scholarly journals WhatsApp is the Message: Out-of-Class Communication, Student-Teacher Relationship, and Classroom Environment

10.28945/4183 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 073-095
Author(s):  
Arnon Hershkovitz ◽  
Mohamed ali Abu Elhija ◽  
Daher Zedan
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Teacher Communication ◽  
Student Teacher Relationship

Aim/Purpose: To study associations between elementary-, middle- and high-school students’ perceptions of classroom environment and student-teacher relationship and their out-of-class communication practices via WhatsApp app. Background: Communication between students and teachers is usually extended beyond the classroom’s time and space. This communication, referred to as out-of-class communication (OCC), may impact students’ academic, social, and emotional development. Today, OCC is facilitated via social media and instant messaging services, which may have impact on its nature. Methodology: Methodology was quantitative in nature. Data was collected using an online questionnaire (implemented on Google Forms, http://forms.google.com , during June-July 2016. Participants (n=300), from 5th-12th grades (11-18 years old), were recruited in schools in a few Arab villages in northern Israel, with the assistance of their teachers. Contribution: The present study expands the growing body of knowledge about student-teacher communication via online social networks, specifically regarding out-of-class communication. We identify the unique aspects of WhatsApp-based out-of-class communication, which shed light on student-teacher relationship at large. Findings from this study may assist educators (while in training and/or professional development programs) to reflect upon their own educational agenda and to check if and how they and their students can benefit from OCC. Findings: Overall, we identify WhatsApp’s important, unique role in promoting good student-teacher relationship and positive classroom environment. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings regarding the unique contribution of WhatsApp to student-teacher out-of-class communication should be taken into consideration by policy makers while formulating policies for the use of online social networks in educational settings. Teachers should be aware of the important role this type of communication plays for their students and for their classroom. Both teachers and students should communicate respectfully, with teachers serving as role models for their students regarding proper digital behavior. Recommendation for Researchers: This study should be replicated to more populations and to more communication platforms, in order to validate its findings. Impact on Society: The associations between out-of-class communication via online social networks and student-teacher relationship have two main effects on society at large. First, promoting better student-teacher communication could improve learning and teaching. Second, if this communication is to be carried out properly, the students - who are the future citizens - will learn how to behave correctly in the digital age. Future Research: It is advised to explore the studied associations in other populations and regarding other communication platforms. Also, qualitative exploration is advisable, as it may shed more light on the unique aspects of WhatsApp-based student-teacher out-of-class communication.

scholarly journals Students’ Perceptions of Benefits and Drawbacks of Facebook-Connections with Teachers

10.28945/4180 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 001-020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnon Hershkovitz ◽  
Alona Forkosh Baruch
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
School Context ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Teacher Communication ◽  
Student Teacher Relationship

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to explore positive and negative aspects of student-teacher communication via Facebook, as perceived by students in secondary education. Background: Student-teacher relationship is key to students’ cognitive, social and emotional development. In recent years, as social networking sites (e.g., Facebook) became popular, these connections have extended to such platforms. However, most studies of the use of social networking sites in the school context are pedagogically-driven, and research on the ways student-teacher relationship is facilitated by these platforms is meager. Methodology: We utilized a qualitative approach, analyzing middle- and high-school students’ responses to open-ended questions about this topic (N=667). We used both top-down and bottom-up analyses. Contribution: This study contributes to the growing literature about the overall impact of using social networking sites on the educational milieu. Specifically, it contributes by shedding light on students’ perspectives of that phenomenon. Insights from this study are important for educators and education policy makers. Findings: We found that student-teacher communication is mostly practical, although students who are not connected de facto but wish to connect romanticize it as more appealing. Furthermore, we found that students’ perceptions of negative aspects of such communication is complex, reflecting a deep understanding of the social media. Students were mostly concerned with privacy issues, and much less with other pedagogical, technological and social concerns. Altogether, it seems that the students acknowledge the benefits of connecting with their teachers online and implement this communication rather responsibly. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend that educators who wish to do so wisely use social networking sites and instant messaging services as part of their professional conduct, taking advantage of the benefits of using these platforms, and being aware of (and cautious about) potential drawbacks. We encourage educators to learn more about the potential uses of social networking sites and instant messaging services, and then to examine whether these uses may fit their educational agenda. We recommend education policymakers make evidence-based decisions regarding the use of social networking sites by teachers and encourage school communities to discuss these issues together. Recommendation for Researchers: As technology develops rapidly, we recommend researchers examine the topics raised in the current research with regards to other platforms, in order to better understand the technological aspects that may affect students’ perceptions of the use of social networking sites and instant messaging services to communicate with their students. We also recommend studying what types of resources are available to education policymakers when making decisions on relevant policies. Impact on Society: Understanding teens’ perspectives of their relationship with their teachers in today’s digital, networked world gives us a better understanding of this generation, hence may assist in planning and realizing a better educational system. Future Research: Future studies should focus on other social networking sites and instant messaging services, as well as on other countries and cultures.

Building Online Social Networks to Engage Female Students in Information Systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 33-51
Author(s):  
Jaymeen R. Shah ◽  
Hsun-Ming Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Online Social Network ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Female Students ◽  
The Social

During the next decade, enrollment growth in Information Systems (IS) related majors is unlikely to meet the predicted demand for qualified IS graduates. Gender imbalance in the IS related program makes the situation worse as enrollment and retention of women in the IS major has been proportionately low compared to male. In recent years, majority of high school and college students have integrated social networking sites in their daily life and habitually use these sites. Providing female students access to role models via an online social network may enhance their motivation to continue as an IS major and pursue a career in IS field. For this study, the authors follow the action research process – exploration of information systems development. In particular, a Facebook application was developed to build the social network connecting role models and students. Using the application, a basic framework is tested based on the gender of participants. The results suggest that it is necessary to have adequate number of role models accessible to students as female role-models tend to select fewer students to develop relationships with a preference for female students. Female students likely prefer composite role models from a variety of sources. This pilot study yields valuable lessons to provide informal learning fostered by role modeling via online social networks. The Facebook application may be further expanded to enhance female students' interests in IS related careers.

scholarly journals Anticollusion Attack Strategy Combining Trust Metrics and Secret Sharing for Friendships Protection

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Junfeng Tian ◽  
Yue Li
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Secret Sharing ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Online Interaction ◽  
Collusion Attacks ◽  
New Type ◽  
Trust Metric ◽  
Trust Metrics ◽  
Attack Strategy

Online social networks provide users with services such as online interaction, instant messaging, and information sharing. The friend search engine, a new type of social application, provides users with the service for querying the list of other individuals’ friends. Currently, the existing research focuses on independent attacks for friend search engines while ignoring the more complicated collusion attacks, which can expose more friendships that users are not willing to share. Compared with independent attackers, collusion attackers share query results by cooperating with each other. In this article, we propose a resistance strategy against collusion attacks to protect the friendship privacy. The proposed trust metric is based on users’ behaviors and is combined with Shamir’s secret sharing system, which can transform friendships into secrets. Through secret distribution and reconfiguration, only the participants who meet the query requirements can successfully reconstruct the secret, while the participants who do not meet the query conditions cannot successfully obtain the secret fragments even if they obtain the secret fragments. Experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy and proved that this strategy can greatly limit the number of malicious attackers, greatly reduce the probability of successful collusion attacks, and reduce the number of victims.

scholarly journals Designing for learning: Online social networks as a classroom environment

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail Casey ◽  
Terry Evans
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Social Media ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Public High School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Online Social Media

<p>This paper deploys notions of emergence, connections, and designs for learning to conceptualize high school students’ interactions when using online social media as a learning environment. It makes links to chaos and complexity theories and to fractal patterns as it reports on a part of the first author’s action research study, conducted while she was a teacher working in an Australian public high school and completing her PhD. The study investigates the use of a Ning online social network as a learning environment shared by seven classes, and it examines students’ reactions and online activity while using a range of social media and Web 2.0 tools.</p><p><br />The authors use Graham Nuthall’s (2007) “lens on learning” to explore the social processes and culture of this shared online classroom. The paper uses his extensive body of research and analyses of classroom learning processes to conceptualize and analyze data throughout the action research cycle. It discusses the pedagogical implications that arise from the use of social media and, in so doing, challenges traditional models of teaching and learning.<br /><br /></p>

scholarly journals Learning and Teaching Mathematics with Online Social Networks: The Case of Facebook

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaniv Biton ◽  
Ruti Segal
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Mathematical Thinking ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Online Social Network ◽  
School Students ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Matriculation Exam

We present here a study in which a digital-based communication platform is used for collaborative work in the learning and teaching processes. In this case, we focused on Facebook as the online social network to help motivate high-school students to become well prepared for their Bagrut (matriculation) exam in mathematics. To this end, the Center for Educational Technology (CET) established a “virtual review session” on Facebook before the exam in which 614 students and 16 teachers participated. We aimed to answer two questions: what learning and teaching opportunities can Facebook offer to prepare students for the mathematics matriculation exam? and how do students and teachers perceive learning processes via social networks? Our analysis was qualitative. The findings indicate that Facebook, for one, can offer excellent learning and teaching opportunities as a result of the interactions that evolve between the students themselves and between the students and teachers. For the students, this digital social platform helps promote peer evaluation, exposes them to a wide range of questions and solutions, and fosters the development of mathematical thinking and creativity. For the teachers, it helps expand their technological and pedagogical-mathematical knowledge.

scholarly journals "Together but Separate" – What is the Correlation, If Any, between Social Loneliness, Virtual Friendship, and Use of Social Networks

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Roman Yavich ◽  
Nitza Davidovitch
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Self Report ◽  
School Students ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Virtual Friendship ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Social Loneliness

With the rise of online social networks, the development and maintenance of relationships are gradually being transferred to the virtual sphere. Technological developments have created a revolution that forces people to cope with situations that were unknown to them several decades ago. This study aimed to examine the association, if any, between social loneliness and virtual friendship. In addition, the effect of gender on these variables was also examined. The research participants included 313 high school students from all over Israel, with an age range of 14-18. The study examined social loneliness, the nature of virtual friendships, and participants' undue use of social networks, using two self-report scales. The research findings indicate a significant correlation between social loneliness and these variables, as well as an effect of gender. A correlation was also found between social loneliness and virtual friendships, but no interaction was found between these variables and gender, such that this research hypothesis was not confirmed. These findings might illuminate the development of interpersonal communication in the present era, as well as the role of virtual communication in the lives of individuals.

scholarly journals Analysis of Online Social Interactions Based on Positive Reinforcement Social Networks in a K–12 Geometry Class

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 11545
Author(s):  
Sebastian Romero ◽  
Habib M. Fardoun ◽  
Victor M. R. Penichet ◽  
Maria D. Lozano ◽  
Jose A. Gallud
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Positive Reinforcement ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Classroom Participation ◽  
School Students ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Experimental Group

Online social networks are part of our daily life. They are widely used among university students. These platforms have positive and negative aspects. Focusing on the positive aspects, positive reinforcement social networks (PRSNs) have been used to improve the participation of high school students in the classroom. The main objective of this study is to analyze online social interaction on PRSNs, in order to find out if they have a positive impact on classroom participation and students’ self-perceptions of their own social skills, especially in the supposedly difficult STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects, where engagement tends to be lower. An education-oriented PRSN platform has been developed and used by the experimental group of students to promote discussion and facilitate the sharing of different types of materials. These materials had to be related to students’ academic and professional life, but not necessarily related to Mathematics. A total of 72 Geometry students (K–12) and their teacher participated in a semester-long experimental study. Analyses of the interactions through the proposed platform combined with classroom participation revealed that students from the experimental group showed an improvement not found in the control group. Moreover, perceptions of students’ own online skills were analyzed, showing a positive impact after the experiment.

scholarly journals Development of Positive Attitudes of Class V towards Learning Science

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Dorji Tenzin ◽  
Lham Tshering ◽  
Sangay Wangdi ◽  
Jamyang Choden
Keyword(s):  
Student Teacher ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Science Learning ◽  
Class V ◽  
School Location ◽  
Student Teacher Relationship ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Towards Science

Attitude of children towards science gained attractiveness among the researchers, mainly to influence students’ science learning, their achievements and participation in science class. Therefore, this study using mixed method examined the effects of parents or guardians involvement on attitude of students towards science, gender, teaching strategies, past achievement and student-teacher relationship and little on classroom environment and school location. A total of 18 students completed a questionnaire developed to examine the factors involving on attitudes of students to science. To further increase the authenticity of the quantitative findings, 11 students through judgmental selection took part in interview. The teaching strategies executed, past achievements, career choices and student-teacher relationship were positively correlated with attitude of students towards science. The study suggests that students attitude towards science can be improved by focusing on aforementioned reasons. Moreover, attitudes towards science higher classes can be improved by offering science only to interested, depending on the performance in previous grades.

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