Abstract
Social media has, in the past decade, transformed the way students and faculty communicate in the teaching and learning process. The teaching and learning process in higher education is currently experiencing a technological revolution. This is mainly because social media is presently used as a tool by faculty and administrators to communicate with students inside and outside of the classroom. In this chapter, descriptive statistics are used to analyze secondary data on the trend of faculty use of social media by discipline, demographics, and number of years. It also analyzes the use of social media sites, barriers to the use of social media sites, as well as faculty use of social media in higher education. Results show that less than 50% of faculty use social media for instruction. Overall, younger faculty (under 35 years) report the use of SMT 55.7% more than older faculty (55 and above years). Faculty in Arts and Humanities indicate a higher use of social media than all disciplines. There is a strong correlation between faculty use of social media for professional and pedagogical purposes. The majority of faculty use SMT more often for personal reasons than instructional purposes. Results indicate that there is a high faculty awareness of social media use in higher education in recent years, and issues of privacy and integrity of online student submissions emerge as barriers to faculty use of social media.
TopIntroduction
Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, SlideShare, Flickr, Podcasts, YouTube, WIZIQ, and LinkedIn allow people to connect to other users. In higher education, social media consists of using technological tools such as Blogs, Wikis, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, SlideShare, Flickr, Podcasts, YouTube, WIZIQ, and LinkedIn. The aforementioned provide a means of communication between faculty and students. Social media are virtual places where people share information. Everybody, and anybody, can share anything anywhere and at anytime (Joosten, 2012). Registered users have the ability to post, upload photographs about what they are doing at any time, as well as send messages to people when they choose to do so. The use of social media among young adults is growing rapidly in the United States (Pempek, Yermolayeva, & Calvert, 2008). In 2010, it was reported that about 72% of all college students have an established social media profile with 45% of them using these social media sites at least once a day. More so, about 57% of social network users are in the age group of 18-29 years (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). In the United States, it is estimated that about 66% of online users are adults (Smith, 2011), while 73% of teenagers (between 12 -17) use social media (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010).
Table 1.
The landscape of social media users (2012)
| Social Network Site | % of Internet Users | Adults Ages 18-29, Women |
| Use FaceBook | 67% | Women, adults ages 18-29 |
| Use Twitter | 16% | Adults ages 18-29, African-Americans, urban residents |
| Use Pinterest | 15% | Women, adults under 50, whites, those with some college education |
| Use Instagram | 13% | Adults ages 18-29, African-Americans,
Latinos, women, urban residents |
| Use Tumblr | 6% | Adults ages 18-29 |
Note. Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project Post-Election Survey, 2012
Key Terms in this Chapter
Twitter: Is a social networking Website that allows for microblogging service that allows users to send and read text-based messages of up to about 140 characters, known as “tweets.” It connects people family, and co–workers to the latest news, ideas, opinions and news around the world.
Instagram: This is a free online photo sharing and social networking Website that allows users to upload, edit and share photos with other members through the Instagram Website, email, and social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Foursquare, and Flickr.
Facebook: It is an online social networking Website originally designed for college students, however, it is currently open to anyone 13 years of age or older. With Facebook, users can create and customize their own profiles with photos, videos, and information about themselves as well as interact with friends.
WiZ iQ: Is an online learning and teaching Website. Members of WiZ iQ can either be teachers or students. It enables members to search for free study material (online classes, tests, and tutorials that is related to the subject or exams. Teachers on Wiz iQ, can also create their own teaching profile and join the e-teaching community discussion. WiZ iQ tool offers the opportunity for both teachers and students to participate in educational opportunities to share information and ideas for successful instructional delivery.
Pinterest: Is a free social networking site that allows registered members (users) to organize and share ideas with others. As a virtual bulletin board it enables users pin videos and images captured from around the Web and arrange them into different categories.
MySpace: Is a social networking Website that allows users to interact and submit information such as personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos of people to friends. It is currently the world's fifth most popular English-language Website, fifth most popular Website in any language, and the third most popular Website in the United States.
Social media: Consists of using all forms of electronic communication such as Web sites for social networking and microblogging via which users (members) create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content namely videos.
LinkedIN: Is a free social networking site designed for the business community. It allows registered members to set up and post document networks of people they know and trust professionally. Members profile page describes the employment history and education, as well as keep online list of professional contacts.