Social Media in Learning

Quynh Ha, Pharm.D.

As we enter the age of technology, social media has become an integral and essential part of our daily life. On January 2018, approximately 42% of the world population is active social media users and this number is expected to increase by 13% each year¹. While social media is mainly reserved for personal use, its hidden potentials have truly surpassed that. Social media is now perceived as a mean of raising awareness, communication, connection, and self-promotion among colleagues, recruiters, employers as well as to the rest of the world. Then what exactly is social media? It is tools and platforms through which people use to interact, create, share, exchange information and ideas with others via a virtual communities^{2, 3}. With a myriad of social platforms nowadays, internet users can choose from blog, WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn, etc.

How will social media benefit learning?

Of course, there will always be lectures, textbook, tutoring, or office hours. However, they do not always provide an adequate answer or in a timely manner when students need.  According to a 2016 study by Smith, one of the advantages of social media in learning is time/organization⁴. As one of surveyed students put it, “[social media] facilitates my learning, makes things more efficient. Allows me to be more organized and manage my time better.” In another word,  it allows students to learn at their own pace and in their own time since students can easily have access to various tutorial videos on YouTube or study materials from other colleges/universities’ websites. As the result, we have seen a rise in students utilizing social media platforms to aid their learning. This increased popularity of social media in learning can further be explained through Davis’s Technology Acceptance Model: perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and attitude towards use, behavioral intention and actual uses⁵. With the relatively easy access, students can turn to social media for information, which then increases the positive attitude toward the use of social medial in classroom and therefore expands its utilization. From my personal experience, during my ungraduated and graduate career, there has been numerous times when I turned to social media for an alternative explanation on a specific chemical reaction, a pathophysiological pathway, or a mechanism of action. Not only did it provide me with an answer immediately, it also presented the material in different perspective than textbook and lectures. Since then, these social medial platforms have constantly served as an additional source of information in order to stay updated with the current antibiotic therapies, guidelines updates, or to be informed all various procedures/diseases I might come across during round.

Social media - The double edge sword

Nonetheless, social media itself is a double edge sword. The first and foremost issue with social media is the variation in credibility of online information³. While there is a vast material available on multiple online platforms, not all posted information is correct and non-biased. To determine the authenticity and validity of the data is an ongoing challenge for both new and recurrent social media users. Key points to be aware of when assessing the accuracy of the information are: location of the source, network, and constant contextual updates. Another problem that can hinder the users to fully exploit the benefit of learning through social media is the breach of privacy and anonymity⁶. Since certain platforms allow users to actively participate in online discussion, few users often make the mistake of not having a clear boundary between personal and academic social media account. Even though there might be an overlap between personal and academic/professional identities, your personal life image might not accurately represent yours professional image. Therefore, without a clear separation between these accounts, users can become distracted and deviated from their learning purposes, while remain at risk for expose their personal lives.

In conclusion, social media is a great platform to stimulate independent learning outside the classroom setting. However, one must be aware and recognize the downfalls associated with online learning platforms.

References

1.       Smart Insights. Global social media research summary 2018. https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/ (accessed 2018 Oct 7)

2.       Tufts. Communication and Marketing. Social Media Overview. https://communications.tufts.edu/marketing-and-branding/social-media-overview/ (accessed 2018 Oct 7)

3.       Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe. Advantages and disadvantages of social media as learning environment in adult education. https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/resource-centre/content/advantages-and-disadvantages-social-media-learning-environment-adult (accessed 2018 Oct 7)

4.       Smith EE. “A real double-edged sword:” Undergraduate perceptions of social media in their learning. Computers & Education. 2016; 103: 44-58.

5.       Akman I, Turhan C. User acceptance of social learning systems in higher education: an application of the extended Technology Acceptance Model. Innovations in Education and Teaching International. 2017; 54(3): 229-37.

6.       Queens University of Charlotte. Managing Personal vs. Professional Identity on Social Media. https://online.queens.edu/online-programs/mscomm/resources/managing-personal-vs-professional-identity-on-social-media (accessed 2018 Oct 7)