The King Abdulaziz University (KAU) Pandemic Framework: A Methodological Approach to Leverage Social Media for the Sustainable Management of Higher Education in Crisis

Abstract

The recent pandemic has raised significant challenges worldwide. In higher education, the necessity to adopt efficient strategies to sustain education during the crisis is mobilizing diverse, complementary, and integrative action in response. In this research article, we rise to the challenge of designing and implementing a transparent strategy for social media awareness at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). We introduce a framework for social media impact, termed the KAU Pandemic Framework. This includes the factors with the most important role in enhancing the deployment of social media in crisis in order to minimize the negative impact on education’s sustainability. We used a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative statistical analyses of social media data and online surveys and qualitative interviews in such a way as to construct a comprehensive framework. The results show that a methodological framework can be justified and that Twitter contributes significantly to six areas: administrative resilience; education sustainability; community responsibility; positive sentiment; community bonds; and delivery of promised value. The components of our proposed methodological framework integrate five pillars of the strategic adoption of social media: social media governance; social media resilience; social media utilization; decision-making capability; and institutional strategy. Finally, we show that the KAU Pandemic Framework can be used as strategic decision-making tool for the analysis of the gaps and inefficiencies in any social media plan that is deployed and the management challenges arising from the pandemic.

Nursing Students' Perceptions, Knowledge, and Preventive Behaviors Toward COVID-19: A Multi-University Study

“…For example, University B had successfully utilized the social media as an effective tool of information dissemination, raising the awareness about COVID-19 among its students ( 20 ). The university had implemented a framework for the use of social media to ensure the sustainable management of higher education during the pandemic ( 21 ). The university also developed and adopted a curriculum and training program that solely tackles information about the COVID-19 pandemic, preventive measures, and the significance of public health and research in managing the crisis ( 22 ).…”

Students’ Acceptance of the COVID-19 Impact on Shifting Higher Education to Distance Learning in Poland

“…In a survey of 441 university students exploring the COVID-19 impact on learning, Olmos-Gómez has found out that (among others) 75.25% of the respondents were able to solve a problem that arises with the help of tools like email or Facebook and 78.75% consider that their ties with family and friends have become stronger during self-isolation [9]. Studying the impact of social media in universities worldwide, Obaid AI-Youbi et al have analyzed the Twitter account of a university in Saudi Arabia and revealed that, in the pandemic period, this account was successfully used as a powerful tool for communicating critical policy-making as well as issues related to teaching and learning [10]. Twitter messages about staying safe at home and continuing to be productive during the pandemic helped to maintain positive attitudes among the students; by providing flexible communication and positive messages to students, the university has built a stronger feeling of belonging to an institution.…”

Efficacy of Social Networking Sites for Sustainable Education in the Era of COVID-19: A Systematic Review

“…As shown in Table 3, most of the research participants considered are undergraduate university students [2,6,27,38,39,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]. Although few studies collected and analyzed user/system generated data [3,51,52], others considered higher education researchers [5,53], faculty members [7,54,55], and college students [40,56,57] as the research participants. Studies on SNS in education have reached a global level, with most studies coming from Asia [1,2,[4][5][6][7]39,41,45,47,49,52,[56][57][58][59], Europe [8,27,43,46,48,…”