The document discusses the use of online social networks in medical education. It outlines how social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter can be leveraged to enhance learning outcomes for students. While such tools were initially used mainly for social purposes, research shows they can improve interactions between faculty and students and support more student-centered and blended learning approaches when integrated thoughtfully. The author provides examples from their institution of how social media has supplemented traditional anatomy education. Challenges in using these tools are also addressed.

1. ONLINE SOCIAL
NETWORKS IN
MEDICAL EDUCATION
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Dr. Akram Jaffar
Akram PAULINE JOYCE
Jaffar, Ph.D.
DR.
Assistant Professor of Human Anatomy
College of Medicine, University of Sharjah
INSTITUTE OF LEADERSHIP
Dr. Akram Jaffar

2. Selected citations
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•
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Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Jaffar A. 2013. Exploring the Use of a Facebook Page in Anatomy
Education. Anat Sci Ed. Published online ahead of print 10 Sep 2013. DOI:
10.1002/ase.1404.
Jaffar A. 2012. YouTube: An emerging tool in anatomy education. Anat Sci
Ed. 5(3):158-164.
Jaffar A. 2013. Tips for Using YouTube in Medical Education. Iraqi J. Med.
Sci. 11(2):102-108.
Jaffar A & Al-Moslih A. 2014. What difference is “iTunes U” course making to
anatomy learners? accepted as oral presentation at the 2014 Canadian
Conference on Medical Education.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

3. Objectives
Clarify the evolving role of social media as an
instructional tool.
•
Identify the most popular social media
networks.
•
Consider challenges faced by educators using
social media.
•
Discuss the role social media can play in
student centered and blended learning.
•
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Provide live examples from University of
Sharjah.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

4. The “Net Generation”
The “Net Generation” has
attitudes, expectations, and
learning styles reflecting
the environment in which
they were raised. This
environment is different
from that which existed
when faculty were growing
up.
•
Medical educators in the
21st century must
accommodate this learning
style.
•
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Social networking sites
have the potential to
improve learning.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

5. Web 2
Social networking sites
use Web 2.0
technologies to share a
user-focused approach.
•
Users actively
participate in content
creation and editing
through open
collaboration between
members of
communities of practice.
•
Dr. Akram Jaffar
•
Social networks can
change the way
students learn and
communicate, as well as
improve interactions
between faculty and
students.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

6. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Top 5 Social Platforms Globally
Dr. Akram Jaffar

7. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Arab Social Media Report
Dr. Akram Jaffar

8. UoS, College of Medicine
100%
Students with Online Social Network Account
92%
90%
86%
80%
70%
62%
60%
52%
53%
2011
46%
50%
2012
40%
40%
2013
29%
30%
19%
20%
14%
11%
7%
5%
Dr. Akram Jaffar
10%
5%4%
6%
3%
0%
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Google+
Linkedin
Tumblr
Myspace
No
account
Dr. Akram Jaffar

9. Facebook
Dr. Akram Jaffar
• Facebook is
becoming an
increasingly
significant element
of online social
culture for medical
students.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

10. Uses of Facebook in higher education
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•
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Establish relationships with students through university Facebook Pages.
Students collaboration not only for social reasons but for informal learning
purposes.
Student-Faculty communication beyond face-to-face office hours through
instant messaging feature.
Students collaboration in a course for learning.
Support classroom teaching through faculty guidance.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

11. Pros and cons of Facebook in higher
education
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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•
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Motivates students’ participation and enables students' reflections.
Prepares students for lifelong learning and communication.
More convenient and satisfactory to use than traditional tools.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

12. Pros and cons of Facebook in higher
education
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Traditional learning management systems are accessible to all learners.
It is used primarily for social and daily activities.
Serves as more of a distraction than a learning tool.
Concerns about privacy issues.
http://lqghazaryan.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=881
Dr. Akram Jaffar

13. Facebook account features
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Timeline (personal profile)
Group
Page
Dr. Akram Jaffar

14. Use a Facebook Page and not a Timeline
account
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Privacy and safety issues.
Evaluation and feedback.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

15. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Integrative and collaborative services
Dr. Akram Jaffar

16. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Insights
Dr. Akram Jaffar

17. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Insights
Dr. Akram Jaffar

18. Facebook is no more a site merely for social
activities
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Dr. Akram Jaffar
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96% were using Facebook in
education.
84% agreed that Facebook could be a
suitable learning environment.
80% were aware of privacy settings
on Facebook.
78% would like tutors to interact with
via Facebook.
64% feel safe to express their opinion
freely on a Facebook Page
administered by a faculty member.
36% considered the harm of
Facebook to exceed the benefit.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

19. Facebook Page is appropriate to
supplement traditional anatomy education
Communicate with tutor on academic matters
Increase understanding
Improve exam self-confidence
Dr. Akram Jaffar
100%
•
•
•
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
83%-89% followed the Page.
94% rated the Page as very good or excellent.
89% perceived the Page to be effective in contributing to their learning
experience.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

20. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Educate students about principles of social
media ethics and etiquette
Dr. Akram Jaffar

21. Accept friend requests from students
•
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Faculty self-disclosure through
Facebook has a positive impact
on student motivation, affective
learning, classroom
climate, and course outcomes.
Provide an opportunity to guide
students in their responsible
use of Facebook technology.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

22. Provide the opportunity and let students
choose freely
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Facebook should not constitute a
mainstream for education but a support
for classroom teaching and to add some
social, historical and artistic blends to
education in order to encourage
students’ collaboration and enthusiasm.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

23. Mobile learning frontiers
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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People who use Facebook on their
mobile devices are twice as active on
Facebook as non-mobile users
(Facebook, 2013).
Dr. Akram Jaffar

24. •
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Dr. Akram Jaffar
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More than 1 billion unique users visit
YouTube each month
Over 4 billion hours of video are watched
each month on YouTube
72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube
every minute
25% of global YouTube views come from
mobile devices
Traffic from mobile devices tripled in 2011
YouTube press statistics, 13 April, 2013
Dr. Akram Jaffar

25. Videos in medical education
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Support classroom teaching.
Self-directed learning.
Revision.
Continuous medical education.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

26. Advantages of using a YouTube channel
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Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Encourage learners to reflect on the material in an environment in which
they are accustomed to.
YouTube Analytics lets the channel owner monitor the performance of the
channel and videos with up-to‐date metrics and reports.
YouTube videos can be used in different context in other courses, besides
own for which they were created.
The teaching material can be used by others in multiple applications without
losing authorship rights.
Increase visibility of teachers’ work and allows finding new synergies
between different departments in the same or different institutes.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

27. Dr. Akram Jaffar
EDU (youtube.com/edu) is home to high quality educational content from
around the world.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

28. How to evaluate an educational YouTube
video?
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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The unregulated nature of the information contained within user generated
wiki sites is potentially dangerous to those seeking online information.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

29. Criteria of rapid selection
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Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Page number on which the
video was located.
Duration.
Date the video was
uploaded.
Number of views.
Engagement parameters
extracted from video
statistics including
likes, dislikes, shares and
subscriptions driven.
Video category.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

30. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Channel information
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Number of subscribers.
Number of uploaded videos on the channel
Channel views.
Whether the channel is dedicated for
educational videos or not.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

31. Subjective quality assessment
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Appropriateness of content.
Objective fulfilment.
Communication skills of the presenter.
Audio-visual quality.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

32. Dr. Akram Jaffar
How to create your educational video?
Dr. Akram Jaffar

33. Dr. Akram Jaffar
YouTube EDU Playbook Guide
Dr. Akram Jaffar

34. Khan Academy
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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The project is funded by donations, now with significant
backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and
Google.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

35. Dr. Akram Jaffar
YouTube analytical tool
Dr. Akram Jaffar

36. Dr. Akram Jaffar
YouTube
analytical tool
Dr. Akram Jaffar

37. Micro-videos
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Vine: 6-second video
Instagram: 15-second video
Dr. Akram Jaffar

38. Twitter
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Microblog.
SMS of the internet.
140 character resume and social media footprint.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

39. The Twitter glossary
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Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Hashtags
– #MedEd
– #SoMe
Lists
Glossary
– RT
– MT
– #FF
Dr. Akram Jaffar

40. Potential uses of Twitter in education
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Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Sharing online resources.
Connecting to others around the world.
Back channel during lecture/ presentation (using event specific hashtags).
students can go back to Twitter to review, reflect, study key points shared.
Virtually attend conferences, workshops, conventions, etc. (via #hashtags).
Brainstorming and sharing ideas.
Publicity for important events, blog posts, websites, podcasts, videos, live
meetings/discussions, etc.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

41. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Getting started
Dr. Akram Jaffar

42. Social media in student centered and
blended education
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Use of social media
contributes to blended
learning and student
centered education and
culminates in flipping
classrooms
Dr. Akram Jaffar

43. Social media in student centered and
blended education
Dr. Akram Jaffar
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Use of social media can be
integrated into technologybased learning by means of
mobile handheld devices.
– iTunes U courses initiated
in parallel with classroom
teaching were used as a
single platform mapped
against the academic
calendar to integrate
related material on social
networking sites and
benefit from the interactive
and collaborative
environment of these
platforms.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

44. Concluding remarks
Dr. Akram Jaffar
• A wider educational use
of online social media
should be adopted not
only because students
are embracing their
use, but for their
inherent potentials in
boosting learning.
• Technological tools
cannot completely
replace practical
sessions or classroom
interactive teaching.
Dr. Akram Jaffar

45. Dr. Akram Jaffar
Thank
Dr. Akram Jaffar