Abstract
ABSTRACTThere is a sharp rise in the use of social networking sites (SNSs) by university students for various purposes. However, little is known about the use of SNSs for educational purposes. This study aims to determine educational use of SNSs by the medical students of two Saudi and a Kuwaiti medical school. A cross-sectional study was conducted by administering a 20-statement questionnaire to the undergraduate medical and allied health sciences students of two Saudi universities: Taibah University (TU) and Imam Abdulrahman AlFaisal University (IAFU), and one Kuwaiti university, Kuwait University (KU). The data were collected and analyzed by SPSS 20. Of a total of 1312 respondents, 1181 (90%) students used SNSs and 131 (10%) did not use SNSs for any reason. Further, only 442/1181 (37%, p < 0.00) students used SNSs for education and found these sites to be useful. As many as 357 (27%) students used SNSs for sharing education-related information once a day, 306 (23%) 3–5 times a day, and 331 (25%) once a week. A maximum of 678 (52%) used Facebook for educational purpose and most of the students, 469 (38%), used SNSs for sharing lectures. There were significant variations in responses among genders and year of schooling. The use of online social media in medical education is a rapidly evolving arena of scholarship. Low use of SNSs for sharing information and significant variations in perceptions of medical students about social media should draw attention of policy-makers for promoting awareness and educational reforms.
Highlights
Developments of cutting-edge technologies and the advent of computer and Internet have exponentially increased use of Internet-based medical transformation [1]
The 510 (39%) students were in 18–24 years, majority of respondents 793 (60%) were in age group 25–34 years, and 9 (0.7%) students were older than 34 years
As many as 206/796 (26%) Imam Abdulrahman AlFaisal University (IAFU) students, 156/352 (44%) Taibah University (TU) students, and 80/164 (49%) Kuwait University (KU) students strongly agreed that social networking sites (SNSs) were useful for educational purposes
Summary
Developments of cutting-edge technologies and the advent of computer and Internet have exponentially increased use of Internet-based medical transformation [1]. The growing application of Internet-based learning in health professions education has been initially perceived as an effective platform for timely, convenient, and collaborative education [2]. One of the groundbreaking innovations in the Internet-based platforms with multidimensional purposes is development of social networking sites (SNSs). A report conducted on 455 students, residents, and physicians has shown that 94% medical students, 79.4% residents, and 42% practicing physicians used SNSs [6]. This reflects an ever-growing use of SNSs among young medical students
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