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

Paper

Andrews, Trish, Tynan, Belinda and Backstrom, Kendra. 2012. "Distance learners' use of non-institutional social media to augment and enhance their learning experience." Brown, M., Hartnett, M. and Stewart, T. (ed.) 29th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE 2012). Wellington, New Zealand 25 - 28 Nov 2012 Gold Coast, Australia.
Paper/Presentation Title

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

Presentation TypePaper
AuthorsAndrews, Trish (Author), Tynan, Belinda (Author) and Backstrom, Kendra (Author)
EditorsBrown, M., Hartnett, M. and Stewart, T.
Journal or Proceedings TitleProceedings of the 29th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE 2012)
Number of Pages5
Year2012
Place of PublicationGold Coast, Australia
ISBN9780473229894
Web Address (URL) of Paperhttp://www.ascilite2012.org/images/custom/andrews,_trish_-_distance.pdf
Conference/Event29th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE 2012)
Event Details
Rank
C
Event Details
29th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE 2012)
Parent
Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE)
Delivery
In person
Event Date
25 to end of 28 Nov 2012
Event Location
Wellington, New Zealand
Event Web Address (URL)
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.

Keywordsdistance learners; social media; affordances; higher education
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390405. Educational technology and computing
390303. Higher education
390409. Learning sciences
Public Notes

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).

Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Queensland
Pro Vice-Chancellor's Office (Learning, Teaching and Quality)
University of Adelaide
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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