Theme : Information and Communication Networks: Innovation in Education.

1. The XXIX International Conference on Innovation in Higher Education; Miami Florida, July 31-August 4, 2011 Theme: Information and Communication Networks: Innovation in Education.

2. Presenter: Dr. Ebere Asinobi-Iroadu (Co- Researcher, Mr. Saeed Juma Al Darmaki) • Affiliation: Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates.

3. Title of Paper: • Social Media as Meeting Places: Investigating the Inherent Potentials of Social Media in Improving the Educative and Communicative Practices of College Students.

4. Abstract • This paper examines the effect of new and social media in the communicative practices of college students in the United Arab Emirates. • Its aim is to investigate the inherent potentials in these media to improve and meet learners’ instructional needs. • Recent events in politics and governance in many countries of the world have opened the eyes of young people to the potentials for inclusiveness offered by new media technology.

5. They have begun to ask questions that bother on their need to participate in their own education especially in the decision on how and where they want to learn, and how they want to be evaluated.

6. Research Objectives • The objective of the study is to find out how college students interact and engage with social media for academic purposes. • It investigates the potentials inherent in social media as a tool for improving teaching and particularly learning. • The findings could give an insight into the learners’ desires for participation in decisions about their learning

7. The findings could also act as basis to direct faculty professional and instructional development training to areas relevant to learners’ needs. • Media censorship is an ongoing issue in the Middle East. Invariably, the findings could open up dialogue between institutions and the internet media providers to allow access to some of these sites that have remained blocked.

8. Significance and Justification for Study • This study is timely and significant in the light of the agitation for paradigm and pedagogical shift in instruction from the traditional classroom methods; to more pragmatic methods often driven by new technology. • Educational planners and implementers can no longer ignore the technological, internet and digital media “smartness” of the contemporary learners. Furthermore, faculty development training should be directed towards meeting the learners needs.

9. This study is also important in order to address the wider issues of censorship of new media sites. It is hoped that if communication and access providers are sensitized to the educative potentials of new media, they will not close or block these sites at will.

10. Research Design and Methodology • This study is structured after the Action Research design in which results are used to improve instructional practice as well as create a more pragmatic teaching and learning methodology. Beyond the improvement in instruction, it is also a collaborative work between a faculty member and a student who seem to have taken the stick to beat the drum of using new media for academic purposes among his peers.

11. Research Questions • Are learners satisfied with the pedagogical and methodology of teaching? • Do learners prefer a shift in the instructional methods of classroom to more use of new media technological devices • Are learners adequately informed of the educative potentials of these media technologies? • Do learners think their instructors are knowledgeable in the use of the new media technology? • Are Colleges or universities sensitive to contemporary learners’ needs for diversified methods of learning

12. Population and Sample • The population for the study includes students from three different universities in the United Arab Emirates. A random sampling of these students is chosen as representative of the population. 50 students are selected each= 150. However, only 132 completed and returned the questionnaire.

13. The researchers use both the quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection and analysis. For quantitative response, a minimum of ten questions are asked • These questions are close ended and ask participants to choose between options Yes or No. • For soliciting qualitative date, two questions that ask for comments and opinions are included. • The questions for qualitative data are considered very essential in measuring the gut feelings of the participants and to make up for the limitations of close ended questions in collecting in-depth information

14. Limitations of the Study • Arguably, there are limitations in studying only three universities in the United Arab Emirates. However, as the researchers had already stated, Action research is continuous and the sample and population will be expanded in subsequent studies on the topic.

15. 1- Introduction • 1:1 A World Driven by Technology: The world is getting smaller everyday because of new technological innovations. Almost everything we touch; everything we use and everything we do has a mark of technology • We seem to be enclosed all around in the cocoon of gadgets that we need for one thing or the other. • The internet has intervened to bring people closer to one another than ever before

16. The internet has created a new life style and community by bringing the world closer and making it easier to discover, and know so much more than other forms of technology. • The introduction of Social media is a step further in the exploration of ways of bringing people even much closer. • As technology improves day by day, people can access social media sites from anywhere, and at anytime.

17. What one needs are just a computer, some portable devices, smart phones, computers, and game consoles and an internet connection. • However, as people get more involved with social networking sites, it can become more of a distraction to some than an advantage to more effective communication. People can get so absorbed in them that other important aspects of their lives could be ignored.

18. Therefore it has become increasing important and challenging to find ways of making these sites more helpful not only in social connections but also in knowledge acquisition and improvement as well. In particular, studies have shown that these sites can be used for more meaningful activities in education. • They can help a lot of students to connect with classmates and teachers when they miss class, discuss topics, and look for help for projects and assignments. (Winkler, 2011, Hollow, 2011).

19. Literature Review Works abound on the importance of social media sites in connecting people for positive actions (Hess, 2009, Olawale 2010, Olaniyi, 2011, Gbenga, 2011, Asinobi-Iroadu, 2011). At the present, a lot of mobilizations on the issues of governance and politics have been done through the vehicle of social media. She highlights how electioneering has left the physical place of moving from one locality to another to reaching out to the voters via cyberspace of internet communities.

20. She points out that candidates embraced social and digital media sites in their bid to open more connecting spaces with the younger generation of voters. • She highlights the overarching role of social media sites not only in Nigeria and Africa but also in the different regions of the world especially in the Arab world. The recent and ongoing agitations for political reforms in this region have been fueled by the use of internet social and digital media. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube. Flickr have all become the new face of participatory democracy and governance.

21. People upload photos and report events with these new media and digital devices thereby subverting their governments’ efforts to downplay the seriousness of the uprisings. Arguably, young people are often at the forefront of these cyber and digital political agitations. • An earlier study on Facebook and education (2010)by this researcher forund out that shows that many of the participants were not aware of the academic potentials inherent in these social media sites.

22. Kirsten Winkler (2011) in an article titled “Facebook and Education – Do Opposites Finally attract?” compares the educational and professional potentials of the social networks, Linkden and Facebook. She thinks that Facebook has not attracted as much following as an educational site as Linkden. • In her conclusion, she expressed optimism that the educational potentials of the social network is still evolving and would see some significant growth this year.

23. Jason Falls (2009) tried to compile a list of internet blogs that focus on education. However, many of the blogs that made the list are targeted at primary and high school education and not necessarily college education. • David Hollow in an Article titled “Facebook and education in Africa – should we be merging boundaries?” (2011) explores the rapid spread of Facebook social network in Africa and its great potential to assist in both formal and informal learning.

24. “Facebook…is transforming the way people communicate across the globe, and therefore by necessity it undoubtedly has the potential to transform the way that people learn” (Hollow, 2011). He examines a Tanzanian social and digital media project aimed at “moving beyond defensive competition and instead developing a rich, diverse learning community…a space in which dialogue occurs, boundaries are stretched and ideas formed.”

25. Our study looks at the other perspective; the learners’ perspective. • It is not just good enough for educators to think there are benefits and limitations in using social media in education and thereby making decisions based on their own surmising. • The decision on whether the learners appreciate these benefits and limitation should be inclusive of the learner and not exclusive.

26. 4Discussions and implications of findings: • The data collected and analyzed show that many of the participants are involved with social media sites not only for social relationships but also for academic purposes. However, there is a need to create more awareness on the academic potentials of the network as only slightly more than half (54%) of the participants use these media for academic purposes. Facebook, YouTube and Blackboard seem to be the most preferred networks for study.

27. The video display potentials of YouTube make it very popular especially in a region where students suffer from a language barrier to effective learning. • Today’s learners no longer want to be bored with day in and out classroom teaching. The world is exciting to them with these new technologies, why not make learning as exciting as it can be? • This can be seen in the overwhelming ‘yes’ response to Q#8 with 78% wanting a shift to use of new media technologies in teaching.

28. The present day learner is mobile and can multi task so the learners want teaching methods that can follow them around. They feel more comfortable often learning at their pace some of the times and not made to sit at designated location to receive all the instructions. • Teacher attitude is important in the drive to more innovative and pragmatic methods. It is important for learners to have the confidence that their teachers can lead them to learn with social media sites. Responses to Q#6 show that most of the participants trust in their teachers

29. The institutions need to pay more attention to the responses in Q#9 where nearly 38% of participants think their institutions do not care for their need for diversity in the methods of learning. Asinobi-Iroadu (2011) in an unpublished paper, “Can Anyone and Everyone Teach: A Closer Look at Learning and Teaching Standards in Contemporary Times” shows how the general discontent amongst students on their exclusion from syllabus review and course evaluation can contribute to apathy in learning.

30. In Q#11 students made some suggestions on the ways more awareness can be created on the academic potentials of social and new media sites: • 1. They should make groups of Facebook to notify students on what is going on. • 2. They should create groups in these websites; organize activities in these website • 3. By organizing seminars and conferences and practically showing the benefits that can be gained from these websites. • 4. Find other ways or other easier ways to explain what you study such as a short video and find a person who can answer your questions such as answer google.com and interact with your instructor at any time.

31. Many of the participants find it relevant and timely especially in its quest to include students in the decision on methodology which is indeed very innovative: • This is an interesting topic and also very important to discuss about these things that will help us in our study. • 2. I like this discussion of how technology can be used in communication between the students and the doctor in any tine and any place. This can be updated every day or every week. • 3. I definitely agree with the topic because these sites will keep the student updated with connections, communication and collaboration with the world.

32. 5. I hope instructors teaching courses will create videos to make it easier for students to understand more and repeat and remember what the instructor said in the class or what he missed. • 6. We must be allowed to use laptops in the class and study the courses in more technical and practical ways. • 7. It is a very important topic. • 8. I love the idea of this topic and think we should rely more on social media sites. • 9. The topic is very important but some colleges and universities do not know nor care about it.

33. However, some of the participants do not accept that social media sites can be used for any meaningful academic purposes. One participant wrote a sarcastic comment; ‘What academic purpose can Facebook be of?” while another cautioned against the danger of embracing these media without close scrutiny; “Social Media Sites can spread wrong and biased information so we should be selective.”

34. The issue of media censorship in the UAE and in some universities was also highlighted in the comments of the students. Skype and Facebook at some point were blocked by the major communication company in the UAE; Etisalat. (Skype is still blocked). Many reasons ranging from offensive content to a desire to maintain profit-driven communication monopoly have been advanced for the blocking. It depends on which side of the fence one looks in from.

35. Some of the participants expressed their frustration with this trend through the following comments: “All blocked”, “Unblock them!!!”, “By not blocking these”, “Open access to lectures will help but all these sites are blocked.” • 5. Recommendations: The findings have implications for all stakeholders in education: policy makers, curriculum developers, institutions, teachers and learners.

36. Curriculum developers should incorporate the suggestions of those for whom they are creating the programs; in this case represented by the participants. • Institutions should create more technological friendly environment to meet the new age learners’ needs by investing in infrastructure, purchase of gadgets, more research, more education and awareness to students and more faculty development programs towards more innovative methods and pedagogy.

37. Learners should show more reciprocity by moving towards a more responsible use of the social media for study. • A learner centered education presupposes that the learners themselves must be involved in discovering, creating and applying information for their development. The vast potentials offered by the unfettered world of the internet, social and digital media open can help them achieve high levels of excellence.

38. Teachers should never stop learning. New technology is ever evolving and the teacher who must remain relevant and on top of their careers must update themselves all the time. Teachers need to shake off the apathy, dullness and comfort that are synonymous with “old wine” and embrace the bubbly zeal of “new wine.” They should invest in personal professional development and quest for improved standards at all times.