Pedagogical Innovative Design in Twitter as Medium for Saudi Secondary Students - Research Proposal Example

Investigation of Pedagogical Innovative Design in Twitter as а Medium for Saudi Secondary Students and its effect upon effective Learning Name: Institutional Affiliation Investigation of Pedagogical Innovative Design in Twitter as а Medium for Saudi Sесоndаry Students and its еffесt uроn еffесtivе Lеаrning Introduction In the current society, Twitter has been used to make learning more effective, especially for the secondary students learning. In general, social sites and its transformation have been adopted to make learning even more enjoyable. Students now interact online with their teachers and fellow students (Junco et al., 2011). Technology has made the exchange of information, ideas and feelings among students and their teachers easier and fast. However, there are cases where students have used the social media, particularly Twitter to encourage their negative behavior, for instance, the behavior of procrastination. The great advantage of Twitter for students is that sit enable them develop some of essential skills and knowledge as they share content with their teachers. Twitter has been used to teach students across the globe, including Saudi secondary school students (Gao et al., 2012). The use of Twitter to develop an effective learning among students has grown in popularity as they consider technology as a pillar of the modern society. Several pieces of research have been carried to ascertain how effective the use of Twitter is to bring about an effective learning for the secondary students. Most of the studies that have been done points to the positive direction that the use of Twitter in education has been very effective (Revere & Kovach, 2011). Besides, the relationship between the student and the teacher has been enhanced as they can interact on a personal level. A student has the opportunity to communicate his or her weaknesses to the teacher, which ultimately will result in improved performance. Significance of the Study The primary importance of the study will be to analyze the use of Twitter as a medium of Saudi secondary students and its effect on learning. According to Al-Jenaibi (2011), the use of social sites has been increasing tremendously over the years. The youths have been spending most of their time on social sites communicating with their families and friends (Chen & Chen, 2012). Twitter as one of the social sites has also been extensively used by youth. Therefore, since students spend most of their time online, there is the need to make use of Twitter as a medium for learning for the students prefer to read online information (Evans, 2014). The study thus seeks to understand how Twitter usage by Saudi secondary students has affected their learning. Statement of the Problem Social media, in general, has been very useful, as it has enhanced learning behavior among the students. Most of the research carried out on the use of Twitter to attain effective learning have majorly focused on the use of social sites in general and not specifically on Twitter and how they affect learning (Reinhardt et al, 2009). The studies that have been sought to analyze the effect of Twitter on learning have focused on how the use of Twitter has affected the performance of the student. Students spend most of their time online, and it is only suitable to make use of online sites to enhance learning among students. Therefore, the research seeks to find out ways to make Twitter useful tool for the Saudi secondary students and to analyze its effects on learning. Literature Review The secondary school student in the modern society has a greater interest in the use of social sites where they can interact closely with friends and their teachers to exchange ideas and information. According to Lowe & Laffey (2011), Twitter is the most official social site that has been used for years to communicate and to enhance learning among students. According to Seaman & Tinti-Kane (2013), it is evident that the use of the social site has both the negative and positive effects on the student’s learning and performance. Currently, the students spend most of their time on the social media than they spend reading their books. Therefore, it is important to introduce the use of Twitter as one of the social sites of learning process where the student spends most of their time (Kearney et al., 2011). They will thus be able to use a tweeter to communicate with fellow students and their teachers exchanging ideas and important information related to learning. According to Prensky (2001), most students spend approximately 100 minutes per day on Twitter. Therefore, making use of Twitter to improve education is important since the students spend most of their time online using Twitter (Rinaldo et al., 2011). By analyzing the positive aspect of Twitter as a tool to bring about effective learning one can understand how the social site has been of great importance to the students. According to Ullrich et al, (2008), students can make use of the larger social site communities to enhance their learning since they will have a larger pool of knowledge where they can consult academically for assistance and even support. Social media is the very effective medium of communication as it brings together hundreds of users, hence making information more accessible (Graham & Perin, 2007). Twitter, for instance, provide a virtual space for the secondary school students where they are given an opportunity to explore further their interests and their academic problems with the rest of the students who share the same aspects hence strengthening their online communication skills. According to Saleem & Bane-Hani (2013), most students do not participate actively in the class discussion. Most of the students are dormant and do not have the courage to share their mind in class or participate in the book discussion. The real audience in the class can act as a hindrance to the students’ growth since the fears to communicate and speak for the rest of the students in the class can affect student’s performance. However, this is no longer the problem, most of the students have taken an active role in the use of Twitter and other online social sites to communicate and share their thoughts (Kassens-Noor, 2012). The web tools have been emerging tremendously in the modern times, and they are effective, as they have enhanced learning. Students do interact using Twitter, they have an opportunity to share their thoughts, and they learn a lot specifically on what they feared asking in class (Gikas & Grant, 2013). Further research has shown that the use of social media, particularly Twitter have numerous adverse effects on the effective learning (Basal & Steenkamp, 2012). The student has used Twitter to communicate with friends on matters that does not relate to learning, and this has affected their grading as they spend most of their time online chatting and not studying (Zaidieh, 2012). Procrastination is one of the major problems associated with the use of Twitter and other social sites in general as they try to complete their homework. Social media has thus made students less productive when it comes to the issue of academic performance. According to Borau et al. (2009), students spend less time in studying and most of the time is spent in online social interactions. Research Question, Aim, and Objectives The central research question the study seeks to answer is, how effective has been the use of Twitter as a medium for Saudi secondary students learning. The study, therefore, attempts to analyze how effective the use twitter has been in the high school learning. Additionally, the study seeks to answer other additional research sub-questions including: What is the best way to make Twitter effective in secondary student learning? In what ways can teachers access the effectiveness of Twitter usage in learning among their students? What is the difference in the usage of lectures and the use of Twitter as a medium for learning? Aims and Objectives The principal objective is to analyze the effectiveness and the effects of twitter as a medium of secondary school learning in Saudi Arabia by analyzing both the advantages and the disadvantages of use of Twitter in secondary education learning (Forgie et al, 2013). The aim of the study is to evaluate the previous work done, explore the existing relationship between the use of Twitter and its effect on learning and to determine is the use of Twitter is interfering with student’s performance. The study also aims at: To find out how different genders make use of Twitter and how they have been affected academically To point out whether accessibility to the internet affects performance To find out the general effect of Twitter on students’ performance Research Methodology The research methodology section will describe adequately the research design, the study population, and sampling. Further, methods of data collection and methods of data analysis will also be highlighted. Additionally, the section will also describe the approaches to assure the quality of the study and the study period (Kumar & Phrommathed, P. 2005). All the above sections will be analyzed critically, and they will cover the use of Twitter as a medium for secondary students to achieve effective learning. Study Design The research design for the study will describe the approach the study will take in answering the primary research question and the sub-questions that are related to the topic of study. An appropriate research method will be selected for the study to enable the study meet its aims and objectives. The study will thus use quantitative research method. Quantitative method is the best approach for this study because it is believed that both human phenomena and their behaviors can be explored critically and objectively (Baxter & Jack, 2008). The method will be used in the collection of data as it uses a fixed design. Research questions for the data collection will be developed in advance. Quantitative will therefore, focus on the collection of numerical data. Additionally, the qualitative approach will also be incorporated into the study to make sure that any possible limitation to the study is taken care of. The qualitative approach will take a descriptive approach to interpret the data and the research issues, hence bringing out the exact meaning of the study. The integration of both qualitative and quantitative approaches will ensure that an in-depth data is collected, and the accurate description of the data collected. The study will thus use questionnaires and survey to gather relevant data on the topic of study. Content analysis is another approach that the study will utilize, and this will involve reviewing all the relevant published sources (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). The Internet search engines will be used to review online sources that are relevant to the study. Study Population and Sampling The study population for the study will be selected randomly. The respondents must be students who are computer literate and who can easily access the internet. Additionally, they must be the Twitter users. The representative of all the age groups and gender was selected to find out whether the use of Twitter affects them differently in terms of their academic performance. The study will make use of approximately 30 respondents. The participants in the study were selected by the use of purposive sampling (Tongco, 2007). The participants in the study will be chosen according to the objectives and aims of the study. A written informed consent for all the participants was obtained, and those who met the criteria for the inclusion were informed accordingly. The research will therefore, use 30 participants, and they must be frequent users of Twitter. Data Collection Methods and Instruments The secondary data for the study was collected by the use of content analysis (Krippendorff, 2012). This will entail reviewing several relevant literature sources on the study topic to gather in-depth data to answer the research questions. The content of the selected literature will be explored and analyzed to find the relevant information related to the research topic. This approach is most suitable for data collection from the content in qualitative research. Books, journals and official reports will be reviewed to collect all the relevant information for the study. This approach is very efficient and cost effective to use in the collection of data (Higgins & Thompson, 2002). Additionally, the study will make use of the structured questionnaires to collect all the relevant primary data. Questionnaires are very efficient, less expensive and are easy to analyze. This has been used to avoid researcher bias, and they can be administered to collect data without necessitating the presence of the researcher. The questionnaire was thus divided into two major parts. The first part of the questionnaire will comprise of the personal details including age, gender and location. The second part will include about ten close-ended questions. The questions are simple and straightforward, hence will not give the respondents a hard time to answer (Joy, 2007). The questionnaire will thus take approximately fifteen minutes to answer. Data Analysis Methods The study majorly will use quantitative approach, therefore; a quantitative framework will be used. The data collected will be analyzed critically, and the result will in turn be generalized to present facts concerning the particular phenomena (Onwuegbuzie, 2000). The patterns of the population can also be found with the quantitative framework. Primary data will be collected on the research topic, which will in turn be analyzed by the use of SPSS software. Various variables of the study will be identified, and they will further be analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics, the mean score, and the standard deviation. Further, the correlation analysis will be carried out by the use of t-test analysis. The evaluation of the qualitative data for the study will be done using thematic analysis. This approach is most suitable as it offers a flexible and an easy way to analyze adequately the qualitative data. All the choices that need to be discussed in the study will be made when making use of the thematic analysis approach. Approaches To Ensure That the Quality of the Study Is Attained The selected studies will be subjected to a refined assessment, which is aimed at determining their quality. General and critical appraisal guides will be utilized in the study to ensure there is ultimate control of bias and safer storage of collected data (Podsakoff et al., 2003). The designed based quality checklist is another tool to ensure the quality of the study is achieved. Therefore, this will ensure that the selected studies are of a high quality and that bias is controlled to ensure study objectivity. The quality assessment used in this study will aid in the exploration of heterogeneity and further to access the suitability of meta-analysis. Further to ensure that the study attains a desired quality, a quality hierarchy will also be developed. The quality hierarchy will be established and this will largely be based on the degree of compliance with the selected studies and the criteria to be used in the study (Boaz, & Ashby, 2003). Study Period The study will run for approximately five months to give room for an in-depth collection of data and analyze the result of the study. One month of the study will be used to carry out all the preparations including, assembling all the relevant equipment for the study, the personnel and conducting a pre-visit to the areas where research will be conducted to familiarize the personnel with the environment. Addition, two months will be used for the collection of data for the study since the research will involve the collection of the large amount of material for data collection. Two months will be utilized in the analysis of the data selected and result in the presentation. Conclusion The use of social sites for academic purposes has been on the increase over the past years. Social sites mainly Twitter has been used extensively by secondary students to improve and enhance their learning. Technology has been changing rapidly necessitating its adoption to the learning activities. The study seeks to analyze the use of Twitter as one of the principal medium for the Saudi secondary students and their effects on learning. The study will make use of both the qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect and analyze the data collected. Secondary sources will be reviewed to gather all the relevant information on the research topic. The primary data will be gathered by the use of questionnaire and surveys. Research has shown that secondary students are likely to be affected by the use of Twitter in their learning. Most of the youths spend significant time online on social sites and making use of Twitter as one of the social sites is important to enable them to devote more time reading online. Use of Twitter has thus affected the grades of the students since they are presented with a vast number of fellow pupils and teachers from where they can get assistance academically. References Al-Jenaibi, B. (2011). The Use of Social Media in the United Arab Emirates: An Initial Study. European Journal of Social Sciences, 23(1), 84-97. Basal, A. M., & Steenkamp, A. L. (2012). A saas-based approach in an E-learning system. International Journal of Information Science and Management (IJISM), 27-40. Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers. The qualitative report, 13(4), 544-559. Boaz, A., & Ashby, D. (2006). Fit for purpose?: assessing research quality for evidence based policy and practice. London: ESRC UK Centre for Evidence Based Policy and Practice. Borau, K., Ullrich, C., Feng, J., & Shen, R. (2009). Microblogging for language learning: Using twitter to train communicative and cultural competence. In Advances in Web Based Learning–ICWL 2009 (pp. 78-87). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Chen, L., & Chen, T. L. (2012). Use of Twitter for formative evaluation: Reflections on trainer and trainees' experiences. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(2), E49-E52. Evans, C. (2014). Twitter for teaching: Can social media be used to enhance the process of learning?. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45(5), 902-915. Forgie, S. E., Duff, J. P., & Ross, S. (2013). Twelve tips for using Twitter as a learning tool in medical education. Medical teacher, 35(1), 8-14. Gao, F., Luo, T., & Zhang, K. (2012). Tweeting for learning: A critical analysis of research on microblogging in education published in 2008–2011. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(5), 783-801. Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools. A Report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Alliance for Excellent Education. Higgins, J. P., & Thompson, S. G. (2007). Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. Statistics in medicine, 21(11), 1539-1558. Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative health research, 15(9), 1277-1288. Joy, M. (2007). Research methods in education (No. 10). Innovation Way, York Science Park, Heslington, York YO10 5BR: The Higher Education Academy. Junco, R., Heiberger, G., & Loken, E. (2011). The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades. Journal of computer assisted learning, 27(2), 119-132. Kassens-Noor, E. (2012). Twitter as a teaching practice to enhance active and informal learning in higher education: The case of sustainable tweets. Active Learning in Higher Education, 13(1), 9-21. Kearney, M., Schuck, S., Burden, K., & Aubusson, P. (2012). Viewing mobile learning from a pedagogical perspective. Research in learning technology, 20. Krippendorff, K. (2012). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Sage. Kumar, S., & Phrommathed, P. (2005). Research methodology (pp. 43-50). Springer US. Lowe, B., & Laffey, D. (2011). Is Twitter for the birds? Using Twitter to enhance student learning in a marketing course. Journal of Marketing Education, 0273475311410851. Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2009). Expanding the Framework of Internal and External Validity in Quantitative Research. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of applied psychology, 88(5), 879. Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the horizon, 9(5), 1-6. Reinhardt, W., Ebner, M., Beham, G., & Costa, C. (2009). How people are using Twitter during conferences. Creativity and Innovation Competencies on the Web. Proceedings of the 5th EduMedia, 145-156. Revere, L., & Kovach, J. V. (2011). Online technologies for engaged learning. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 12(2), 113-124. Rinaldo, S. B., Tapp, S., & Laverie, D. A. (2011). Learning by tweeting: Using Twitter as a pedagogical tool. Journal of Marketing Education, 0273475311410852. Saleem, T. A., & Bane-Hani, N. A. (2013). Social Communication Networks the Most Powerful Present at the Service of Education. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(21), 24-38. Seaman, J., & Tinti-Kane, H. (2013). Social media for teaching and learning. Pearson Learning Systems. Tongco, M. D. C. (2007). Purposive sampling as a tool for informant selection. Ullrich, C., Borau, K., Luo, H., Tan, X., Shen, L., & Shen, R. (2008, April). Why web 2.0 is good for learning and for research: principles and prototypes. In Proceedings of the 17th international conference on World Wide Web (pp. 705-714). ACM. Zaidieh, A. J. Y. (2012). The use of social networking in education: challenges and opportunities. World of Computer Science and Information Technology Journal (WCSIT), 2(1), 18-21. Read More