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The study’s major goal was to figure out what factors impact university students’ behavior and intentions to use social media to boost their academic performance during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Given the context-dependent nature of online learning, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was adopted and supplemented with components largely relevant to harnessing social media for collaborative learning and engagement. Collaborative learning, student participation, and a social media mindset are just a few of the new features. The enlarged model was validated using empirical data from an online survey questionnaire filled by a sample of 409 Saudi Arabia higher education students, which assesses students’ social media usage intentions and academic performance during the COVID-19 Pandemic. AMOS-SEM was used to analyze the model’s various assumptions (Analysis of Moment Structures- Structural Equation Modeling). The findings revealed that: (1) utilizing social media for collaborative learning and student engagement has a direct positive impact on perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment; (2) perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment has a direct positive impact on attitude to use social media; and (3) the link between TAM characteristics “usefulness, ease of use, and pleasure” and behavior intention to use social media is mediated by attitude to use social media. (4) Students’ attitudes and behavior intentions on social media have a direct positive influence on their academic performance during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Academics, higher education institutions, and educational technology application providers will benefit greatly from the conclusions of this study, both theoretically and practically.

The study’s main purpose was to discover the important factors that impact university students’ online learning and academic performance during the COVID-19 epidemic, as well as their usage of social media throughout the pandemic. Constructivism theory was used and developed with constructs mostly linked to leveraging social media for collaborative learning and student interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, given the context-dependent nature of online learning during the epidemic. During the COVID-19 epidemic, additional components such as collaborative learning, student participation, and online learning were implemented. The enlarged model, which assesses students’ happiness and academic performance during the COVID-19 epidemic in connection to social media use, was validated using empirical data collected via an online survey questionnaire from 480 Saudi Arabian higher education students. AMOS-SEM was used to analyze the model’s various assumptions (Analysis of Moment Structures-Structural Equation Modeling). The findings revealed that (1) using social media for collaborative learning and students’ engagement has a direct positive impact on students’ interactivity with peers and teachers; (2) students’ interactivity with peers and teachers has a direct positive impact on online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic; (3) online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic mediates the relationship between students’ interactivity and satisfaction; (4) online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic mediates the relationship between students’ interactivity and satisfaction. Students, higher education institutions, and educational technology application suppliers would benefit greatly from the conclusions of this study, both theoretically and practically.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the use of e-learning among students in higher education during the Corona Virus disease, during the 2019 season (COVID-19). A poll of 395 students from the student’s university was used to conduct the research. The study’s theoretical foundation was an expanded Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which included task-technology fit and students’ engagement, as well as external elements such as experience (EXP), technology anxiety (TEA), and facilitating conditions (FC). The suggested model was tested and evaluated using SEM-PLS. The investigation demonstrated that the suggested TAM-based scale effectively describes factors impacting students’ use of E-learning during the pandemic. According to the findings, students’ engagement (SEN), EXP, TEA, and FC have a favorable impact on task–technology fit (TTF) and perceived ease of use (PEOU), resulting in a good impact on TTF and usage of an e-learning system for educational sustainability (EA). Finally, the TTF fit and convenience of use of eLearning in education have a positive impact on the behavioral intention to use an e-learning system for educational sustainability and the adoption process. As a result, higher education institutions should use eLearning as a sustainability learning strategy.

Teachers' professional development plays a key role in imparting quality education. However, the design and delivery of quality professional development programs is a challenging problem due to numerous issues such as inadequate policies, lack of skilled personnel and training, politically influenced appointments, and dependency on the traditional modes of training. The COVID-19 pandemic has further escalated the situation and severely affected trainers’ and trainees' interest, motivation, and engagement. Due to its ubiquitous, flexible, and cost-effective nature, technology has played a key role in carrying out educational activities even in the pandemic situation. However, little emphasis has been provided on the use of technology for the professional development of teachers. This study investigates the effects of mobile-based training app on teachers learning outcomes and attitudes towards its usage. The training app is based on our enhanced CPD model for teachers' professional development. For the study, 308 in-service elementary school teachers of division shaheed Benazirabad are selected for the training and assessment purposes. To perform the experiments, teachers were divided into two groups: experimental and control. The experimental group contained 158 teachers which were provided training through the mobile app. The remaining 150 teachers of the control group were provided training using the traditional physical appearance. Pre and post-test were designed to examine the effects of mobile-based training on the teachers’ learning outcomes before and after the training intervention. Besides assessing the learning outcomes, the attitude towards the use of the training app was also assessed using the attitude scale. The analysis of results determined that the training through a mobile app has a significant effect on teachers learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Furthermore, teachers showed a positive attitude towards the use of training app. The experimental group had significantly high attitude scores in post-test toward mobile-based training systems. Teachers’ experience using the mobile app has been perceived as an approach that has significantly increased teaching proficiency. Experimental results suggest that mobile-based professional development modes positively impact teachers' professional and academic achievement and performance to produce a rising number of certified teachers irrespective of time, space, and financial constraints.

Blended learning environments are one of the significant modern technology updates that could help solve many learning issues. However, blended learning is still in its developmental stage and requires more research that seeks to find more efficient models and designs for the programs of blended learning in the context of an educational environment. Therefore, this study endeavors to address this research gap by calling into question the students’ utilization of blended learning and developing a model to measure the blended learning environments through students’ cognitive presence and critical thinking skills. To accomplish the research purpose, the study used a quantitative questionnaire for data collection. A questionnaire was distributed to 85 students who are active users of blended learning environments. The collected data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). In light of the empirical findings, the results have shown discrepancies with statistical significance at the level of (0.01) between the median marks of the students’ sample in the pre and post-evaluation of the performance analysis card. This study found a significant relationship between students’ cognitive presence and critical thinking skills with blended learning environments.

The adoption and use of social media as an educational technology in higher education has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, this study applied the unified theory of usage and acceptance of technology theory and the technology acceptance model as predictors of behavioral intention to use social media and actual social media use. These, as posited by the model, affect the performance impact of social media usage. This study involved a quantitative survey with 312 undergraduate university students in Malaysia. Using structural equation modeling, this study identified that unified theory of usage and acceptance of technology theory and the technology acceptance model influence behavioral intentions to use and actual use of social media, resulting in an improved performance impact. That is, when students see the value in particular technologies, feel their performance (e.g., passing their studies) will be improved by using that technology, offers behavioral nudges toward adoption and use.