Distance learners' use of non-institutional social media to augment and enhance their learning experience

Andrews, Trish and Tynan, Belinda and Backstrom, Kendra (2012) Distance learners' use of non-institutional social media to augment and enhance their learning experience. In: ASCILITE 2012: 29th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education: Future Challenges, Sustainable Futures, 25-28 Nov 2012, Wellington, New Zealand.

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Abstract

This paper reports on initial data elicited from two related studies which draw on the learner voice in relation to experiences of distance learners in their use of social media in higher education contexts across four universities. Data from these studies suggest that the wide availability, accessibility and affordances of social media create alternative learning options for some distance
learners. The studies reported here draw upon affordance theory and identify that some distant learners are actively and deliberately using popular, non-institutional social media tools to augment and extend their learning experiences. This brief paper discusses emerging findings and the possible implications of these findings for the sector.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Commonwealth Reporting Category E) (Paper)
Refereed:	Yes
Item Status:	Live Archive
Additional Information:	Copyright © 2012 Trish Andrews, Belinda Tynan and Ms Kendra Backstrom. The author(s) assign to the ascilite and educational non-profit institutions, a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction, provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The author(s) also grant a non-exclusive licence to ascilite to publish this document on the ascilite website and in other formats for the Proceedings ascilite 2012. Any other use is prohibited without the express permission of the author(s).
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Distance and e-Learning Centre (1 Jan 2009 - )
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Distance and e-Learning Centre (1 Jan 2009 - )
Date Deposited:	17 Jan 2013 02:51
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2014 22:09
Uncontrolled Keywords:	distance learners; social media; affordances; higher education
Fields of Research (2008):	13 Education > 1303 Specialist Studies in Education > 130306 Educational Technology and Computing 13 Education > 1301 Education Systems > 130103 Higher Education 13 Education > 1303 Specialist Studies in Education > 130309 Learning Sciences
Socio-Economic Objectives (2008):	C Society > 93 Education and Training > 9302 Teaching and Instruction > 930203 Teaching and Instruction Technologies
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/22699

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