Hartnup Becky, Dong Lin, Eisingerich Andreas Benedikt
Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
JMIR Med Educ. 2018 Jul 13;4(2):e10069. doi: 10.2196/10069.
Social media has been increasingly used as a learning tool in medical education. Specifically, when joining university, students often go through a phase of adjustment, and they need to cope with various challenges such as leaving their families and friends and trying to fit into a new environment. Research has shown that social media helps students to connect with old friends and to establish new relationships. However, managing friendships on social media might intertwine with the new learning environment that shapes students' online behaviors. Especially, when students perceive high levels of social risks when using social media, they may struggle to take advantage of the benefits that social media can provide for learning.
This study aimed to develop a model that explores the drivers and inhibitors of student engagement with social media during their university adjustment phase.
We used a qualitative method by interviewing 78 undergraduate students studying medical courses at UK research-focused universities. In addition, we interviewed 6 digital technology experts to provide additional insights into students' learning behaviors on social media.
Students' changing relationships and new academic environment in the university adjustment phase led to various factors that affected their social media engagement. The main drivers of social media engagement were maintaining existing relationships, building new relationships, and seeking academic support. Simultaneously, critical factors that inhibited the use of social media for learning emerged, namely, collapsed online identity, uncertain group norms, the desire to present an ideal self, and academic competition. These inhibitors led to student stress when managing their social media accounts, discouraged them from actively engaging on social media, and prevented the full exploitation of social media as an effective learning tool.
This study identified important drivers and inhibitors for students to engage with social media platforms as learning tools. Although social media supported students to manage their relationships and support their learning, the interaction of critical factors, such as collapsed online identity, uncertain group norms, the desire to present an ideal self, and academic competition, caused psychological stress and impeded student engagement. Future research should explore how these inhibitors can be removed to reduce students' stress and to increase the use of social media for learning. More specifically, such insights will allow students to take full advantage of being connected, thus facilitating a richer learning experience during their university life.
社交媒体在医学教育中越来越多地被用作一种学习工具。具体而言，学生进入大学时通常会经历一个适应阶段，他们需要应对各种挑战，比如离开家人和朋友，努力融入新环境。研究表明，社交媒体有助于学生与老朋友保持联系并建立新关系。然而，在社交媒体上管理友谊可能会与塑造学生在线行为的新学习环境相互交织。特别是，当学生在使用社交媒体时察觉到较高的社交风险，他们可能难以利用社交媒体为学习带来的益处。
本研究旨在构建一个模型，以探究在大学适应阶段学生参与社交媒体活动的驱动因素和抑制因素。
我们采用定性研究方法，对英国以研究为重点的大学中78名攻读医学课程的本科生进行了访谈。此外，我们还采访了6位数字技术专家，以获取关于学生在社交媒体上学习行为的更多见解。
在大学适应阶段，学生不断变化的人际关系和新的学术环境导致了各种影响他们社交媒体参与度的因素。社交媒体参与度的主要驱动因素是维持现有关系、建立新关系以及寻求学术支持。同时，出现了抑制将社交媒体用于学习的关键因素，即在线身份崩塌、群体规范不确定、展现理想自我的欲望以及学术竞争。这些抑制因素导致学生在管理社交媒体账户时产生压力，阻碍他们积极参与社交媒体活动，并妨碍充分利用社交媒体作为一种有效的学习工具。
本研究确定了学生将社交媒体平台用作学习工具的重要驱动因素和抑制因素。尽管社交媒体支持学生管理人际关系并辅助学习，但诸如在线身份崩塌、群体规范不确定、展现理想自我的欲望以及学术竞争等关键因素的相互作用会造成心理压力并阻碍学生参与。未来的研究应探索如何消除这些抑制因素，以减轻学生的压力，并增加社交媒体在学习中的使用。更具体地说，此类见解将使学生能够充分利用社交联系，从而在大学生活中促进更丰富的学习体验。
