Nursing students’ use of social media in their learning: a case study of a Canadian School of Nursing

BACKGROUND: Social media has diverse applications for nursing education. Current literature focuses on how nursing faculty use social media in their courses and teaching; less is known about how and why nursing students use social media in support of their learning. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Giroux, Catherine M., Moreau, Katherine A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9303836/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35864461
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00977-0
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Social media has diverse applications for nursing education. Current literature focuses on how nursing faculty use social media in their courses and teaching; less is known about how and why nursing students use social media in support of their learning. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore how nursing students use social media in their learning formally and informally. METHODS: This exploratory qualitative case study of a Canadian School of Nursing reports on the findings of interviews (n = 9) with nursing students to explore how they use social media in their learning. Data were analyzed using a combined deductive and inductive coding approach, using three cycles of coding to facilitate category identification. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate that participants use social media for formal and informal learning and specifically, as a third space to support their learning outside of formal institutional structures. Social media plays a role in the learning activities of nursing students studying both face-to-face and by distance. Accordingly, social media use has implications for learning theory and course design, particularly regarding creating space for student learning communities. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-022-00977-0.