Title: The Impact of Social Media Technology Higher Education
Author Name: Tre’ Moore
Selected Case (Published Article):
Papademetriou, Christos, et al. “Covid-19 Pandemic: The Impact of the Social Media Technology on Higher Education.” Education Sciences, vol. 12, no. 4, 2022, p. 261., https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12040261.
1. Introduction
The growth of social media in the current community is a direct indication of technological advancement. Despite this emergency, COVID-19 was a turning point in using social media while creating the necessity for technology. Earlier the use of social media was primarily for social interaction, where people were involved in posting and viewing while allowing the public to engage in conversations. The current definition of social media involves a different perception of the term based on the change it has undergone in recent days. Based on this, the definition has led to the explanation of the time with the inclusion of educational purposes on top of the social interaction on the sites or platforms. This is with the site’s transition to accommodate learning, especially for higher education during the pandemic. The pandemic has been key to the change in the teaching and learning process to them taking place online
2. Overview of the Case
In this, it is vital to determine the effects or impacts of social media technology in higher education based on the community’s use in teaching and learning. In this, the critical aspect is determining the extent to which social media used in learning has impacted education in general while concentrating on the advantages and disadvantages of the same application. Similarly, in this consideration is made on the potential for the creation of community connectivity through the use of social media. Social media is key to enhancing connectivity in the community at a global scale by allowing the development of peer-to-peer communication even with the university department, making it crucial to the active participation of learners in the learning process. The benefits of this can be spread even to the marketplace by posting job opportunities on social media platforms. In addition to the earlier roles played by social media, its educational use has led to an additional aspect of intelligence sharing.
3. Solutions Implemented
The pandemic affects the global population and results in the restricted movement of people and social gatherings. To simulate the education process worldwide, resuming the learning experience needed to turn from face-to-face to online learning. Most of the higher education institutions were involved in online learning, with the education department in the United States requiring the education institution to have education resume as usual to allow following of the 2019/2020 calendar. In this, the educational institutions were required to adapt to distance learning, allowing them to meet this while ensuring the quality of education remains intact. In providing the quality of education is maintained in the process, quality assurance and accreditation were put in place through the innovation of new assessment methods. The tools to be used in learning were also determined.
4. Outcomes
This application of social media has played a vital role in promoting learning and teaching in higher education allowing all students to access higher education despite the pandemic lethality. Most of the learning experiences involve using YouTube, among other external sources. This is important based on their ability to enrich the teaching and learning experiences while enhancing communication among the instructors and learners. Online learning has also been vital in supporting the learning experience in terms of assignments and access to information in general with the digitalization of all aspects of education. This has made it a vital tool in motivating learners while supporting the increase in community connection. On the side of the teachers, the application of social media in learning has helped manage and monitor the learning process and the learner’s information. This aspect was challenging to do in the past.
5. Implications
The implication of social media use in learning is the community transition from face-to-face learning experiences to online learning. This has impacted the community transition to the digital world with the development of the online library in most higher education institutions in response to this. The community dynamic is inevitable, the transition from the analog to the digital world is an aspect that was to be affected soon, but the pandemic and development of online learning paved the way for the community transition. This means the change of the community from the use of digital assets to online assets with the development of cryptocurrencies in response to this effect. Digital learning explains the benefits all sectors in the nation will gain from this aspect, with businesses and society, in general, having a boost in communication, connection, education, and elements of a job getting into the digital market.
