CONNECT LEARNING WITH REALITY: USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS IN THE UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM

Author(s):  
Esther Raya Diez ◽  
Sofía Montenegro Leza ◽  
Ana Belén Cuesta Ruiz-Clavijo
2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Sarah Jamieson ◽  
Jenepher Lennox Terrion

This paper explores the experiences of new part-time professors (instructors hired on a semester-by-semester basis that have been working at the institution for less than five years) and considers the phenomenon of how they connect with peers. It examines whether a lack of connection exists among part-time professors at the University of Ottawa and how this may affect their experience (i.e. teaching and career), lead to barriers to connection, and affect their social capital (i.e., their ability to access or use resources embedded in their social networks). Using Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenological approach for collecting and analyzing data and Creswell’s (2007) approach for establishing validity, we uncovered several thematic patterns in participants’ experience that indicate barriers to connection and affect the ability to access and mobilize social capital: Feeling uncertain or impermanent, isolated, overwhelmed, and like second-class citizens. The paper concludes that inadequate social capital may not only influence part-time professors – it may also have problematic implications for students, the department, and the University as a whole. Keywords: Social capital, barriers to communication, phenomenology, qualitative methods, part-time professors


Author(s):  
Patricia Abelairas-Etxebarria ◽  
Jon Mentxaka Arana

Hoy en día, las redes sociales son utilizadas en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar. Entre los jóvenes, en particular, han supuesto una revolución a la hora de relacionarse. Sin embargo, dichas redes sociales tienen escasa presencia en el aula universitaria para su uso académico. Este trabajo pretende analizar el uso de las redes sociales de los estudiantes de la Facultad de Economía y Empresa de la Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea. Además, se analiza la opinión de los alumnos y alumnas sobre la posibilidad de introducir las redes sociales en el aula con fines académicos. Con estos objetivos, se ha realizado una encuesta a una muestra de los estudiantes de dicha facultad donde, como principal resultado, se extrae que la gran mayoría de los estudiantes usan habitualmente las redes sociales en el ámbito personal y que están dispuestos a introducir estas redes sociales como herramienta en el aula universitaria. At the present time, social networks are used anytime and anywhere. Among young people, in particular, they have been a revolution when it comes to socializing. However, these social networks have little presence in the university classroom for an academic use. This paper aims to analyze the use of social networks of students of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of the Basque Country / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea. In addition, it analyzes the opinion of the students about the possibility of introducing social networks in the classroom for academic purposes. With these objectives a survey has been carried out on a sample of the students of said faculty where, as the main result, it is extracted that the vast majority of students routinely use social networks in the personal sphere and that they are willing to introduce these social networks as a tool in the university classroom.


Comunicar ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (46) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-Guadalupe González-Lizárraga ◽  
María-Teresa Becerra-Traver ◽  
Mireya-Berenice Yanez-Díaz

The purpose of this article is to show the results derived from a sample of students who were enrolled in different bachelor degree programs offered by the University of Sonora in Mexico. There was a double objective for this study. First, to identify cyber activist students through the answers gathered through a questionnaire taken electronically using as inclusion criteria the presence of high and medium levels of participation and commitment in different actions undertaken in four topic areas (environment, academic, social and citizen issues, and human rights). As a second objective, and after selecting three unique cases of cyber activist students, inflexion points were determined in the activities performed by these youngsters in digital social networks. Using personal narrative as a methodological strategy, the students described how they interact with others through different digital networks. Among the first categories identified in the indepth interviews are: interaction history (use, access and availability of technology at a young age), and active participation about topics of interest in social networks (organization and the perceptions of achievements made). As main findings, there are the availability of these resources from a young age, personal motivation in participating in diverse topics, enjoyment of expressing one’s opinion freely, electronic participation as a way to commit to a cause, and not joining an organization while participating. Se presentan resultados derivados de una muestra de estudiantes que asisten a las diversas licenciaturas que ofrece la Universidad de Sonora en México. El objetivo fue doble, en un primer momento, identificar a estudiantes ciberactivistas a través de las respuestas obtenidas de un cuestionario aplicado de manera electrónica, utilizando como criterios de inclusión la presencia de puntajes medios y altos en el nivel de participación y compromiso en las diversas acciones emprendidas en cuatro temas (medio ambiente, académicos, problemas sociales y ciudadanos, y derechos humanos). En un segundo momento y a partir de la selección de tres casos únicos de estudiantes ciberactivistas, se determinaron puntos de inflexión en las actividades desarrolladas por estos jóvenes en las redes sociales digitales, utilizando como estrategia metodológica la narrativa de los propios estudiantes cuando interactúan con otros en las redes. Entre las categorías iniciales en las entrevistas en profundidad se encuentra: la historia de interacción (uso, acceso y disposición de la tecnología desde temprana edad), y la participación activa en las redes sociales sobre temas de interés (organización y percepción de logros alcanzados). Como principales hallazgos se encuentra la disposición de estos recursos desde temprana edad, la motivación personal en los diversos temas, el gusto para expresarse de manera libre, la participación electrónica como forma de comprometerse con las causas, y la no afiliación a organizaciones al participar.


Telos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 643-660
Author(s):  
Rigo Grimaldos Olmos ◽  
Anny Paz Baptista

This investigation aimed to determine the use of web 2.0 services in the Catholic University Cecilio Acosta (UNICA) site by the institution, located in Maracaibo city, Venezuela. The theoretical contributions were supported by O'Reilly (2007), Lévy (2004), Rheingold (2004), Surowiecki (2005), Cobo (2007a), among other authors. The investigation comes from a project attached to the UNICA Research and Postgraduate Deanery, was descriptive, an observation guide was applied to collect information from the UNICA website and the 2.0 services to which it is associated as the platforms for vertical social networks YouTube, Instagram and SoundCloud, and platforms for horizontal social networks Facebook and Twitter. Among the most relevant findings was the exclusive use of social networking services for interaction with the university community, without including other services that seek to generate knowledge. It is concluded that UNICA uses web 2.0 services in its site in a limited and non-strategic way, with a purely informative nature that includes specific topics of the university and the catholic church, which could hinder the knowledge management as process of 21st century universities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Jhonny Villafuerte ◽  
Asier Romero

This work aims to study learners’ attitudes towards practicing English Language on Social Networks Sites (SNS). The sample involved 110 students from the University Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabi in Ecuador, and the University of the Basque Country in Spain. The instrument applied was a Likert scale questionnaire designed Ad hoc by the researchers, to assess the dimensions: (i) Integration of SNS into learners’ academic everyday activities, and (ii) Learners’ attitudes towards English Language practices on SNS. All the data was analyzed using SPSS V24.00 of IBM. The findings showed corelationships between learners’ attitudes and the factors: learners’ sex, age, and country. The results also confirmed that both Spanish and Ecuadorian university students prefer YouTube, and Google+ for their easy access, and flexibility to strengthen listening, reading and comprehension skills in English. In addition, Facebook, and Whats App can be used to motivate reading, writing, and speaking practices in English.


Author(s):  
Antonio Cartelli ◽  
Angela Di Nuzzo

In this paper the behaviors and tendencies in the use of digital technologies by university students are analyzed. After a short discussion of former studies and the presentation of the model for digital literacy structure and assessment in students attending compulsory school, the investigation carried out by the authors is described and the results obtained from the analysis of the university students’ answers is reported. The survey was submitted to 331 students in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cassino, Italy, and the students’ answers show a contradictory reality: on one side, digital technologies are mainly used to communicate in social networks or to play music and movies, on another side it is evident the students’ interest for the most recent aspects of the application of digital technology and for the improvement in the quality of their use.


Author(s):  
Laura Aymerich-Franch ◽  
Maddalena Fedele

Social media is principally used by students in the private sphere. However, its implementation for educational purposes in higher education is rapidly expanding. This chapter looks into undergraduate students’ perceptions of using social media in the university context. In particular, it examines students’ privacy concerns regarding faculty use of social networks to support classroom work and video calling or online chats to meet for work discussion. Two-hundred-forty-four undergraduate students completed a survey and four focus groups were carried out. The results reveal that although students generally accept using social media in the instructional arena, privacy concerns can easily emerge. Educational institutions are encouraged to take these concerns seriously. Using applications specifically created for learning purposes and developing some guidelines for a correct implementation of these resources for the faculty to follow might contribute to alleviate these concerns.


Author(s):  
Vicente Galiano ◽  
Victoria Herranz

In this chapter, the authors describe the project of a virtual world that they developed in their university and with their students. In this work, they joined concepts like social networks and virtual reality, creating a virtual model of the University Miguel Hernandez (UMH), where students are able to walk around the campus, inside the buildings, chat with other students, and moreover, use videoconferencing rooms where students talk and see other students in the same virtual world. The authors describe this project, called UMHvirtual (available in http://virtual.umh.es), which has been supervised by the authors, implemented by a group of students, and focused on all the university students.


Author(s):  
José Antonio Álvarez Bermejo ◽  
César Bernal Bravo ◽  
Manuel Jesús Rubia Mateos ◽  
Javier Roca Piera

Recent studies are focusing on how social networks impact the learning process and how students organize themselves to face collaborative tasks via these networks, as well as their impact on the learning outcomes of the students. In a number of these studies, learning social aspects are analyzed, showing, among other issues of interest, that participating in social networks positively affects students’ self-esteem. In this article it is shown how this applies to the university model being adopted in Europe. Nowadays, the student is limited by the class and by the restricted group of people enrolled in that same university degree. In which way can the university facilitate that students get to each other so that they can find aspects in common and therefore the set of relationships grows? This chapter shows how our university—Universidad de Almería, UAL—globalizes its campus providing access to every student, as well as how this social network is succeeding.


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