Trends and Patterns in Social Media Usage Among Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

Social media allow users to connect each other and share multimedia information instantaneously that transcend across geographical lines, cultural boundaries and differential time zones. Recent Pew study suggests that 73 percent of teens in the US use social media and the number is growing. Among social media sites, Facebook in particular has been expanding its network and reported that the number of active users in third quarters of 2014 topped 864 millions. Facebook has been clearly recognized as a dominant social media site. Many studies have been conducted in the past to investigate the roles and affordances of social media, positive and negative impact on human interactions, bonding and bridging among communities from the social communication perspectives. There were also some attempts to use social media as an educational tool in schools, colleges and higher learning institutions. Some studies examined the use of social media as collaborative tool to enhance teaching and learning and its impact on education. A study was conducted at one of the teacher training institutions in the Gulf region to find out the trends and patterns in social media usage among pre-service teachers. A survey questionnaire was used to collect information regarding the use of Facebook as a social media. This paper reports the findings from the study that focus on pre-service teachers' perception about Facebook and how the media has been used in their daily activities. The paper suggests some innovative ways that educators can harness the social media to use as an instructional



Author Information
Myint Swe Khine, Emirates College for Advanced Education, UAE

Paper Information
Conference: ECTC2015
Stream: Instructional Technology

This paper is part of the ECTC2015 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon