Abstract:

Social media usage has reached almost every individual. Primarily it was intended for the personal purpose and social networking, but over the period of time, social media platforms are being used for digital marketing, group communication, event planning and many more. Even educational establishments have started making active use of social media platforms for promoting their services and various ongoing activities on their campus. In an active classroom environment, where the learning is student-centric and based on activities instead of a basic chalk-and-talk method, some social media-based activities could be planned for an improved result. However, it is not possible to teach the entire syllabus using this method, but some activities, especially collaborative activities could be planned using social media. Supervision on the usage of social media is very important at the same time, in order to make sure that class activities are going in an intended way. This research paper highlights the usage of most commonly used social media platforms in higher education institutions. A comprehensive analysis is performed by considering one of the largest private higher education organization in Oman. The results of this analysis show positive reviews, in which the majority of the stakeholders, including students and staff, agrees that the use of social media for collaborative exercises has enhanced their skills and knowledge. Finally, a new framework is suggested for effective use of social media in order to enhance teaching and learning experience in higher education.

Keywords:

Social media in education, Collaborative learning, education technology, flipped teaching.