Abstract:

In today’s world, the lives of many young people are incessantly influenced by social networks. Besides informational and entertainment purposes, there are many fields in fields of educational processes and practices that have been penetrated by social media. In this qualitative review, we will try to outline the use and effectiveness of social medial in higher institutions of learning, including factors involved. Additionally, through a literature review of comparable articles, our objective is to provide insights in the influence of social networks in relation:
(a) the users learning styles and personality;
(b) the processes of learning (support, educational processes, collaborations and communication enhancement, and academic performance) from students’ side and educators sides.

In all the dimensions mentioned above, conclusions have revealed positive impacts, therefore showing a promising future for the wider application online social networks (OSNs) in education, especially higher institutions of learning. There is a wide range of pedagogical support that could be offered by social media, both in terms of preparation of exercises and skills acquisition, in addition to the provision of general knowledge and related reflections or exhibitions. Many scholars have not paid much attention to how efficient digital and social medial could be, in facilitating processes of learning. Both critics and advocates of social and digital media in school do agree with the outcomes that defend the position. The present research work aims to verify the usefulness of the utilization of digital media and social networks in education, as well as recognize the possibilities of using networks in the construction of learning and knowledge.

The study systematically performs the review of recent literature to better understand the conception and observations for the advanced learning process. Numerous studies are available from which 22 peer-reviewed research articles are chosen from January 2015- January 2020 using popular research databases such as EBSCO, Google Scholar, etc. The review shows that there are benefits, concerns, and criticisms of the use of technology in the pedagogy. But, it is observed that the benefits outweigh the risks and shortcomings of using social and digital media in the classrooms. The study concludes that the technological approach within the teaching-learning process helps teachers and children, through more flexible and sensitive teaching, to better tune in, to communicate in ways that have become those of the life of all groups. However, teachers need theoretical/practical knowledge about how, where and when to apply technological resources to gain the expected outcomes.

Keywords:

Social networks, higher education, social media, digital media.