Undergraduate Perceptions of Social Media: Relationships to Meaning-Making and Disciplinary Context

• In Event: Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Motivation, Emotion, and Perception in Technology-Based Learning Environments

Abstract

To address calls to move beyond the digital native debate (Bennett & Maton, 2010; Kennedy, Judd, Dalgarno, & Waycott, 2010), those concerned with issues of learning and instruction must further understand Net-generation students’ perceptions and uses of social media technologies by asking what they see as meaningful. This mixed methods study employs qualitative (interviews n=30) and quantitative (survey n=679) investigation of why and how undergraduate learners from different disciplines view social media technologies (SMTs) to be a meaningful part of their learning. Three key findings are illustrated: 1) nine student conceptions of meaning making; 2) disciplinary differences regarding meaning making; and 3) a significant relationship between ways of making meaning and specific SMTs for learning.

Author

• Erika Elizabeth Smith, Mount Royal University