The potential impact of utilising social media platforms in Saudi higher education : academic practitioners perception

Bugulah, Osama A.

Abstract

The use of social media has penetrated the field of education during the past decade, but it is still not widely accepted or used to support teaching and learning despite their potential usefulness. However, since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, SM have gained momentum as face-to-face teaching and learning came to a halt due to the severity of this infectious virus and due to the ways Covid spreads between people. In Saudi higher education, the usefulness of SM in education has also a situation of mixed perceptions and experiences that needs scrutiny. This study was, therefore, conducted to investigate the perceptions of lecturers, academic leaders, and students on the use of social media technologies at Taibah University in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The methodology of Qualitative Content Analysis was applied in the study through an inductive approach to analyse qualitative data collected on their perceptions of the potential impact of utilising social media at the selected institution. Data were collected from conducting individual interviews with 21 lecturers, seven academic leaders, and four focus-group sessions with 25 students of both genders, and thematically analysed by categorisation and coding. This led to identifying five overarching areas of insight: general social media use, benefits of social media in education, motivation, and encouragement to use social media for lecturers and students, and challenges in applying social media in education. Several key findings confirmed previous findings by other researchers, although some contradictory findings were also obtained; points of tension were found related to the factors of age, gender, time and control, and numerous new findings emerged from the data which provided insight into the investigated phenomenon for the specific case. Based on the outcomes of the study, several recommendations are made to support the promotion of social media platforms and technologies in Saudi higher education.

Citation

Bugulah, O. A. (2022). The potential impact of utilising social media platforms in Saudi higher education : academic practitioners perception. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4200917

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Feb 15, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 15, 2023
• Keywords: Education
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4200917
• Award Date: 2022-01