Abstract
Millions of young contemporary adolescents and adults use social networking sites. However, little has been revealed about how much, why, and how the personal use of such sites relate to social media use for purposes besides belonging to Internet communities. This research aims to explore whether a relationship exists between the personal use of Social Media and hospitality students’ group engagement; thus shedding light to what retains connectedness and engagement for hospitality students working in groups in the more prominent educational area of Malaysia. 300 undergraduate students in hospitality program completed a three-section questionnaire. The results indicate that Facebook is dominantly perceived by students as a social network in Malaysia that is solely utilized for personal reasons albeit the fact students were found to utilize Facebook as a tool for collaborative group work purposes. Implications for further research are discussed to stress on more in-depth exploration that is necessary to provide a more substantial scope with regards to the use of social media and the group engagement of hospitality students undertaking a broad range of university courses in Hospitality field.
Highlights
Social skills, both offline and online, are growing in importance for hospitality students
The first research objective was to establish whether a relationship exists between the personal use of Facebook and hospitality students’ group engagement
The fulfillment of this research objective addressed the first research objective (i.e. Does relationship exists between the personal use of Facebook and Malaysia hospitality students’ group engagement?)
Summary
Both offline and online, are growing in importance for hospitality students. Universities in many countries are encouraging the use of social network platforms for familiarization purposes. Malaysian universities ( those of which are located in Klang Valley) which offer the up-and-coming course of hospitality and tourism have made student engagement a prime focus as a differentiator in the quality of graduates produced. Aiedah and Lee provided a stance to the fact that there are limited in-depth studies pertaining to student engagement in Malaysia, in project-based learning for some subjects [1]. On an international scale, there has been an urge to move academics to become more sustainable and innovative to address student engagement with more clarity and substance where concepts of blended learning are concerned [2]
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