bachelor by asevtsenko

BACHELOR PROGRAM BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT CENTER INNSBRUCK

BACHELOR THESIS

6th Semester

SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATION IN EDUCATION INDUSTRY: TWITTER USAGE FOR LECTURERS

SUBMITTED TO:

Dr. Claudia Brauer

SUBMITTED BY:

Anastassia Ševtšenko Egger-Lienz Strasse 10 6020 Innsbruck Group Business & Management 2012/13

DATE:

10 April 2015

Anastassia Ševtšenko

Table of Contents

Anastassia Ševtšenko

List of Tables

Anastassia Ĺ evtĹĄenko

List of Abbreviations SNS

Social networking services

p.1

USP

Unique selling proposition

p.1

Social media

p.1

Anastassia Ševtšenko

1. Introduction The beginning of 21st century marked the starting point for rapid growth of social networking services (SNS), changing the way people interact with each other (Kelley & Cranshaw, 2013, p.1). Technology allowed people to share data rapidly, frequently and globally through diverse SNS, such as Facebook, Myspace, Blogger (Byun, Lee, Kim, & Kim, 2013, p.184). Furthermore, with the increased availability of low cost mobile technology, an online service niche developed known as microblogging (Williams, Terras, & Warwick, 2013, p.384). Microblogging is a form of communication that allows users to share their current status updates in a short textual format (Java, Song, Finin, & Tseng, 2007, p.56). Currently, most well-known microblogging platform in the world is Twitter. Founded in 2006, Twitter quickly gained popularity for its ease of use, quick information circulation and global audience reach (Williams et al., 2013, p.385). In less than a decade, the platform obtained almost 300 million monthly active users (Twitter, 2015), becoming the biggest community for microblogging. Twitter differentiates from other SNS by demanding brevity of expression, allowing its users to post in a strict limit of 140 characters (Java et al., 2007, p.56). This limitation has been since the creation of the platform and has become the unique selling proposition (USP) of this social network platform. Moreover, the practice or responding to tweets (messages in Twitter) introduced unique markup language: ‘#’ for hashtags or keywords; ‘@’ followed by username (Kwak, Lee, Park, & Moon, 2010, p.1). This markup vocabulary is now also widely used on other social media (SM) platforms (e.g. Instagram), facilitating online international conversations. People post their messages for various reasons. In contract to beginning of its existence, Twitter is no longer associated solely with sharing daily happenings (e.g. what I ate for breakfast). Instead, it has become a contemporary online medium for sharing news, discussing global events and engaging in political discussions (Williams et al., 2013, p.385). Analysis results conducted by Java et al. (2007) indicated four types of user intentions in Twitter: daily chatter, conversations, sharing information and reporting news (p.57). Since the essence of Twitter is to communicate different thoughts, ideas and opinions, platform functions as an online conversational facilitator uniting people worldwide (Kwak et al., 2010, p.1). This means that every user can choose specific conversation topics to follow and not follow unwanted discussions. Various industries have realised social media as a marketing tool for attracting, engaging and communicating with customers (Swani, Brown, & Milne, 2014, p.874). Woodall and Colby (2011) analysed the appeal of social media and found out four main

Anastassia Ševtšenko elements: satisfying an impulse, the excitement of sharing, seeking advice and sharing with others with similar interests (p.23). The categorisation can be easily associated with Twitter’s microblogging aims since these four categories capitalize on the appealing ease of use, global presence, freedom of speech and huge public to gain expertise from. There is no doubt people can fully take advantage of Twitter by sharing status updates or commenting under a post. Yet, the more valuable practice would be to find out how microblogging website like Twitter could improve learning solutions.

1.1. Problem Definition Recent technological modernizations brought along novel social tools enabling progressive learning opportunities in education. Pearson Learning Solutions is a learning company that emphasizes effective use of technology, emerging opportunities and how can they affect higher education teaching and learning (Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane, 2011, p.4). The annual survey about SM use by higher education faculty revealed that the use of SM in teaching has been steadily increasing (Seaman & TintiKane, 2013, p.8). Professors no longer try to keep the distracting platforms away from class, instead they aim to incorporate them in the class (Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013, p.22). Although, when asked faculty professors in 2011, they were sceptical about using platforms like Facebook and Twitter for learning purposes; solely two years later opinions had reversed (Moran et al., 2011, p.16; Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013, p.22). The variety of SM sites presents a wide range of choice with their unique design, norms and culture both for the professors, as well as for the students. The survey revealed that in comparison to other SNS, Twitter seems to be the lagger when it comes to educational use in higher education (Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013, pp. 9-12). Platform like Facebook is known to be widely used by students to create study groups for discussing project details, sharing documents and communicating important information. Twitter on the other hand, seems not have been fully recognised by the faculty staff. However, there are good examples of professors that have successfully integrated Twitter. Several lecturers said that it enables students to feel more engaged and comfortable during the class (Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013, p.22). The social nature of Twitter is about asking questions, joining discussions and sharing opinion – exactly as in the classroom (Cross, 2013). That means that there is an uncovered potential for this microblogging platform to become an efficient instrument for education. The problem remains that lecturers on their own may not have a clear structure, guidelines

Anastassia Ĺ evtĹĄenko or understanding exactly how to introduce Twitter in class (what to post, which hashtag to introduce etc.) in order to stimulate proactive participation.

1.2. Research Question and Research Objective The aim of this research is to analyse the use of various accounts of lecturers in order to understand how Twitter features could be used in class efficiently for learning purposes in higher education. The research questions to be examined are: RQ1: What kind of educational aspects could be supported on Twitter platform? RQ2: What are the criteria to ensure proactive engagement in class? RQ3: How is the strategy of using Twitter for higher education perceived by students? The aim of this research paper is to get an in-depth understanding about learning opportunities Twitter can provide. Therefore, the first question is going to focus on the data posted by lecturers to analyse and understand the intention behind them. Moreover, success factors behind student engagement on posts would be defined. As a result a recommendation will be developed for Twitter usage for lecturers. Lastly, guidelines will be tested by lecturers to see if student engagement is according to expectations.

1.3. Scope and Limitations 1.4. Outline of Thesis

2. Literature Review 2.1. Social Media in education Industry 2.2. Twitter 2.2.1. Twitter in Education 2.2.2. Twitter features 2.2.3. Twitter Metrics

3. Methodology

Anastassia Ĺ evtĹĄenko This research paper is going to follow a qualitative research strategy. This method is considered more appropriate for non-numerical data collection and data analysis procedure (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009, p.151). Qualitative approach is normally associated with an inductive relationship between theory and research (Bryman & Bell, 2011, pp. 11-13). Therefore, the data collected will be the driving force for building a new theory (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p.11). The basis for generalisation in qualitative study is analytical generalisation

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to expand and generalize theories

(Hyde, 2000, p.84). Twitter posts by various lecturers will be selected on several benchmarking criteria. Several limitations during the data collection process, such as analysing only posts in English language. In order to understand whether the post attracts student attention it is important to look at Twitter metrics of engagement. Since the student engagement has a crucial role in this research, comments, mentions and followers will be taken into account as indicators. In the end, there would be a testing phase of developed Twittering techniques conducted by Austrian lecturers in classrooms to see effectiveness of educational Twitter strategy.

3.1. Research Design 3.2. Research Sample 3.3. Data Collection 3.4. Data Analysis

4. Results

5. Discussion 5.1. Findings 5.2. Conclusion 5.3. Recommendations 5.4. Critical Reflection 5.5.

Anastassia Ševtšenko

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