Vasileios Paliktzoglou

Microblogging in Higher Education: The Edmodo Case Study among Computer Science Learners in Finland

Microblogging, with applications in many domains, including education, is one of the social media technologies with the greatest potential. The features of a microblogging platform vary from sending and receiving messages via the web, SMS, instant messaging clients, and by third party applications. Even though social media networking sites are commonly used in Higher Education, very little empirical evidence is available concerning the impact of social media use on student learning and engagement, albeit some studies on the use of Twitter as a microblogging tool in educational settings Fei Gao, Tian Luo and Ke Zhang (2012). In this study, the authors analyse the level of familiarity, engagement and frequency of use of social media technologies among university-level computer science students in Finland. Additionally, the authors analyse the experience of using a specific microblogging social media, Edmodo, as a learning aid to support group work. The specific focus of the study is to examine the reception of the students towards the Edmodo platform. The data was collected through a social media familiarity questionnaire, Edmodo experience questionnaire and interviews. The main findings are that the cohort was not very familiar with social media at the beginning of the course. However, the use of the Edmodo as a microblogging social media networking sites, as a learning tool had a positive impact on the students. This study provides experimental evidence that microblogging social networking sites and more specifically Edmodo can be used as an educational tool to help engage students more in the use of more social media networking sites.

Facebook as an assisted learning tool in problem-based learning: the Bahrain case

Facebook is one of the social media technologies with applications in many domains, including education. This study describes the students’ engagement with Facebook as an assisted learning tool in problem-based learning (PBL) cohort in Bahrain. Additionally, we analyse the reception of the students towards Facebook as a learning aid tool. A range of mixed methods data collection techniques and triangulation was performed to reveal the complexity of the topic under investigation. The data collection was through (pre and post) questionnaires and an interview. The empirical data showed that the use of Facebook as a learning tool had a positive impact on students. The study provides experimental evidence that social networks and more specifically Facebook can be used as an educational tool in PBL context to help engage students in the use of social media.

Part-time online PhD reflection: Train of thoughts

Abstract Current literature presents a growing interest in doctoral programmes. However little is written about Part-Time Online PhD studies. This study explores the reflections of a Part-Time Online PhD student as he underwent the doctoral process in IMPDET (International Multidisciplinary PhD Studies in Educational Technology) online PhD degree programme. The paper employs reflective learning approach with two main objectives: (a) the student to be actively involved in research and develop scientific writing skills; and (b) effectively reflect upon the gained knowledge and experience as a part-time online PhD student. Findings identified a number of important issues for students and academics associated with the Part-Time Online PhD study mode and more specifically the IMPDET (International Multidisciplinary PhD Studies in Educational Technology) programme. The findings of this study can be also applied to improve the Part-time online PhD study mode also in other field.