Adoption of Social Media Technologies and their Impact on Students’ Academic Performance: The only Way for Future Survival of Distance Education Students in Pakistan

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the adoption of social media technologies and their impact on academic performance of distance education students at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad-Pakistan. This study opted Combined-Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior (C-TAM-TPB; Taylor & Todd, 1995) as theoretical model. Descriptive survey was administered to collect data with the help of self-reported structured questionnaire on 365 students, randomly selected from the targeted population. The response rate was 84.6%. Majority of the respondents were familiar and using the social media technologies frequently such as Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp whereas Twitter was rarely used, also the students were having poor knowledge about the technology. Similarly, majority of the respondents were having average knowledge and familiarity in using Skype. The results of t-Test disclosed that gender difference existed in opinion towards frequency to use Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and WhatsApp only. The regression analysis also revealed that perceived usefulness, perceived behavior control, attitude towards use helped to enhance the students' actual use of social media technologies. However, perceived ease of use and subjective norms did not contribute in the use of the technologies. Furthermore, distance students' academic performance was increased by using the technologies. This study is delimited to five social media technologies; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, WhatsApp, and Skype only. To our best knowledge, this is first comprehensive study in distance education perspective which may provide guidelines to offer off-campus students services through effective utilization of the social media technologies.

Pengaruh Pemasaran Jejaring Media Sosial Dan Keterkaitan Konsumen Terhadap Niat Beli Konsumen

“…Media sosial sudah terikat pada aktivitas masyarakat umum, karena jejaring sosial media dipergunakan sebagai alat komunikasi mengenai minat, karya, dan interaksi (Hussain, 2012;Husnain, Din, Hussain, & Ghayor, 2017). Terlepas dari pentingnya jejaringan media sosial dan dampaknya pada berbagai sektor perdagangan, sebagian besar penelitian sebelumnya fokus pada dampak jejaringan media sosial terhadap pendidikan dan pelatihan (Nawaz, Abbas, Javed, Mughal, & Nabeel, 2015;Arif & Kanwal, 2016;dan Hussain, 2012).…”

“…Penelitian Nawaz et al, (2015) mengungkapkan keputusan pengguna media sosial dipengaruhi oleh kritik dan informasi yang dibagikan pengguna lain. Penelitian Arif & Kanwal (2016) mengenai tingkat adopsi sosial media pada pelajar, yang menunjukkan lebih tinggi daripada lembaga publik, sebagian besar responden akrab dengan teknologi media sosial, dan Facebook menjadi sosial media yang paling sering digunakan. Penelitian Arif & Kanwal (2016) lebih lanjut menunjukkan nilai kegunaan yang dirasakan pengguna, dan pengawasan, sikap dan perilaku yang dirasakan sebagai faktor-faktor yang memengaruhi pengguna media sosial.…”

“…Penelitian Arif & Kanwal (2016) mengenai tingkat adopsi sosial media pada pelajar, yang menunjukkan lebih tinggi daripada lembaga publik, sebagian besar responden akrab dengan teknologi media sosial, dan Facebook menjadi sosial media yang paling sering digunakan. Penelitian Arif & Kanwal (2016) lebih lanjut menunjukkan nilai kegunaan yang dirasakan pengguna, dan pengawasan, sikap dan perilaku yang dirasakan sebagai faktor-faktor yang memengaruhi pengguna media sosial. Fokus penelitian Arif & Kanwal (2016) adalah pada pelatihan sektor pendidikan sehingga dari temuannya tidak dapat mengilustrasikan sejauh mana media sosial dapat memengaruhi perilaku pembelian dari pengguna media sosial.…”

A novel framework for integrating social media as cooperative learning tool in higher education’s classrooms

“…Furthermore, researchers such as Al-Rahmi et al (2018), Alenazy et al (2019), and Arif and Kanwal (2016) used TAM as the theoretical basis to understand SM's impacts in HE. These studies emphasize the potentials of SM as collaborative and engagement tools within HE classrooms.…”

“…These studies emphasize the potentials of SM as collaborative and engagement tools within HE classrooms. SM supports group discussion, higher engagement, and collaborative learning among HE learners (Al-Rahmi et al 2018;Alenazy et al 2019;Arif and Kanwal 2016).…”