Tech students’ perceptions of social media’s usefulness during PBL group work

This study explorestech students’ perceptions ofsocial media’s usefulness during PBL group work. In contrast to much of the previous work, this study is not focused on effects; instead, it is aimed at determining the extent to which students perceived various social media platforms as useful within the context of their PBL group work. This study is based on 15 groups (45 tech students) enrolled at Aalborg University and uses the principles of problem-based learning. The study’s procedures included a semi- structured interview guide and
a card sorting method. All participants in this study used social media for group coordination. Messenger, Skype, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Facebook were all used in dynamic, changeable, and different ways within groups for coordination. Moreover, if social media platforms were used for non-academic purposes, they
were mostly perceived as not useful and distracting. However, if the social media platforms were perceived as useful, they tended to contain group- and project-relevant content. The various social media platforms were perceived differently and used for different purposes throughout the PBL stages, depending on the
individuals, and their use was not persistent or variable due to positive, neutral or negative perceptions. It can also be concluded that real-time synchronous and collaborative platforms are important for facilitating students’ group work and projects. In addition, the students perceived that a strongly focused group with
good group dynamics benefits more from using social media than does a more unfocused group with an excessively friendly attitude.