The rapid expansion and development in the technology sector has trickled down into the education sector with the internet and social media platforms affecting how institution of higher learnings are run. Some studies have shown that there is a marked improvement in the length of information retention and retrieval from memory when the student receives that information in an interactive environment.
Social media platforms as well have shown large interaction volume among users, which makes the sharing of knowledge easy. This was impossible to imagine a few years back.
In a bold and unexpected move, the Department of Information Systems, College of Economics and Political Science at SQU benefited from digital platforms last year when they move away from traditional methodology of teaching and took full use of technology particularly the social media.
Unlike before when assignments are handed out either orally or with pen and paper, they are not given via online accounts. The students then submit their assignments to lecturers through the same platforms.
The combination of traditional learning, attending lectures, and communication through various social media to perform some of the assignment, as Dr. Mohammed al Fayrouz, Assistant Professor in the department, has been received very well by students. He shared that the feedbacks they’d been getting are positive confirming the effectiveness of the initiative.
Al Fayrouz explained that through this new learning practise, they’ve availed of the services of Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.
“This new interactive learning style used different online application. We use Twitter through the #MINFSIA tag, and for Instagram, and YouTube, we used the account and channel of INFS2412,” he said.
Edlal platform is another successful example of the importance of social media in supporting the educational process.
It is an Omani youth project that is providing visual content in Arabic language. It aims to shorten the time of sharing experiences, knowledge and skills in different fields and put everyone in contact with experts, professionals and knowledge holders from the Sultanate of Oman. Edlal tweets that the number of beneficiaries in the first year reached 16,000 users across more than 40 countries around the world.
Regarding to the role of these platforms in achieving educational goals, Nargis Hinai, an IT teacher, said there are a lot of educators who are exchanging information, and open the way for dialogue and exchange of experiences, including those related to teaching methods, educational technical programs, and information related to important educational events such as seminars, workshops and conferences.
Regardless of the challenges that both the teacher and learners face, Ali al Moussawi, Associate Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning Technology, College of Education at SQU, said that the potential benefits of this new learning methodology is staggering.
He said that despite the benefits, it is important to look in different factors — the pros and cons and weigh analytically its benefits in the long run.
RUQAYA AL KINDI
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