SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR BENEFITS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: A SURVEY OF JAZAN UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 plan is, in fact, an endeavor to establish the Kingdom as one of the most advanced and developed countries of the world. An Innovative approach and strategies are the main objectives of the Vision 2030 for the development of the country. Academia is focusing on various methodologies, which will help in elevating the importance of Saudi Higher Education Institution (HEI) to international standards. Social Media Technologies (SMTs) has turned into a developing phenomenon by numerous and diverse classifications in community and educational practice. The term SMTs denotes to web-oriented and mobile based applications that enable peoples and societies to produce, involve, and share new applications or current content, in digital world through multi-path communication. The emergence of Social Media Technologies has enforced mentors to think differently about the way learning occurs. HEI are investigating the use of various domains of Social Media Technologies for pedagogical purposes. These domains comprise blogs for instructions, wikis for shared content creation and podcasting to record teaching materials and making videos. However, HEI of the Kingdom are lagging behind in the incorporation of SMTs in learning and teaching. This research aims to establish contemporary instructions, learning practices, attitudes and scope of SMTs in the HEI pedagogy. A case study has been carried out in Jazan University that involved a mixed method approach to explore the practice of Social Media Technologies in the educational process.