Abstract:

Students are struggling to adapt to the new learning situation that covid-19 has brought to their educational-life. They use various means and methods to compensate for the constrain that remote learning compels on them. In this study, we aim at developing a dedicated social media application for educational purposes. We have applied a user-centered design approach to investigate, design, and evaluate the students targeted social media applications. We used a survey to collect the students' opinions and attitudes toward the group work challenges they have encountered during the pandemic time. The survey analysis revealed that dedicated social media for educational purposes is evident to enhance the existing learning platforms.

To identify the needs and requirements for such tools, we conducted a semi-structured interview with students and collected information on potential application features and functions. Based on the interview transcript coding and affinity diagram, we came up with a list of potential requirements. We used a scenario-based design to envision the initial application concept. The scenario is then shared and assessed with potential users. We designed and developed the low-fidelity prototype of the application based on the scenario evaluation feedback.

Social media and other digital channels have become essential mediums for students in contemporary life. These tools, e.g., email, chat, search engine, etc., are often scattered and not embedded in a single platform. Tools such as teams, zoom, Moodle are appropriate mediums for teaching and learning, but it is not suitable for students on the move to perform their tasks or teamwork activities.

The feasibility study reveals that we currently lack dedicated tools and students use often WhatsApp, Telegrams, Discord, and so on. These tools are designed and developed for general purposes and are not specifically suited for educational purposes or teamwork. Therefore, a lightweight tool that enables students to manage their school’s related activities especially in teamwork. Through this application, students are able to share knowledge, perform their teamwork activities, and assist each other on their study path selection, provide feedback on the assignment, etc. The results indicate that the application fully supports students in various courses such as user experience design and digital service prototyping.

In addition that the social media application improves the student’s interaction, it also engages the users emotionally, since social bonds impact educational outcomes (Bryan et al., 2012). Social media has widely used in marketing to evoke emotions. (Straker & Wrigley, 2016) demonstrate that engaging customers through social media impacts growth.

As future work, we have planned to design and develop a functional prototype and assess the application in a real environment. Additionally, we pursue to use various data mining approaches to assess and evaluate learner’s emotional experience in the various learning contexts throughout this application.
In this way, we are able to anticipate and provide learning content in an effective form based on learners’ most emotional engagement state.

Keywords:

Social Media, students emotional experience, User-centered Design.