The Teacher-Student Relationship in the Use of Social Network Sites for Educational Purposes: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the educational scholarly writing on the teacher-student relationship and performance within the use of Social Network Sites (SNSs) for educational purposes. To that end, a systematic review of 111 journal articles focused on young people, and found in ten relevant databases (ERIC, SCOPUS, WOS, JCR (SSCI), DOAJ, EBSCO, ISOC, REDIB, JSTOR, and PsycARTICLES), has been performed. The results show continuity in the roles of educators and students between physical and virtual spaces. This homogeneous conceptualisation is grounded on student-centred theories. Also, the existence of a theoretical confrontation between the figurative dichotomy of vertical (distance) and horizontal (closeness) teacher-student relationship is revealed and discussed. While most of the reviewed studies focused on requirements for technical training, the need for acquiring digital cultural knowledge is stressed. Finally, some of the educational implications of the ethical dimension of the teacher-student relationship in digital spaces are exposed.