GRIT 791 – Seminar in Instructional and Communication Technology
The effectiveness of social media in assisting the student in the understanding of classroom content as well as other relevant research work is one phenomenon that is gaining a lot of interest with the onset of time (Tess, 2013). Because of the changing trends in technological and social life progress, learning is undergoing a number of evolutions. Students tend to be obsessed with technology, especially Instagram as opposed to the previous use of books for gathering any relevant information (Tess, 2013).
Social media applications in the academic sector include computer software typically design to help learners gather and analyze information. The use of Instagram is also on the rise due to its efficiency in sharing information. The students could easily utilize the essential features of Instagram to share images and photos of class notes, graphical representations, and laboratory results.
In addition, research on the use of social media integration in academics should take place using the quantitative methodology. Quantitative methodology is the use of a large number of data to obtain and analyze information that helps to derive the common factor across the entire population (Mertens, 2014). In particular, this common characteristic will be suitable in categorizing the population into various cohorts within certain boundaries (Mertens, 2014).
One of the key features of the quantitative methodology is that it incorporates the use of questionnaires in the gathering of relevant information from a given population. The quantitative research methodology relies on numerical data and information that is reliable since it results from a large number of individuals. This feature makes the methodology preferable to the qualitative methodology.
Secondly, the most attractive feature of the quantitative methodology of collecting and analyzing statistical data is its ability to extract information from a large group of the population (Mertens, 2014). Ideally, it involves supplying questionnaires to many people with the same questions. The questionnaires include a number of questions but most importantly, it has to contain several questions on Instagram. The Instagram question tends to gauge the extent to which the users appreciate the application by assigning different ratings on importance.
For instance, in the case of determining the integration of social media in academic activities within the United States, it will be appropriate to supply numerous questionnaires to many students. In particular, the questionnaires provided to the students should document different ratings on the frequent use of Instagram to acquire learning materials and data.
Finally, the quantitative methodology is very important in collecting information for this particular case because of the need to include a large number of students and tutors (Mertens, 2014). The wide coverage of the population will improve the accuracy and reliability of the information concerning Instagram users in general. Additionally, it is preferable to use quantitative methodology because it covers a wider area of study. Instagram is useful across the entire world population in the recent past, and this makes it relevant for the quantitative methodology in this case. The scenario of integration of social media particularly Instagram in academic activities needs further research using the quantitative methodology due to its scale of coverage.
References
Mertens, D. M. (2014). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Sage publications.
Tess, P. A. (2013). The role of social media in higher education classes (real and virtual)–A literature review. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(5), A60-A68.
