The Utilization of Social Media Tools for Informal Learning Activities: A Survey Study

Abstract

Accepted: 18.09.2013 Today, educators and researchers are taking advantage of the advances in the Internet more than ever before. With the advent of social media tools, a new paradigm of teaching and learning has emerged. This study aims to explore social media uses in informal learning activities among CEIT students. A descriptive survey method was used in the study. The participants of the study were 357 undergraduate students in the department of CEIT in a state university. Data was collected through a survey questionnaire developed by the researchers. 18 popular social media tools and 6 major informal activities were selected and integrated into the questionnaire so as to identify the social media tool preferences of the students. Additionally, the participants were asked to identify their main reasons for not using social media tools. The results were presented with frequency and percentage tables. The findings indicated that Facebook is an important social media tool preferred by the majority of the students to fulfill their informal learning activities. This study also point out that besides Facebook, other social media tools are used for different purposes. The results also revealed that barriers for nonuse of social media tools can be grouped under psychological and technological factors. In light of the study results, some methodological and practical suggestions are made for further studies regarding the utilization of the utilization of the social media tools for informal learning activities.