Thriving Social Network for Communication on eLearning: Exploring Gender Differences in Attitudes Poonsri Vate-U-Lan, Ed.D.
Panicos Masouras, Ph.D.
Lecturer in eLearning Methodology
Assistant Professor
Assumption University of Thailand
Cyprus University of Technology
International Conference on Data Science, E-learning and Information Systems 2018 (Data'18) 1-2 October, Ayre Gran Hotel Colรณn, Madrid, Spain
Agenda The research on how to improve quality of eLearning especially the approach of a better eLearning design in terms of effective communication in the era of social media is in great demand.
Research Q
Methodology
Findings
3 sub-questions
Online survey
896 valid responses
Discussion
Recommendation Conclusion
Introduction and statement of the problem
• A formal Learning Management System is an isolated system • Students are normally access to social network site • What is students’ opinion towards eLearning on social network site?
Research Questions Principal research objective: to investigate the attitude towards social network sites of students, particular those experienced in eLearning.
eLearning
Attitude
Gender
Experience
1st Q
2nd Q
3rd Q
1) What are the attitudes 2) Is there a statistically towards social network significant difference in the site of online students mean attitude scores of who had eLearning students who had experience on experience? eLearning for female and male participants?
3) Is there any statistically significant difference among three groups of students who had different experience on using eLearning for having formal, informal and both types of eLearning?
Methodology The online survey posted on the researcher’s Facebook/ There was a screening question to select only students who have eLearning experience. 5 items of attitude in the form of 6-point Likert Scale
Online self-administered survey I. Demographic information II. Social network behaviour, and III. Attitude towards eLearning within social networking platforms.
Questions on attitude The reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficiency) of these five questions were 0.898 which can be interpreted as an excellent internal consistency.
Findings: Demographic
List of demographic ELearning experience
Per cent
N
Have eLearning experience
67.7
607
No eLearning experience
32.3
289
Total Type of eLearning experience Formal eLearning Informal eLearning Both types of eLearning Total Gender Female Male Total Status Working Studying Seeking for job Unemployed Total Place of Living Cyprus Thailand Other Total
100
896
21.7 22.2 56.0 100
132 135 340 607
50.7 49.3 100
299 308 607
50.9 39.7 6.6 2.8 100
309 241 40 17 607
74.6 17.5 7.9 100
453 106 48 607
Findings:
Pyramid of the most frequency use social network
Motivation for Using Social Network 80 70
64.1
61.8
60 50
29.5
29.7
Findings
59.8 50.4
49.6
24
24.5
29.4
40
31.6
30 20
25.7 14.2
34.6
32.1
12 30.4
10
26.4
25
0
Female
Male
Percentage
17.4
13.7
1st Question X̅
2nd Question
4.23
Q5
Q Q1
4.31
Q4
Q2
4.27
Q3 Q3
4.15
Q4 Q2
4.24
Q1
≈
4.17
4
Findings
Q5
4.1
4.2
4.3
G Fe M Fe M Fe M Fe M Fe M Fe M
N 299 308 299 308 299 308 299 308 299 308 299 308
x̄ 4.29 4.05 4.31 4.18 4.27 4.04 4.38 4.16 4.47 4.16 4.34 4.12
SD 1.3 1.5 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.4 1.0 1.2
t 2.241
Df 605
Sig. .025*
Mean diff. .249
1.365
599.8
.173
.132
2.249
605
.025*
.235
2.096
587.3
.037*
.222
2.906
592.4
.004*
.306
2.600
590.1
.010*
.229
4.4
Q5: I believe that social networks support eLearning potential Q4: I am able to access academic contents on social networking sites Q3: Social networking sites encourage me to learn, discuss, share knowledge among peers and lecturers spontaneously Q2: Communication of eLearning class on social networking is friendly
Q1: I like to participate in eLearning on social networking sites since it is more convenient to access
Findings
Comparison of students’ attitude towards eLearning on Social Networking, grouped by eLearning experience
3rd Question • There was a statistically significant difference at the p < .05 level in attitude for three different experience groups. • The mean score for students who had only informal eLearning experience (M = 3.96, SD = 1.07) was significantly lower from students who had both types of eLearning experiences
Pair comparison of students’ attitude towards eLearning on Social Networking, grouped eLearning experience eLearning experience Formal (n=132)
Mean (SD)
Formal
Informal
4.17 (1.06)
-
-
Both types -
Informal (n=135)
3.96 (1.08)
-
.001*
Both types (n=340)
4.35 (1.09)
-
Discussion The findings of this study support the assertion that social network sites can be used effectively as a communication tool in eLearning. Social networking can be an option to support better eLearning experiences as its accessibility and affordability by students are prominent factors that need to be taken into consideration.
3rd Question 1st Question The findings presented the same trends as the previous research conducted in Jordan, American, Turkey, Israel, Oman and Hong Kong. • Friendly design and • The ease of use of social network site • A better 2-way communication
2nd Question Since female participants had a significantly higher level than males’ attitude in each item. • the previous study found that female did not prefer the online game based learning however why female students have a more positive attitude towards eLearning on social network sites.
Students who were experienced in both types of eLearning, had higher attitude score
This can be a strong confirmation of all positive attitude towards communication for eLearning on social network sites since it can be implied that online students’ attitude have compared their experience from formal and informal eLearning.
Recommendations and conclusion â&#x20AC;˘ The need to gathering data from online students who experience with LMSs that plug-in xAPI or Tin Can since a function of social network site will be embedded seamlessly and positive technological disruption will be exploited in an educational environment.
Not only gender differences in attitudes, but also other variables such as ages or other related psychology issues such as sheconomy and technology adaptation model should be studied.
â&#x20AC;˘ The expectation to improve, revise and modify the traditional LMSs needs to be implemented before being disrupted by social network leveraging external to education institutions.
Dr. Poonsri Vate-U-Lan Vate-U-Lan, P., & Masouras, P. (2018). Thriving Social Network for Communication on eLearning: Exploring Gender Differences in Attitudes. In International Conference on Data Science, E-learning and Information Systems 2018 (Dataâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;18). Ayre Gran Hotel ColĂłn, Madrid, Spain: ACM Digital Library and UDIMA Universidad a distancia de Madrid. https://doi.org/10.1145/3279996.3280010
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