Recent studies on social media in collaborative learning

In recent years several studies explored the usefulness of social media in educational learning and found collaborative learning settings as a very effective and ideal stage to implement the social media practices (Ntlabathi, Nkonki & Mkonki, 2014; Martín-Gutiérrez, Fabiani, Benesova, Meneses & Mora, 2014; Aghaee, 2010; Liao, Huang, Chen & Huang, 2015). Due to rapid information and technological infrastructural advancement in the recent past, usage of new media tools like social media became an increasingly important issue which had a great impact on modern teaching and learning. Gokhale (1995), examined the effectiveness of individual learning versus collaborative learning in enhancing drill-and-practice skills and critical-thinking skills. It was found that students who participated in collaborative learning performed significantly better on the critical thinking test than students who studied individually. Most of the participants felt that group work helped them to better understand the material and stimulated their thinking process. In addition, the shared responsibility reduced the anxiety associated with problem solving. The participants commented that also humor played a vital role in reducing anxiety. However, a couple of participants mentioned that they wasted a lot of time explaining the material to other group members.

A recent research by Rocca, Margottini and Capobianco (2014), shows that collaborative learning can create a motivational situation for the students to perform their studies in an affectionate way. They investigated the hypothesis that collaborative learning and peer tutoring in a university environment can positively influence students to maintain a constant motivation and affection towards their study and also help to reduce the drop-out rate and encourage greater regularity in the academic career. Their pilot study was performed in a university setting among the students who were taught in a collaborative way within a certain time span. At the end of their research they found that students felt involved in the building of learning and teaching paths, which they helped with their shared knowledge. The operations of analysis, synthesis, evaluation and online correction of the pathways followed and of the study materials, as well as the in-presence public presentation of the final work, helped to reinforce their self-esteem, their sense of belonging to a community that learns and their positive disposition towards their discipline and their final exam. Thus due to the nature of collaborative learning, it would be interesting to investigate the compatibility and the usefulness of social media in collaborative learning practices.

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Martín-Gutiérrez, Fabiani, Benesova, Meneses and Mora (2014), have showed the importance of collaborative learning to implement augmented reality as a new technological tool to develop new teaching methodologies bases on the computer technology. According to the researchers of this study, despite of their validity and successful results, traditional methods are recently avoided by the educational institutions. Rather, the interest now focuses on more productive methods that may improve the learning experience and the students’ intellectual level. Varieties of educational tools based on computer technology are provoking the development of new teaching methodologies, and in this study it was found that augmented reality (which allows a combination of real world elements captured through a camera with multimedia elements such as text, images, video or 3D models and animations) as one of the most promising technologies. Computer supported collaborative learning is a pedagogical approach that can be used for deploying educational apps based on augmented reality in higher education. This is because in a collaborative learning setting learners perform common tasks in small groups in order to reach shared goals or learning results through interactions and active learning. In augmented reality where the virtual and physical worlds coexist, users learn while communicating with others in the same space. This naturally leads to collaborative interactions. Mobile devices, particularly smart phones, are an ideal platform for the collaborative augmented reality.

Liao, Huang, Chen and Huang (2015), explored the use of social network sites as in collaborative learning environment, to see how they can be used more effectively. Authors emphasized to explore collaborative learning in a ubiquitous learning (U-learning) context, as it can promote the development of self efficacy, enhance learning motivation and active learning attitudes and lead to improved learning outcomes. Ubiquitous learning indicates the use of wireless and mobile technologies by the students to share virtually their knowledge and experiences gained from the computer supported real world. Also, students learning processes are possible to be detected in both real and virtual situations in a U-learning environment (Hwang, Shi & Chu, 2011). The main purpose of the study was to attempt to introduce collaborative learning strategies into a U-learning environment, and use team cooperation to enhance peer interaction to effectively enhance the learning achievements and learning motivation of students. The aim was to establish a comprehensive evaluation model for the instructors and researchers to take the advantages of social media networking sites for pedagogical purposes. This study evaluated learners’ acceptance and usage effects of social networking websites as a collaborative learning platform through technology acceptance

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model, collective efficacy theory along with a Jigsaw-based collaborative learning method.

The results of this study suggest that using Jigsaw-based collaborative learning approach is very much compatible with the social networking websites, as the platform itself can increase positive attitude to the system and also increase their learning motivation to achieve their learning objectives. The platform was perceived as playful and useful, thus the learning attitude and usage effect was also enhanced.

Fessakis, Dimitracopoulou and Palaiodimos (2013) investigated the impact of interaction analysis on group collaboration through blogs in learning by design scenario. Due to the consistency to the modern learning theories, the uses of social software like blogs have emerged in the educational community. Blogs constitute special instance of social software that is a network application supporting groups of actors in communication and interaction.

Students participating in blogging have opportunities to reflect on their texts engage in writing for significant time intervals and trigger long dialogue with their readers leading to new writing cycles. In teaching and learning, blogs can be used to collect learning resources and share ideas and experiences. Log notes and observations during an inquiry learning activity can be maintained using the blogs. To manage a project developing dialogues in an online forum, reflect and communicate with teachers and peers-students, develop collaboration and social skills, run online school newspapers are also possible using blogs.

Use of blogs in teaching and learning can be motivating for the participants to participate more actively in a course. A quantitative interaction analysis, of groups collaborating through blogging, was performed to investigate the impact of analysis over the collaborative learning by design. As a research result it was found that interaction analysis can increase the self regulation in a computer supported collaborative learning environment. The effectiveness of collaborative learning design model was increased when the interaction analysis tools were combined within the design. Students learnt to use blogs easily and found it suitable for the communication and information management requirements of the scenario and also believed that blogging in the particular context of the learning scenario makes them better collaborators. The interaction analysis graphs gave students the impression that teachers are monitoring their participation in the groups and this facilitates/urges students to contribute and collaborate more.

Aghaee (2010) implemented collaborative theory to explore, how are students using social media to support educational learning and what are the benefits and limitations? By doing a

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qualitative study author concluded that social media is a useful tool for supporting educational learning, although it has some limitations and negative aspects. For example, half of the student thought that interaction is less effective by using social media and the cause might be due to losing body language, lack of symbols and difficulty of writing or sharing formula.

Most of the respondents did not consider the collaboration on social media as a substitute of face to face interaction and the traditional campus education. All the respondents used social media but only a quarter of them used it for academic purpose.

Ntlabathi, Nkonki and Mkonki (2014), showed the importance of web based technologies in higher education. Their main concern was the usage of social media by the teachers and students at higher education level. They mainly studied social media as a web based technology in higher education. Their main was to find out, what are other technologies than Blackboard (Learning management system) are there used? They found that web based social media technologies are widely used in higher education for different purposes. After the investigation, it was clear that most lecturers use Blackboard, followed by v: drive and e-mail.

Along with these technologies, other technologies used at the institution are mostly emerging technologies and still very new both in the social space and academia. They are also widely used by students in their social environments for example; Facebook, Myspace and others.

Students would find it easy to work with these technologies as they use them most of the time to communicate with their peers and to source information and they support each other on how to use them. This should be seen as a positive aspect of these technologies as enriching collaborative tools.