Social Media Improves Students’ Academic Performance: Exploring the Role of Social Media Adoption in the Open Learning Environment among International Medical Students in China

Abstract

Numerous studies have examined the role of social media as an open-learning (OL) tool in the field of education, but the empirical evidence necessary to validate such OL tools is scant, specifically in terms of student academic performance (AP). In today’s digital age, social media platforms are most popular among the student community, and they provide opportunities for OL where they can easily communicate, interact, and collaborate with each other. The authors of this study aimed to minimize the literature gap among student communities who adopt social media for OL, which has positive impacts on their AP in Chinese higher education. We adopted social constructivism theory (SCT) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) to formulate a conceptual framework. Primary data containing 233 questionnaires of international medical students in China were collected in January 2021 through the survey method. The gathered data were analyzed through structural equation modeling techniques with SmartPLS 3. The results revealed that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and interactions with peers have positive and significant influence on OL. In addition, OL was found to have positive and significant influence on students’ AP and engagement. Lastly, engagement showed a positive impact on students’ AP. Thus, this study shows that social media serves as a dynamic tool to expedite the development of OL settings by encouraging collaboration, group discussion, and the exchange of ideas between students that reinforce their learning behavior and performance.

Using social media for assessment purposes: Practices and future directions

“…Using social media in learning and teaching has demonstrated several advantages. First, using social media creates stronger relationships between students and teachers, which students can benefit from through collaboration ( Ashraf et al, 2021 ; Akgül and Uymaz, 2022 ). By participating collaboratively on social media, students can create highly interactive environments where they can create and exchange ideas and interact with their teachers ( Ashraf et al, 2021 ).…”

“…First, using social media creates stronger relationships between students and teachers, which students can benefit from through collaboration ( Ashraf et al, 2021 ; Akgül and Uymaz, 2022 ). By participating collaboratively on social media, students can create highly interactive environments where they can create and exchange ideas and interact with their teachers ( Ashraf et al, 2021 ). In the study of Akgül and Uymaz (2022) , research postulates that collaboration is one of the most significant variables impacting the educational use of Facebook.…”

“…In educational contexts, schools are also advancing their use for learning, teaching, and assessment activities. Social media have become highly interactive platforms where students can share and discuss their ideas and information ( Ashraf et al, 2021 ; Mahmud et al, 2022 ). Using social media in learning and teaching, including facilitating interactions between teachers and students and among students, is not geographically limited or time-bound ( Akgül and Uymaz, 2022 ).…”

“…Thus, providing a mechanism for continuous transfer and co-construction of knowledge together. In addition, social media use facilitates synchronous and asynchronous interactions with many additional features, including links and resource sharing, and voice messaging ( Ashraf et al, 2021 ). Moreover, the learning platform in social media facilitates parents to monitor their children’s progress as they can access their work.…”

Conceptual Paper: The Use of Social Media Improved Academic Performance among University Students

“…According to the past studies, Ashraf et al(2021) suggests the TAM theory as an important theory for examining the impact of online learning using social media and education performance that their studies on students in China. Besides that, according to , their studies using the TAM model to test with variables such as collaborative learning, students' engagement on the use of social media and students' satisfaction.…”