Electronic Social Media in Teaching: Usages, Benefits, and Barriers as Viewed by Sudanese Faculty Members
Ahmed Yousif Abdelraheem, Abdelrahman Mohammed Ahmed
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current use of social media and its benefits in teaching and
learning as well as the perception of barriers by Sudanese university faculty members. The study surveyed a
sample of 65 faculty members (educators and non-educators) through the use of a questionnaire. The results
indicated that educators, both male and female, across academic ranks are using social media tools and agree to
the benefits and barriers of social media usage. Also, the study found that there was a significant difference in the
scores for educator and non-educator faculty members regarding social media usage in teaching, with the former
demonstrating greater use. Moreover, the results found no significant effect of age and rank on faculty members’
use of social media in teaching. Therefore, the study recommends that future research on usage of social media
sites in teaching could be extended to include a wider demographic base to further explore the extent to which the
findings are generalizable. The study provided valuable information that may help administrators, professors,
and decision makers to recognize the extent to which university faculty members’ use social media in teaching.
Full Text: PDF