The Use of Social Media in Higher Education

The use of social media in the university classroom is growing in popularity and is transforming learning and teaching in significant ways (Li and Pitts 2009; Tess 2013). According to Lee and McLoughlin (2008), social networking sites have become educational tools onto themselves. However, while students have both developed and embraced the use of social media in their personal lives, little research has been done into the mix of social media used by teachers and students in their traditional courses (Li and Pitts 2009). Instead, most research to date is social media specific. Mödritscher (2010) states that both educators and learners need to rethink the way they teach and learn. Li and Pitts (2009) discuss that there is much to learn about the use of web-based communication tools and the impact they have on traditional measures of students’ success in higher education. Yet research has not explored the effects of the characteristics of social networks used primarily by students (Mazer et al. 2007), and more empirical research is needed (Barcayk 2013; Tess 2013).