGate y Google Scholar son las plataformas más populares entre la comunidad estudiada y permiten intuir la ausencia de una estrategia o de un método para la gestión consciente de las plataformas digitales y de la reputación académica. &nbsp

Scholarly use of social media and altmetrics : a review of the literature

Social media has become integrated into the fabric of the scholarly communication system in fundamental ways: principally through scholarly use of social media platforms and the promotion of new indicators on the basis of interactions with these platforms. Research and scholarship in this area has accelerated since the coining and subsequent advocacy for altmetrics—that is, research indicators based on social media activity. This review provides an extensive account of the state-of-the art in both scholarly use of social media and altmetrics. The review consists of two main parts: the first examines the use of social media in academia, examining the various functions these platforms have in the scholarly communication process and the factors that affect this use. The second part reviews empirical studies of altmetrics, discussing the various interpretations of altmetrics, data collection and methodological limitations, and differences according to platform. The review ends with a critical discussion of the implications of this transformation in the scholarly communication system

Using Social Media In Flipped Classrooms In Saudi Universities: Faculty Members\u27 Experiences

Traditional education is no longer viable at the present time. In light of technological development and the adoption of a number of diverse technologies in the field of education, the student has become a vital element in learning through student-centered learning environments. Saudi universities are striving diligently to keep up with the technological development and the employment of modern trends in the educational process through the gradual merging of interactive learning methods or strategies, such as the flipped classroom, active learning, cooperative learning, etc. The flipped classroom plays an important role in enhancing the positive role of the learner during the educational process by providing the students with content before the lecture by the use of technology and exploiting class time in debates, problem-solving, creating, synthesizing, and applying. There are many various technology tools and online platforms that can be used in implementing the flipped classroom, such as Blackboard LMS, Google Docs, Wikis, blogs, Facebook, etc. Also, there are a number of advanced countries that have implemented flipped classrooms by the use of various technology tools and social platforms. For example, in Saudi Arabia, Al-Harbi & Alshumaimeri (2016) applied the flipped classroom approach by uploading videos on the Edmodo site. Therefore, this study focused on faculty members\u27 experiences in using social media as a flipped classroom tool in Saudi Universities. The study addressed four main questions that focused on: faculty members’ experiences in using social media in teaching in Saudi universities, faculty members\u27 attitudes towards using social media in flipped classrooms, exploring how faculty members in Saudi universities use social media as a flipped classroom tool to address students’ learning preferences per the R2D2 framework, and factors that prevent or limit Saudi faculty’s social media uses in flipped classrooms. In addition, the study discussed significant interaction of the differences between some groups in the study, such as relationship of academic rank to experience in using social media in teaching, relationship of less experienced and more experienced faculty members in Saudi universities to using social media as a flipped classroom, relationship of gender differences to faculty members\u27 attitudes towards using social media in flipped classrooms and factors that prevent or limit Saudi faculty’s social media uses in flipped classrooms. It should be mentioned here that this study adopted Bonk and Zhang’s R2D2 framework for online learning (Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing) in order to explore to what extent learning environments and instructional strategies used in Saudi universities support the diversity of students. Mixed-method research was employed in this study. The questionnaire was used as the quantitative method giving the whole picture about the topic and research questions, while the interview was used as the qualitative method helps in getting a deep understanding of the research questions by moving from question to question. A total of 391 participants (199 male and 192 female) participated in the quantitative data collection, among which 8 volunteers (4 male and 4 female) participated in interviews. The results of this study imply that faculty members in Saudi universities have experiences in using social media in teaching through exchanging knowledge, response to students\u27 questions, and creating groups to help students discuss with each other by the use various types of social media such as Twitter, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Blackboard. Also, the findings imply faculty members\u27 positive tendency towards using social media in flipped classrooms; however the faculty members did not take students’ learning preferences into account during the use social media as a flipped classroom tool. Most activities used by faculty members through the employment of social media as a flipped classroom tool focus largely on the reading category that addresses verbal and auditory students. Finally, the findings assert that there are many factors that prevent or limit the faculty members from using social media as a flipped classroom tool such as weak infrastructure, lack of access to the Internet, reluctance to giving up the use of traditional methods in order to employ technology and modern methods in teaching practices, etc