Effective use of social media networks for collaborative learning in higher education

With the continual rise of online and hybrid modes of learning, students collaborating through social media networks (SMN) is becoming increasingly important. Yet, students are struggling to unleash the potential of SMN to support their learning. This study investigated how SMN can be effectively used for collaborative learning in higher education through using a mixed methodology. Findings showed that SMN's effective use influenced students’ collaborative learning goal attainment and was facilitated by perception of SMN affordances and social capital. This thesis extends the theory of effective use by proposing an approach for contextualizing effective use of SMN for collaborative learning.