Abstract:

Social networks have a firm place in today's society and are an integral part of the cyber world. People spend a lot of time on social networks and it can be assumed that they also use them for education. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a questionnaire survey through which the authors investigate how and to what extent high school and university students use social networks during self-study. The authors also focus on the extent to which social networks are used to support students' preparation for lessons in selected subjects, including English, mathematics, music education and history. The theoretical part of the paper covers the pedagogical area, where the authors describe the specifics of teaching in secondary and higher education and the role of self-study within these levels of education. Furthermore, the area of information and communication technologies in education and social networks is described. The authors analyse selected social networks. The next part of the paper describes the methodology of the conducted research. The research part is based on a questionnaire survey. 60 respondents, who were students of secondary and higher education institutions in the Czech Republic, took part in the research. The authors present selected results, which are crucial for answering the research questions, in the Results chapter. The results show that the most frequently used platforms include Instagram, Youtube and Discord. Students consider YouTube to be the most suitable source for learning new information, and it is also the most used platform to support their studies. Other platforms that support students during their studies or self-study are Discord and Instagram. The results also include other platforms such as TikTok, Twitter, Reddit and Pinterest. The findings of this paper form the basis for further investigation, where the authors will extend the questionnaire to a larger number of respondents and suggest ways in which students' self-study can be meaningfully supported.

Keywords:

Social networks, secondary education, higher education, ICT, self-education.