Abstract:

From a certain point of view, the reality is that almost all of the internet has become a social network and, to a large extent, all new content that is published online allows social interaction. This could include comments, the ability to edit a page, or just a personal recommendation.

Social environments have become an important factor in education, and it is useful to think about their characteristics and how they relate to students in a classroom. The new generation of "digital natives" needs teaching-learning strategies that oppose traditional patterns and reversal roles, enabling young people to communicate and collaborate, ensuring a true audience for the results of their work, and at the same time have an open and transparent side. Globally, many countries are trying to create such learning environments. This means that by adopting the use of social media tools for learning and teaching, there can be built a trend that can contribute to reforming the educational systems.

This article aims to analyze the current techniques and methods of social media used in higher educational institutions over the last years and their evolution alongside with the benefits of using them. On one hand, this research will give an overview regarding their impact on the current situation. On the other hand, by taking into account the results of the social media usage in education, the authors design and propose a new conceptual model that upon its implementation can help on improving the overall performance level of a higher education institution.

Keywords:

Higher educational services, quality of services, management, social media tools, social media techniques.