University Students’ Perceptions of Social Media as a Learning Tool

Abstract

This study aims to investigate university students’ perceptions of social media as a learning tool. Data were collected using a specially designed survey during the academic year 2013/2014 at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). The sample size was 2,605 students of different ages and genders representing various KAU colleges. The results indicate that a moderate majority of KAU students are using social media tools in their learning and have the desire to integrate social media as a tool in their learning at university. The paper also reports gender significant differences on preferred social media tools and purposes of social media usage. The findings support the advantages of social media in learning and do not indicate any obvious disadvantages. Such findings can encourage academic planners and instructors to adopt and implement social media tools in the learning context.