Social Network Techniques in the Classroom: a way to adaptation in higher education

Conference Paper

Mohammed, Alhojailan, . 2014

• Publication Work Type: conference paper
• Conference Date: Saturday, March 15, 2014
• Sponsoring Organization: The Clute Institute

Publication Abstract

The use of social network, i.e. web 2.0 in higher education offers new strategies that develop and assist learners’ skills and performances.  Individual learning preferences means that learners acquire knowledge and skills in different ways. This will affect their perception of the effectiveness of the use of a social network application in the classroom, such as, Twitter, Facebook and blogs. This means that adopting a social network to facilitate learning could fail unless it is investigated.
The features of a social network enable learners to contribute and produce knowledge via content through interaction and activities. Different strategies and methods are required to manage and adopt instructors’ rules, which change from being direct to indirect. The centralized interaction rules shift from instructors to content and some cases the context to the learners.

This paper critically explores learners' preception and responses that arise from using web2.0. Prototype strategies are presented that describe interactions that could be used within learning environments in different situations. These strategies not only assist but also provide understandings for instructors how to manage social network applications in different learning situations, for example classroom practice that addresses the individual or in groups. 

The inquiry demands research into learner characteristics if social networks are effectively utilized. This is because social network applications need to be tailored to raise the performance of individuals while allowing for diverse culture perspectives and individual differences.