scholarly journals Breaching Learners’ Social Distancing through Social Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 11012
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zaheer Asghar ◽  
Ayesha Iqbal ◽  
Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen ◽  
Elena Barbera
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Science Teacher Education ◽  
Group Development ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Media Usage

Higher education has been shifted toward blended learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. An increase in social media usage intensity and reduced face-to-face interaction due to the COVID-19 pandemic urged instructional communication researchers to revisit the dynamics of learners’ group development in terms of their socialization and academic performance during the COVID-19 crisis. This research aimed to determine the mediating role of social media sociability between face-to-face socialization and academic performance of higher education students in blended learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also the aim of the study to determine the moderating effect of social media usage intensity on social media sociability. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with the students (n = 340) enrolled in science teacher education departments of universities in Pakistan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for multivariate analysis. Results revealed that face-to-face socialization gave an essential start to develop a learning group. However, when face-to-face socialization was reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was mediated by social media usage in blended learning environments to increase their socialization and academic performance during the crisis. The findings of the study are useful for higher education institutions to adopt social media strategies for students’ socialization during the crisis.

Application of Gamification to Blended Learning in Higher Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 50-61
Author(s):  
Kamini Jaipal-Jamani ◽  
Candace Figg
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Traditional Instruction ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Gamified Learning

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has been identified as an effective digital teaching strategy to foster 21st century learning. The inclusion of digital game-based learning in instruction is challenging for educators to structure in higher education learning environments, often because of the lack of coherence with curriculum. Gamification is a recent DGBL strategy that enables the instructor to incorporate the motivational and engagement elements of games in ways that can be adapted to curriculum requirements. Gamification, supported with digital technologies such as web-based tools and learning management systems, offers the instructor the benefits of both face-to-face traditional instruction and online learning. An example of how blended learning in higher education incorporates gamification is presented. Study findings indicate that the blended gamified learning environment motivated learners and promoted cognitive, skill, and attitude development.

scholarly journals Exploring The Relationship of Social Media Usage and Multitasking of Social Media on Self-Efficacy and Academic Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-243
Author(s):  
Mahir Tahrir Salih Mohammed ◽  
◽  
Faridah Ibrahim ◽  
Norzita Yunus ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Media Multitasking ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Malaysian Students ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Academic Self Efficacy

Social media usage is known to harness new lifestyle among the youth. Use of social media promotes the negative as well as positive consequences for the students in general and academic life. This study examined the relationship between social media usage, multitasking of social media, and students' academic self-efficacy on students' academic performance among Malaysian youth. The current work also evaluates the mediating effect of students' academic self-efficacy on social media usage and social media multitasking on their academic performance. This study embraced a cross-sectional research design and quantitative data collected from 644 Malaysian students of higher education institutions. The collected data were analysed using SPSS v23 and PLS-SEM-based SmartPLS 3.1. The findings revealed that social media usage and social media multitasking are positively and significantly related to students' self-efficacy. Moreover, the results also showed that social media usage and multitasking, and students' self-efficacy are significantly associated with their academic performance. The results also exposed the mediational effect of students' self-efficacy on the relationship between social media multitasking and students' academic performance in higher education. The study recommends that by initiating the self-efficacy program in promoting social media's academic use and multitasking among Malaysian higher education students would result in better performance. Keywords: Social Media, self-efficacy, multitasking, media usage, academic performance.

scholarly journals Social Media Applications Affecting Students’ Academic Performance: A Model Developed for Sustainability in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi M. Alamri ◽  
Mohammed Amin Almaiah ◽  
Waleed Mugahed Al-Rahmi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Media Applications

Nowadays, social media applications (SMAs) which are quite popular among students have a significant influence on education sustainability. However, there is a lack of research that explores elements of the constructivist learning approach with the technology acceptance model (TAM) in higher education. Therefore, this research aimed to minimize the literature gap by examining the SMA factors used for active collaborative learning (ACL) and engagement (EN) to affect the students’ academic performance in measuring education sustainability, as well as examining their satisfaction from its use. This study employed constructivism theory and TAM as the investigation model, and applied a quantitative method and analysis through surveying 192 university students at King Faisal University. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the responses were sorted into nine factors and analyzed to explain students’ academic performance in measuring education sustainability, as well as their satisfaction. The results were analyzed with structural equation modelling; it was shown that all the hypotheses were supported and positively related to sustainability for education, confirming significant relationships between the use of SMAs and the rest of the variables considered in our model (interactivity with peers (IN-P), interactivity with lecturers (IN-L), ACL, EN, perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived usefulness (PU), SMA use, student satisfaction (SS), and students’ academic performance (SAP).

Presence and Perceived Learning in Different Higher Education Blended Learning Environments

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rouhollah Khodabandelou ◽  
Habibah Ab Jalil ◽  
Wan Zah Wan Ali ◽  
Shaffe Mohd Daud
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Perceived Learning ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Difference

Blended learning as “third generation” of distance learning has the potential to offer multimethod instruction through the blend, to leverage the strengths of current online and traditional instructions. Therefore, higher education institutions having recognized the fact that blended learning is beneficial, adopted this alternative approach as a new educational delivery method. The study determined the difference in perceived learning among three different blended learning environments in Malaysian higher education institutions. The data were collected from three public universities in Peninsular Malaysia and the respondents were undergraduate students from these universities. The result showed that the students' presence in classroom meetings contributes to their learning. The results also indicate that high levels of perceived learning were reported by undergraduate student in the blended learning environment face-to-face meeting rather than online sessions

scholarly journals Blended Learning Acceptance Scale (BLAS) in Distance Higher Education: Toward an Initial Development and Validation

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110400
Author(s):  
Brandford Bervell ◽  
Irfan Naufal Umar ◽  
Jeya Amantha Kumar ◽  
Beatrice Asante Somuah ◽  
Valentina Arkorful
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
Acceptance Scale ◽  
Development And Validation

The adoption of blended mode of e-learning is dominant basically because of the affordances of the combination of both the benefits of online and face-to-face sessions. In view of this, most traditional distance education institutions have acquired Learning Management System (LMS) for online learning to support the face-to-face aspect of lesson delivery to satisfy the blended mode. This has induced research into the acceptance of blended learning from both tutors’ and students’ perspectives. However, the gap in the literature is that, most of these researches employ instruments that measure only the LMS-based online aspect or the technology of the blended mode leaving the face-to-face aspect relegated. To fill the gap, data were collected from 267 tutors based on a cross-sectional survey design with the questionnaire as the instrument. The result was a development and validation through a partial least squares structural equation modeling of a Blended Learning Acceptance Scale (BLAS) that combines both LMS-based online learning and face-to-face aspects to measure blended learning acceptance in distance higher education.

Presence and Perceived Learning in Different Higher Education Blended Learning Environments

2016 ◽  
pp. 615-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rouhollah Khodabandelou ◽  
Habibah Ab Jalil ◽  
Wan Zah Wan Ali ◽  
Shaffe Mohd Daud
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Perceived Learning ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Difference

Blended learning as “third generation” of distance learning has the potential to offer multimethod instruction through the blend, to leverage the strengths of current online and traditional instructions. Therefore, higher education institutions having recognized the fact that blended learning is beneficial, adopted this alternative approach as a new educational delivery method. The study determined the difference in perceived learning among three different blended learning environments in Malaysian higher education institutions. The data were collected from three public universities in Peninsular Malaysia and the respondents were undergraduate students from these universities. The result showed that the students' presence in classroom meetings contributes to their learning. The results also indicate that high levels of perceived learning were reported by undergraduate student in the blended learning environment face-to-face meeting rather than online sessions.

Searching for Answers to Hybrid Approaches in Communication and Learning Environments

2020 ◽  
pp. 226-240
Author(s):  
Michael Anthony Brown Sr.
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
Geographical Distance ◽  
George Santayana ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Hybrid Approaches

This examination focuses on hybrid approaches and highlights two in particular: blended learning and the hybrid shift. Blended learning can support online and face-to-face (F2F) students equally by providing similar learning experiences. Incorporating synchronicity is recommended as a way to address the limitations of asynchronous learning resident in the proposed hybrid approach. Synchronicity is connecting two or more people in related educational events at the same time. Another approach, the “hybrid shift,” features faculty design content and structure with a focus on being thoughtful, engaging, and intentional in promoting learning, effective collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. George Santayana said, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This is relevant in that social media grew, in part, out of a need to overcome communication limitations of geographical distance and time. This examination looks closely at hybrid approaches and offers some answers for educational implications.

Application of Gamification to Blended Learning in Higher Education

2018 ◽  
pp. 3238-3247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamini Jaipal-Jamani ◽  
Candace Figg
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Traditional Instruction ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Gamified Learning

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has been identified as an effective digital teaching strategy to foster 21st century learning. The inclusion of digital game-based learning in instruction is challenging for educators to structure in higher education learning environments, often because of the lack of coherence with curriculum. Gamification is a recent DGBL strategy that enables the instructor to incorporate the motivational and engagement elements of games in ways that can be adapted to curriculum requirements. Gamification, supported with digital technologies such as web-based tools and learning management systems, offer the instructor the benefits of both face-to-face traditional instruction and online learning. An example of how blended learning in higher education incorporates gamification is presented. Study findings indicate that the blended gamified learning environment motivated learners and promoted cognitive, skill, and attitude development.

USE OF BLENDED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION – SOME EXPERIENCES

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
R J Singh
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Face To Face Learning ◽  
Made In

This article reports on the use of blended learning in higher education. Blended learning has become popular in higher education in recent years. It is a move beyond traditional lecturing to incorporate face-to-face learning with e-learning, thereby creating a blend of learning experiences. The problem is that learning in higher education is complex and learning situations differ across contexts. Whilst there is face-to-face contact at some institutions, others offer distance learning or correspondence learning. In each context, the mode of learning may differ. The challenge is to cater for various learning opportunities through a series of learning interactions and to incorporate a blended approach. The aim of this study was to examine various ways of defining blended learning in different contexts. This was done through an examination of experiences of the use of blended learning in different higher education contexts. The study presents a case of blended learning in a postgraduate course. The experiences from all these cases are summarised and conclusions and recommendations are made in the context of blended learning in higher education in South Africa.

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