LEARNING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA: UNDERSTANDING BS ACCOUNTANCY - 3RD YEAR STUDENTS’ INFORMATION-SEEKING BEHAVIOR IN DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

This research aimed to understand the UEP BS Accountancy-3rd year students’ information-seeking behavior in social media in the 2nd semester of the academic school year 2020-2021. This study intended to know the students’ social media preferences to assure a competitive advantage in today's technology driven information society. Specifically, this study aimed to: determine the respondents’ social media preference in seeking and sharing information; identify the respondents’ reasons for the use of ICT; measure the respondents’ attitude towards learning with so cial media; ascertain the respondents’ affinity in using social media; test the relationship of the respondents’ reasons for the use of ICT and attitude towards learning with social media; and, test the relationship of the respondents’ attitude towards learning and affinity on social media. This study was conducted in the College of Business Administration of the University of Eastern Philippines. It employed an inferential and descriptive survey research. The respondents of this study were the twenty-four (24) third year students of BS Accountancy from the College of Business Administration. The researcher adopted the research instrument utilized by North Texas, USA higher education learning technologies which was the Learning Preference Survey Battery. Results showed that in social media learning preference/s, Google ranked first, with a 23 frequency and 95.2 percent, which indicates that it is the most visited platform in terms of information seeking as it offered a wide array of information. In reasons for using ICT, majority of the respondents use it to keep updated on the current topics related to their study with a weighted mean of 4.83. In attitude towards learning with social media, majority of the respondents who use social media, with a mean of 4.46, are able to keep posted on what is happening around the world. In affi nity in using social media, majority of the respondents, with a weighted mean of 4.63, agree that many people are too attached to their smart phon es. Also, in the test of relationship of the respondents’ reasons for the use of ICT and attitude towards learning with social media, result showed that there is no significant relationship. In the test of relationship of the respondents’ attitude towards learning and affinity on social media, result showed that there is no significant relationship. The study recommends that the importance of the reliability of the sources in seeking information should be emphasized and students should be trained on how to seek correct and reliable information and practice appropriate search strategies and tactics for different social media use and critical information evaluation. With the current mode of learning, it is therefore recommended that teachers should integrate technology use in the teaching and learning process where students can utilize social media to increase their participation and performance. It is also advised that teachers should established online rules and etiquettes when there is an online meeting or class. Information literacy education program is highly suggested by the researcher. Lastly, the university should also allow the access of smart phones during lectures if NEEDED, provide free Wi-Fi not just in the premises of the University and also support free cellular prepaid load for all students.