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 Education + Training
Exploring education-related use of social media: business students perspectives in
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Received 26 July 2017
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Education + Training
Vol. 60 No. 2, 2018
pp. 198-212
© Emerald Publishing Limited
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DOI 10.1108/ET-07-2017-0105
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Exploring education-related use of
social media: business students
perspectives in a changing India
Jehangir Bharucha
Hassaram Rijhumal College of Commerce and Economics, University of Mumbai,
Mumbai, India and
Lincoln University College, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose – Within a connectivist learning model, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption of
social media for educational purposes in India, a hitherto unexplored area of research. The basic research
thrust is on students’ experiences when social media is incorporated into higher education. This research tries
to gather evidence on the effectiveness of this role and its potential future role as a facilitator and enhancer of
learning in the Indian system.
Design/methodology/approach – The current research draws on the perspectives of the students
regarding the adoption of social media for educational purposes. The data collection was done in two separate
stages. Stratified random sampling was applied and a structured questionnaire was sent via e-mail.
Usable responses were received from 568 respondents. The second stage consisted of an exploratory
qualitative study using in-depth interviews and reflections of 250 students from the original sample.
Findings – Four clear themes emerged from the responses collected via the structured questionnaire and
particularly from the in-depth interviews. These include: widespread usage of social media, definite usage in
business education, strengths of social media in business education and the flip side of learning with social
media. One thing is certain: social media will continue to play an important role in the Indian education sector.
A number of colleges and universities in India are including social media in their pedagogy, but the challenge
lies in effectively aligning it with curriculum.
Practical implications – Despite the widespread use of online social media for communication and
entertainment, the use in the educational sphere seems to be less. This year-long study tries to gather
evidence on all these issues. No doubt social media’s contribution in the classroom depicts a rising interest in
technology as a tool to assist learning but it also reinforces a paradigm shift in the way students learn.
Social implications – With nearly a billion people on mobile phones, the online system certainly has vast
potential to create the right kind of learning. As this study has shown at a micro-level, technology-led reach
and easy access is bringing about a socio-economic difference in the lives of Indian learners. While this study
certainly supports digital learning in India it points out that higher educational institutions are yet to exploit
its full advantage for better student engagement.
Originality/value – One key characteristic of this generation is that they are very education oriented. Due to
the relative freshness of the approach in India and fairly restricted use in the Indian higher education system,
empirical studies are limited and the impact of social media on student engagement in the higher education
system in India is not known.
Keywords Education, Youth, Social media, Student engagement
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
Indian education has an age old tradition of large number of students packed into small
classrooms (Carlson, 2000), discipline problems (Maxfield, 2009), teacher absenteeism
(Kohli, 2016), dusty blackboards and political interference. Though the education sector has
been modernizing in recent times, rote learning or “learning by repetition” and the dreaded
year-end exam continue to be popular. No doubt social media is emerging as the latest
platform for information and communication among the Indian communities yet the notion
that social media could be an effective tool for educational purposes has received recent
attention in India. While the impact of social media is certainly experienced in the higher
education sector in India, the effectiveness of this role and its potential future role as a
facilitator and enhancer of learning is worth investigating. Due to the relative freshness of
 the approach in India and fairly restricted use in the Indian higher education system, Education-
empirical studies are few and far between and the impact of social media on student related use of
engagement in the higher education system in India is not known. social media
The country has the competitive advantage of its demographic dividend which is waiting
to be exploited. India has more than 50 percent of its population below the age of 25 years
and more than 65 percent below the age of 35 years. It is expected that, in 2020, the average
age of an Indian will be 29 years (Census India SRS Bulletins, 2011). This young generation is 199
different in that it has been exposed to an unmatched amount of technology in their
upbringing and the technology is transforming the ways students communicate, collaborate
and teach (Tess, 2013). It is not surprising, therefore, that students expect to use this
technology when attending university courses (Sandars, 2012). The present generation
characteristically creates blogs, wikis, podcasts and media sharing tools, which has
transformed the teaching learning process as well as the teacher student relationship.
Recent research has concluded that the advancement of technology has been a
dominant force in affecting students’ academic life, (e.g. Roberts and Pirog, 2013) but
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would this be valid on the Indian scene as well? A great deal of the research on social
media in education in recent years has shown optimistic results in (e.g. Bennett et al., 2012;
Huang et al., 2011; Sim and Hew, 2010). However, a few writers have sounded cautious
notes (e.g. Friesen and Lowe, 2011; Gingerich and Lineweaver, 2014). The participants
in a study by Barnes and Lescault (2011) from a national sample of 456 accredited US
institutions reported 100 percent use of social media in education with Facebook
(used by 98 percent) and Twitter (used by 84 percent). Greenberg (2013) used Facebook as
an integrated component of a community college environmental biology course in Illinois
and did not find any significant differences between the two instructional formats.
Interview data showed that Facebook use removed class engagement barriers for shy
students, facilitated class discussion time and provided supplemental reading provided by
posts from fellow classmates (Greenberg, 2013). Cox and McLeod (2014) on the basis of
qualitative interviews of 12 principals and 12 superintendents across the USA and Canada
observed that social media in education enhances communication and fosters professional
growth. Luttrell (2016) compared the efficacy of three social media modes regarding
comprehension of course materials at a university in the Midwest. In that study, Twitter
and WordPress were rated as more effective than Facebook. LeNoue (2012) gathered
information regarding the use of SNSs in education and training settings which supported
their utility to the delivery of education.
While the impact of social media is certainly experienced in the higher education sector
in India, this research tries to gauge the effectiveness of this role and its potential future
role as a facilitator and enhancer of learning. This study will help us to judge whether and
to what extent Connectivism can be used to provide a solid theoretical model on which to
base effective teaching and learning for the majority of educational institutions in the
Indian case. This research tries to gather evidence on all these issues by drawing on the
perspectives of a selected sample of business students on their use of social media in
relation to business studies learning. Just as students make unbridled use of social media
at the personal level, can it be integrated into the Indian education system with its
overcrowded classrooms and large numbers? Of course, accusations of a technological lag
between higher education and the rest of society can be traced back to the introduction of
film and radio during the first decades of the twentieth century (Selwyn, 2009). The other
point of investigation is that while undoubtedly educational institutions harness the
power of social media marketing to popularize their courses, are they exploiting the full
advantage of the same channels for better student engagement? It is in this background
that this year-long study on exploring education-related use of social media and its impact
on student engagement among Indian students is undertaken.
 ET Smartphones: driving the revolution
60,2 India has witnessed an enormous surge in the number of mobile internet users. As technology
became more concise and eminently affordable the popularity of smartphones in India has
grown tremendously. As per a very recent study “Smartphone Incidence in Urban India,”
conducted by Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights, smartphones have gone on to become a
broad-based phenomenon in the Indian mobile phone market. There are more than 27-million
200 smartphone users in urban India, and a huge number being added every year. The survey has
found that the highest incidence of smartphone ownership is among young adults. According
to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India, 66 percent of the 180 million
internet users in urban India regularly access social media platforms. A recent survey
conducted by Tata Consultancy Services puts the number of students using social media at
roughly 40 million. The report observes that more than 70 percent of students in India own a
personal smartphone and six out of ten student respondents who participated in the survey
owned a smartphone. In a country of 1.3 billion people, mobile phone subscriptions in India
have already reached 1 billion mark, according to the latest data supplied by Telecom
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Regulatory Authority of India. This shows the high comfort levels that the present generation
in India exhibit with digital technology, social networking, smartphones and gaming.

Connectivism: a learning theory for digital India

Siemens (2005) and Downes (2007) proposed the Connectivism theory, where social learning
is incorporated with social media technologies. It is a theory of learning which elucidates
how the internet has generated different and varied chances for human beings to learn from
the internet and from each other. Learners are given full scope to browse the web and share
what they find with a networked community. Within this approach, learning is seen to occur
when peers collaboratively share opinions, viewpoints and critiques through conversation
and dialogue on a more mutual basis than the traditional teacher/student relationship
(Friesen and Lowe, 2011). Connectivism is fed by diversity and autonomy (Downes, 2010).
With the growth of technology software and hardware, Connectivism was coined to create a
clear learning theory in which teachers, instructional designers and, more importantly,
learners can integrate and utilize tools that provide a two-way learning environment that is
capable of equipping students with critical thinking, problem solving and global
participation (Eliott and Martin, 2011).
It is certain that the needs of the millennial learners in India are not being met by the
traditional modes of instruction. If it can be shown that maximization of learning is achieved
via connections then Connectivism becomes an apt learning theory for present day India.
In this context, Connectivism syncs well at this level of pedagogy where control is shifting
from the tutor to an increasingly more autonomous learner.

Research design
The current study investigates the adoption of social media for educational purposes in
India among students in the discipline of commerce and business in India. While laying
emphasis on qualitative research, it embodies a “mixed methods” approach. The study
draws on the perspectives of the students. The basic research question for this study is:
RQ1. What are students’ experiences when social media is integrated into higher
education in India?
In particular, the paper investigates the realities and examines the role that social media
plays in the learning experience of twenty-first century students in India. With this in mind,
the paper considers the following research questions:
RQ2. When and for what purposes are students using social media?
 RQ3. What aspects of students’ interactions via social media can be related to their Education-
higher education, either in terms of formal education or the informal needs of the related use of
students? social media
RQ4. What evidence is there for social media contributing to the increased engagement
of students with their studies?
RQ5. What can be said about the negative aspects of all this? 201
The data collection was done in two separate stages. In the first phase which started in the
month of March 2016, enrollment lists were taken from 12 selected colleges offering
graduate and post-graduate degrees in business. These institutions, at the beginning of the
term, had obtained the consent of certain groups of students to share their e-mail addresses
with faculty engaged in research. Contacting 12 principals was very difficult and time
consuming, but all of them cooperated and it was all well worth the effort. Once the lists
were obtained, stratified random sampling was applied and then a structured questionnaire
was sent via e-mail to 720 college students across undergraduate and post-graduate cohorts
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from these lists obtained from the institutions. The students’ survey consisted of
17 questions to explore how social media affects higher education teaching and learning.
Usable responses were received from 568 respondents, with the maximum responses
received from post-graduate students (62.5 percent) compared to undergraduate students
(37.5 percent) (Table I).
The second stage adopted an exploratory qualitative approach using in-depth interviews
and reflections utilizing Krueger’s guidelines. Three interviewers were appointed with prior
training on how to administer the open ended questionnaires and maintain consistency.
Out of the 568 respondents, 250 were randomly selected. Initially telephone interviews
were conducted with 18 students but after a while this was abandoned and face to
face interviews were conducted with another 232 students, with some replacements
from the list. To ensure that the respondents did a conscientious job, a letter was attached
from the principal of their college requesting them to cooperate and to provide accurate
information and with an appeal to fully cooperate. The interview process was based on an
interview guide which addressed the research questions and provided the structure.

Number of Respondents Percentage

Gender
Male 303 46.65
Female 265 53.35
Age (years)
16-18 104 18.30
19-21 157 27.65
21-23 282 49.65
23-25 21 3.70
25 and above 04 0.70
Occupation
Graduate 213 37.5
Post-graduate 355 62.5
Annual family income (INR)
o100,000 12 2.12
200,000-500,000 185 32.58 Table I.
500,000-1,000,000 352 61.98 Profile of the
W1,000,000 70 12.32 respondents
 ET The interview guide was divided into six sections from which the final four themes which
60,2 ultimately emerge have been derived. The face to face method proved more advantageous
as the personal contact enabled the interviewers to properly explain and elaborate on the
questions if needed. It also enabled variation in the order and phrasing of the questions and
any additions to the protocol, when deemed appropriate. All interviews taken have been
recorded and this helped tremendously in the actual writing process. On an average, the face
202 to face interviews took about 52 minutes and the telephone interviews took 35 minutes.
Both the questionnaire and the interview protocol had been shown to two experts to verify
the clarity of the questions as a content validity. The subjects of the interviews and
questionnaires were primarily urban youth in the city of Mumbai and its suburbs. Out of the
actual 568 respondents, 303 (53.35 percent) were male and 265 (46.65 percent) were female.
The annual family income of all respondents is significantly higher than the city average.
Thematic analysis was then conducted. All the raw data obtained were analyzed, coded
and then working on to reveal connections. Patterns within the data started emerging which
were then collapsed into categories and ultimately overarching themes evolved in which all
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the responses have been grouped.

Findings and interpretations

Four clear themes emerged. These include: widespread usage of social media, definite usage
in business education, strengths of social media in business education and the flip side of
learning with social media. Quotations used in each theme show word-for-word annotations
by the respondents. Respondents are referred to by a number.

Widespread usage of social media

Extent of use. Among the Indian youth undoubtedly social networking websites are gaining in
popularity and usage. The results indicate that 91 percent of the business students use some
kind of social media. Postgraduates (94 percent) are more likely to engage in social media
interaction than graduates (88 percent). Facebook is the most popularly used
(81 percent), followed by YouTube (70 percent), LinkedIn (64 percent) and Twitter
(52 percent). Social networking sites like Hi5 (11 percent), Flicker (6 percent) and Friendster
(4 percent) are least used. The sites are visited daily or more often by 48 percent of the
respondents and another 22 percent visit these sites two to three times a week. About the
average time spent by the respondents on these sites, 53 percent use it for less than an hour
everyday whereas 20 percent spend between one and three hours on these sites daily. Majority
of the users log in with the intention of checking their profile and for viewing updates.
Motives for social media usage. Most respondents (91 percent) indicated that the sites are
effective ways to connect and stay in touch with friends. Almost all the students admitted that
they derive a lot of benefits from these social networking sites. As this research and that of
Lenhart et al. (2010) have pointed out, adolescents are undoubtedly using social media for a
range of uses. Majority (64 percent) use these sites for communication with friends and family,
followed by entertainment (56 percent). In total, 43 percent use these sites for educational
purposes. Actually educational purposes are not ranked high by majority of the respondents.
In total, 79 percent of the students stated that networking sites facilitate the formation of
friendship networks with students in India and abroad. The key characteristic of all these
social media practices is that of “mass socialization,” i.e. harnessing the power of the collective
actions of online user communities rather than individual users (Shirky, 2008).

Definite usage in business education

Does it enhance learning?. The usage of social media enhances their learning experience was
testified to by 52 percent of the respondents. These students were quick to point out that social
 media opens up a myriad of avenues like videos, blogs, chats, etc. through which they can access Education-
information and they are able to learn much more. As two excited post-graduate students put it: related use of
I always make it a point to see the few-minute videos my seniors and others have uploaded on social media
YouTube and I can instantly connect with the topic (p. 296).
I always wanted to modernize my traditional family business and the expert comments on social
media would prove so useful when I actually get down to doing it (p. 157).
203
However, 24 percent felt that it adds no value and another 24 percent were not able to give a
definite answer to this question. However, students were quick to point out that not many
faculty use these tools for educational purposes.
Extent of use in education. In total, 41 percent reported using Facebook for educational
purposes. They elaborated that Facebook is a good learning tool which was used by them to
their advantage. It leads to continuous interaction between the lecturer and the students and
among the students themselves. Students have benefited from the study material and other
posts related to the topic under study. In total, 35 percent of the respondents have online
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discussions on Facebook on study related matters.

Where people access. When asked where they would like to access social media for
education purposes, 62 percent indicated out of college hours as they would like to engage
with faculty, 21 percent within the lectures and 17 percent indicated that they would use it
during class assignments and field visits.

Strengths of using social media in business education

Different ways to learn. The transformation from cramming to technology-based learning is
somewhat evident among the business students as several of them were carrying laptops,
i-pads and pen drives. Many of them had studied in International Baccalaureate schools and
64 percent were familiar with technology in education. In total, 60 percent agreed that
technology changes education for the better. The immediate remark was: “The internet,
smartphones, cameras […] can all be included in our subjects. Some of our faculty use
it – and learning becomes two-way, more interactive and much more fun.” A boy asserted, “I
believe in multi-way conversations, not one-way lectures.” Some students greatly
appreciated the diverse strategies used by their teachers:
My parents put a lot of pressure on me to top the class but my grades are always average. I learn
best when I do it hands-on and I did get this opportunity in the Integrated Marketing
Communication class last semester. I got an A+ in that paper. Do not expect magic from me in the
other subjects (p. 243).
Our Rural Marketing Maam uses all kinds of visuals we can relate to and the class becomes oh so
interesting (p. 491).
I never miss the classes of those teachers who liberally use technology in their instruction. It makes
me take more interest in their subjects which otherwise are quite boring and I eagerly await the
next class (p. 378).
It is an important to note that students have different learning style and different levels of
intelligence. All students do not learn well in the chalk and talk environment. However,
36 percent of students were clear that the main technique used by most teachers remains
chalk and talk. They expressed surprise why more instructors do not use diverse strategies
to teach students. A vast majority of students admitted that no faculty needs to convince
them of the power of social media; they already were great fans and found it very useful in
their day-to-day lives. However, they were quick to point out that the main purposes were
communication and entertainment.
 ET Constant connectivity. Unlike the traditional chalk and talk system, “[…] [in] electronic
60,2 media, the world becomes the classroom, available 24/7, and not confined to Mondays to
Fridays” (Dzvapatsva et al., 2014). Students value this 24/7 access social media offers
because it offers them a lot of flexibility. Through Twitter they are connected to their
batchmates and also have access to their instructor anytime. Till five years ago, students
had contact with teachers only during lecture hours but now with social media they can
204 have a direct link to their faculty. This leads to more individualized instruction and is
proved by the happy comments like these:
My Strategic Management instructor was online at 11 30 pm. I asked him a quick question I was
pondering over and got an immediate answer (p. 402).
It leads to a great exchange of ideas for class presentations (p. 319).
My Business Ethics instructor is always available on an online chat about anything we might have
read or come across on Business Ethics. That really opens my eyes to so many realities not in our
standard text book (p. 380).
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At the other end are unhappy comments like this one:

Most teachers have a very clear policy that they are not available outside college hours (p. 487).
Another aspect of connectivity is that students can quickly come to know what is happening
in the world. Smartphones have been used in educational activities to access course content,
acquire information related to students’ performance, and to encourage discussion and
sharing between students and teachers (Cochrane, 2010).
Fostering collaborative learning. Social media has exponentially increased the degree to
which students can collaborate. It has enhanced the rate and quality of such collaboration.
Half of the students land up discussing their homework on these sites. Students testify that
this teaches them team building and communication skills and they learn very well how to
work in groups. They are better able to communicate meeting times and are able to share
information quickly. Students acknowledged that they had learnt skills necessary to stay
afloat in business. They had also been connecting too many people from all over the world.
Communities of people who shared specific interests had been built. Another aspect of
connectivity is that students could quickly come to know what was happening in the world.
Several students spoke that they had formed peer communities. The most common
(cited by 64 percent) was blogs. This represents a true Connectivist model as these student
groups were totally initiatives of the students. After a period of time, a lone instructor or two
with a more benevolent attitude than the senior faculty would join the blog and
post-occasional constructive comments and morale boosters. However, in a majority of
cases, there was no faculty involvement or initiative seen. These peer communities
continued to be active even after all examinations were over and during vacation time
though the number of posts substantially reduced during these times. This sporadic and not
continuous faculty participation in the blog may not be indicative of a true Connectivist
model but nonetheless faculty participation was not totally absent making it lean more and
more toward a connectivist setting. Students found these blogs useful as is evident by the
following observation:
At first we were all too polite, but later relaxed a bit and were still positive, but offering proper
feedback. Many students put up their draft projects for peer and senior students comments and this
helps to improve the quality before final submission. Very often senior students give very
constructive feedback which helps to enhance grades (p. 107).
The whole learning experience becomes “more interesting.” Students expressed that they
did not feel they were working on individualized projects and felt part of a larger team.
 Such participations can be associated with what Jenkins et al. (2006) describes as a Education-
“Participatory Culture.” Hung and Yuen (2010) contend that a sense of community is an related use of
essential element for successful e-learning. A lot of questions and doubts were put up social media
usually the night before the semester-end examination which were quickly solved by the
first student who saw them and knew the answer. This continued way into the night.
All this proved very valuable to the students. In total, 11 percent of the students immensely
benefitted and another 18 percent benefitted from the highly interactive online deliberations. 205
Connecting students with the answers they need. Students also noted other positives like
“I am a very shy person. I never speak in class even though I know the answers but I
communicate very effectively on Facebook with my instructor and even classmates.”
Another student echoed a similar sentiment, “For accountancy subjects most of my
friends go for extra coaching but I cannot afford it. Now I just ask my difficulties on the
Wazzapp group and get the right answers.” Students explained how social media had
turned out to be some kind of audience connector. While researching on a college, students
no longer have to do a campus tour or go through a printed brochure. Instead they take a
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virtual campus tour, using the power of social media. Now colleges have started
showcasing their campus facilities, learning culture, events and library collections using
YouTube videos and Instagram photographs. “I was searching for an MBA institute that
offers a top notch programme, at the same time that I could fit in. I researched various
options on social media – and I am pretty happy with the choice I made,” said a satisfied
post-graduate student.
Among the skills they had developed, 78 percent of the respondents agreed that they
now had acquired great familiarity with laptops and smartphones and they were constantly
trying to adopt new technologies. When students solved difficult case studies, other
students posted links which threw light on some questions. It appears from this research
that these beginnings might have culminated in a kind of continuous lifelong learning.
In total, 38 percent of the students surveyed said they would have liked to continue reading
on core business topics that interested them long after they earned their degree and
21 percent were already members of groups having very specific interests like those aiming
to launch start-ups, those wishing to pursue a career in finance, those wishing to work in IT
companies, young Samaritans group, etc. Here again the connections made with lifelong
learning conform to the Connectivist theory.
Employment. In one of the graduate courses, the director for placements motivated all the
students to opt for e-portfolios and students reported these were helpful in finding summer
internships. Some of the students admitted to having spent a lot of time customizing their
profile and making it look more professional. A quarter of the students admitted to using
social networking sites for employment purposes and 9 percent admitted to being active on
these sites on a daily basis. On the other hand, 37 percent reported they do not use social
networking sites for employment purposes at all. Less than one-fourth of the respondents
reported that they had uploaded their curriculum vitae at least on one site, particularly on
LinkedIn. Some students (15 percent) admitted to having read up on certain companies they
were interested in joining after attaining their degree, while 7 percent reached out to the
alumni on professional networking sites and took their opinion about careers in a particular
company. Some students also disclosed that they had taken great care in editing all their
information and removed anything that would cast a negative shadow on them. The fact
that Facebook is used by several companies to research on prospective employees was
known to the students. This shows that the social media strategy for finding a job is
catching up. Thus, social media is a key player in the job search process today (Smith, 2013).
As an excited student who got a placement said:
I always try to highlight my achievements and extra curriculars in a positive way (p. 67).
 ET Connecting families and communities. One of the colleges in our list has set up an Orkut
60,2 account so that the pupils can connect with the pupils of a school in Singapore. The students
worked virtually on assignments and learnt a lot from each other. All this led to a lot of cultural
integration. One student even traveled to Singapore and stayed with the host family for a week.
Blogs were being used at the administrative level by 5 out of the 12 colleges covered by this
study to keep parents and other stakeholders in the loop about the strategic decisions taken
206 and various activities conducted by the college. Students put up real and authentic feedback on
these blogs. This was greatly appreciated by the parents as they always wanted to know what
their kids are learning. Not a single college in our control group had yet experimented with
hashtags. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, shared the high point on Twitter that
it was ranked 15th at the global level. This became a point of celebration and a proud moment
for all present and past students. One of the colleges in our sample asked students to vote for
their favorite professor online. A state of the art design institute in Mumbai (not in the list of
colleges covered by this survey) now has a full time social media coordinator.
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Flip side of social media in education

Continual partial attention
The investigators noticed that almost all the students in the campus were totally immersed
in their smartphones and in what Sherry Turkle described as “continual partial attention” to
their physical surroundings. As a girl admitted, “My parents always say that my ability to
concentrate on what I am doing is reducing as my phone beeps continuously.” There is
growing evidence that, because of their hyperlinked architecture, social media can prove
more distracting than focusing (Aagaard, 2015; Rambe and Nel, 2015).

Conflict with parents

While majority of the students gave an account of how social media is responsible for
conflicts with parents, few also testified that it helps in strengthening bonds with parents.
Parents take objection to the overdose and constant use of social media probably because of
the access to objectionable information and pictures. The teenagers also had a reverse
annoyance that their parents interfere too much and try to control their use of the internet.
The other school of thought said parents appreciate the constant connectivity and the
reassurance. One of the colleges in our sample had taken an initiative to conduct a half day
seminar on how parents can help and guide teens’ online social experiences.

Superficial way
Many students relied on the web to provide answers and this probably amounts to a
reduced focus on actual learning. Students claimed to be proficient at lifting material from
the internet. They want to mix it, in new creative ways – to produce it, to publish it and to
distribute it (Hilton, 2006). Some girls lamented the fact that technology does tend to
diminish the ability to think on one’s own accord and it throttles creativity. They alleged,
“Many of our friends simply copy and paste and submit assignments” and are always
looking for “easy and quick answers.” Some students also commented that several
instructors use social media just as a surface tool and usually to pass time in the class when
they have not much to say on the topic:
Sorry, I feel social media is not a helpful way to learn. I find it a very superficial technique. It stifles
verbal communication and does away with the human element in learning. It cannot produce
well-rounded individuals (p. 517).
Our lecturer set up a class blog–and we learnt nothing as students start posting anything not even
related to the course (p. 42).
 Reduction in grades Education-
A common concern raised by students was the difficulty to write without the spell-check related use of
function. “We are always being ticked off by our lecturers for wrong spelling and incorrect social media
grammar in written assignments,” narrated a student. Some of the students experienced a
reduction in their exam grades due to constant fixation to social networking sites. In total,
23 percent of students admitted that social networking sites did adversely affect their
grades. This seems to be in conformity with a study by Paul et al. (2012) where the 207
researchers found a small but significant negative relationship between times spent on these
sites and academic performance.

Discussions and implications

Indian youth are using the internet as a tool to gain social skills and then they apply these to
real life situations. In India, despite the widespread use of online social media for
communication and entertainment, the use in the educational sphere seems to be less.
As teenagers go through a vital transitionary period in their lives, attention and popularity
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becomes important to them. They tend to use these sites for socializing and making new
friends rather than for educational reasons. At this age, they become vulnerable to the next
“big” “new” thing. Recently tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn which were used to take a
break from studying are now being leveraged as a study tool by India technology-savvy
students. The students had formed several Facebook study groups and commented that
these groups are immensely useful for sharing information, question banks and study tips.
Senior students and faculty are not averse to joining these groups and their inputs prove
immensely useful. The students make full use of Twitter to send updates about class
schedules, study tips and to keep all group members more fully engaged in team projects.
Several students commented that over time they had developed a great appreciation for the
use of SNSs in their learning. It also provides several pedagogical opportunities in higher
education including open publishing, new communication styles and texts, expressing
personal identity and experience, co-creation and collaboration, and content management
(De Wever et al., 2015; Wheeler, 2010).
Numerous theoretical and empirical studies spanning over decades on social networking
sites and electronic media in higher education strongly indicate that the system has become
increasingly significant in educating present and future students (Okoro, 2012). Many
higher education instructors have looked to the technology to mediate and enhance their
instruction as well as promote active learning for students (Anderson, 2007; Eijkman, 2008;
McLoughlin and Lee, 2010; Selwyn, 2010). Even in India, new models for teaching and
learning are gradually easing out the traditional organized classroom models where the
institution and instructor are at center stage. While it is clear in the Indian context that the
students are no longer passive information consumers, but whether they are active co-
producers of content (Kitsantas and Dabbagh, 2010) would be pre-mature to infer at the
current level of development. It could be said they are inching toward becoming
“prosumers,” indicating a more active approach to learning (Klamma et al., 2006). No doubt,
learning in the context of social media has become highly self-motivated, autonomous and
informal, as well as an integral part of the college experience (McLoughlin and Lee, 2010;
Smith et al., 2009; Solomon and Schrum, 2007). Social networking sites are representative of
what Gee (2004) calls affinity spaces, wherein people connect with each other and also
acquire technological competencies. All this fits well into the Connectivist model.
Clearly, the actual integration of social networking sites in higher education is done at
the faculty level rather than at the organizational level. There are many skeptical educators
in the Indian system who choose not to embrace social media and incorporate it in their
teaching. More teachers ought to start posting recordings of their lectures and spread them
around via social media. Greater student engagement could also be promoted by helping
 ET students to link up with experts who can share their latest research with the class.
60,2 This study clearly shows that when social media is used for educational purposes it turns
out to be very effective.
Social media in the Indian educational system is an evolving method of communication
that is poised to gain greater acceptance. All the students interviewed said they seek
connectivity, flexibility, personalized and experiential learning. No doubt social media’s
208 contribution in the classroom depicts a rising interest in technology as a tool to assist
learning but it also reinforces a paradigm shift in the way students learn. Ultimately
students need full support in becoming connected learners and ultimately connected
workers.
It is not correct to assume that the teachers already possess a twenty-first century
outlook. However, as a new generation enters the teaching profession; who have an
understanding of collaboration, networking, self-directed learning and shared expertise
(Teräs and Myllylä, 2011) this might happen slowly. Teacher education needs to be designed
innovatively, to understanding the twenty-first century working context and critically
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evaluating current teaching and assessment methods, instructional design and learning
environments (Torp and Nevalainen, 2010).

Conclusion
Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know
today. The education sector in India is poised to witness major growth in the years to come.
Smartphones, social media and the internet are a part of life of the modern generation.
The use of social media approaches to learning certainly enhanced the experiences of
undergraduate and post-graduate business students in this study. Several other studies
have reiterated the helpful aspects of social media in student learning (e.g. Chen et al., 2010;
Dunlap and Lowenthal, 2009). Hrastinski and Aghaee (2012) have, in particular, shown how
technologies enhance academic performance and help to better manage administrative
communication with students.
Indian students today learn in a totally different way than the earlier generations did.
One key characteristic of this generation is that they are very education oriented. As this
study has shown at a micro-level, technology-led reach and easy access will bring about a
socio-economic difference in the lives of Indian learners. In the broad context of more
profound socio-economic changes in India, as the perspectives of students in this research
show, they expect more changes in education in the direction of technology. Changes are
inevitable and unavoidable. The Indian education system so far has enabled the teacher to
take complete control of the situation. As social media expands in India, the younger
generation is beginning to realize the advantages of incorporating social media into
education and the Connectivism to be gained from it. This research has shown that students
now see themselves as partners in the decision-making process so they would like to be
involved at every stage too. While social media will never completely replace the traditional
Indian education it does assist with educational practices and enhances student learning.
Indian students are getting more and more inspired by the technology, and taking more
responsibility for their learning. This would also probably help them in competitive job
markets in the future.
Finally and fortunately one aspect of education that has remained unchanged is the
pivotal role of teachers. Indian teachers have a culture of treating students as their own
children. No amount of technology can ever replace the humanistic aspirations that our
teachers tirelessly try to impart to our children. Indian teachers struggle with class loads of
kids, huge teaching workloads yet dismal salaries and our teachers continue to mold
generation after generation. One thing is certain: social media will continue to play an
important role in the Indian education sector.
 Recommendations of the study Education-
Based on various insights from those who participated in this study and the researchers’ related use of
experience, strategies for incorporating SNSs in teaching and learning are suggested. social media
As this study has shown, a number of colleges and universities in India are including social
media in their pedagogy in a rather exterior fashion yet the challenge lies in effectively
aligning it with the curriculum. This requires pedagogical rethinking by challenging
existing approaches to curriculum design, delivery and assessment (Conole and Alevizou, 209
2010). Meaningfully integrating social media into teaching and learning in India would
require profound and multilayered commitment rather than just its exterior utilization.
Adoptive instructors are likely in an experimental stage of implementation as they look for
alignment between course activities and the SNS applications (Bennett et al., 2012). Faculty
should fit all this into the larger curricular framework rather than use it as yet another tool
in the overcrowded curriculum.
Social networking is certainly becoming a vital part of the Indian education system
struggling with large numbers. But it ought to be implemented effectively. Students need to
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be also sensitized that they must develop the capability to filter the profusion of information
on the internet and evaluate its validity and reliability. The negative sides of social media
need to be alleviated while enhancing the positive results. If parents moderate in different
ways their child’s access to social media, most of the negative aspects can be mitigated.
Taking a cue from one of the colleges in our study, workshops could be conducted for
parents on this sensitive issue. Families must also ensure they spend enough time with their
growing children and provide face-to-face interaction.
The results of this study point to a need for greater and more effective use of social media
in classrooms and the need for faculty to be better trained and more convinced of its
effectiveness. Faculty should be provided with continuous support in terms of training
workshops and other technical support and training so that they could effectively integrate
technology in their lessons. The greater issue is striking the right balance keeping in mind
all the Indian complexities.

Further research
This study brings out further unanswered questions concerning the educational use of
social media in the Indian context. Answers to several questions might be different in India
and other developing countries than they would be in highly advanced countries where such
issues have been largely “solved.” Future research is required how social media can be used
for greater student engagement in the Indian setting. Additional research is also needed to
understand how social media is being used by Indian faculty. Considering the potential
opportunities as well as challenges outlined in this paper, there is a need to understand
better the best practices and guidelines concerning the correct social media usage in the
educational setting. It may be useful to appraise the social presence besides inspiration and
pressure and study how young students’ psychological circumstances shape social media
use. Whether and how students leverage the use of social media would be also be worth
investigating in further research. A lot of attention needs to be paid to research in India on
how social media could profitably be used to educate the marginalized communities and the
potential for differential impacts upon groups within those communities.

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Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 10-31.

Corresponding author
Jehangir Bharucha can be contacted at: jehangir.bharucha@hrcollege.edu

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