Upload
dinhanh
View
217
Download
2
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missingout (FoMO) in a diverse classroom
Dorit Alt1
Published online: 24 May 2017
� Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017
Abstract With the growing attention paid to fear of missing out (FoMO) psycho-
logical phenomenon in explaining social media engagement (SME), this mixed-
method research measured the relative impact of FoMO on students’ SME for
personal reasons during lectures. The moderating effect of culture (minority vs. non-
minority students) on the connection between FoMO and SME was also considered.
Quantitative data were gathered from 279-undergraduate students. The structural
equation modeling results showed a positive moderate connection between the
FoMO and SME variables. The bootstrapping result showed a significant indirect
effect between the minority group of students and SME through increased levels of
FoMO. A sequential explanatory strategy was used to refine and interpret the
quantitative results. Accordingly, qualitative data were gathered by using semi-
structured interviews to assist in explaining the findings of the quantitative phase.
The qualitative data suggested several explanations for students’ distractive
behavior enabled by technology during class. The main recurrent theme was the
frequently used instructional activities based on the teacher-centered pedagogical
approach. This approach imposed greater challenges for minority students as they
tend to grapple with a host of language barriers. These students reported using social
media tools to seek help from friends during lectures and feared missing out a useful
assistance. Another finding showed that mainly non-minority students who expe-
rienced FoMO admitted using social media during lessons regardless of the teaching
method implemented.
Keywords Social media engagement � Fear of missing out � Mixed-method study �Diverse classroom
& Dorit Alt
1 Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Jordan Valley, Israel
123
J Comput High Educ (2017) 29:388–410
DOI 10.1007/s12528-017-9149-x
Introduction
Millennial students are described as having a focus on social interaction and
connectedness with others by using social media-enabled devices (McMahon and
Pospisil 2005). While these devices might play an important role in keeping college
students connected to family and friends (Gemmill and Peterson 2006) some
researchers and faculty view them as a distractor (Galagan 2010). Their main
premise is that multitasking on a laptop poses a significant distraction to both users
and fellow students and may negatively affect students’ achievement and
satisfaction with their education when not used for learning purposes during class
(Kraushaar and Novak 2010; Wood et al. 2012; Wurst et al. 2008).
Several studies linked this behavior in the classroom to a currently suggested
psychological phenomenon of fear of missing out (FoMO) (Alt 2015). This
phenomenon is characterized by the desire to stay continually connected with what
others are doing and is especially associated with social media technologies which
provide constant opportunity for comparison of one’s status (Przybylski et al. 2013).
However, despite increased interest in and writing about students’ social media
engagement (SME) for personal reasons during class and its negative effect on
students’ achievement (Juncoa and Cotten 2012; Kraushaar and Novak 2010; Wood
et al. 2012; Wurst et al. 2008), very little is empirically known about its precursors.
This study used a sequential explanatory strategy to refine and interpret the
quantitative data gathered, including SME for personal reasons during classes,
FoMO, and a contextual factor of cultural group (minority and non-minority student
groups). The purpose of this design is to use qualitative results to assist in
explaining the findings of the initial quantitative phase. This study could reveal
further precursors, other than psychological, that might explain technology-enabled
disruptive behaviors in classes, and thus might encourage a future discussion related
to millennials’ engagement in current higher education diverse learning
environments.
Literature review
Social media engagement
Millennial students are students entering college after the year 2000 (Howe and
Strauss 2000). The unique characteristics attributed typically to millennial students
are an information technology mindset and a highly developed skill in multitasking
(McMahon and Pospisil 2005). Millennial students have adapted to continuous
multitasking by using social media utilities which afford easy access to real-time
information about the activities, events, and conversations happening across diverse
social networks (Przybylski et al. 2013). These utilities have become important for
keeping strong ties with friends and to strengthen ties with new acquaintances
(Acquisti and Gross 2006; Ellison et al. 2007).
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 389
123
While social media might play an important role in keeping college students
connected to family and friends (Gemmill and Peterson 2006) some faculty view
technology, and particularly social media as a distractor (Galagan 2010). Sana et al.
(2013) note that in university classroom environments, the presumed primary tasks
are to consolidate information spoken by the instructor, take notes, and ask or
respond to questions. If a task that is irrelevant to the learning context is introduced,
attention must shift back and forth between primary and secondary tasks, thereby
taxing attentional resources. This multitasking can have negative long-term effects
on ‘‘declarative memory’’ the kind of focused recall that lets people characterize and
use what they learned from earlier studying (Ophira et al. 2009).
Indeed, laptops have been shown to assist learning through active approaches to
teaching and promotion of academic success (Lindorth and Bergquist 2010) and
social media offers opportunities to develop a stronger sense of community among
students, satisfaction, motivation, and engagement among students when used for
academic purposes (Arnold and Paulus 2010; Jones et al. 2010; Top 2012).
However, when not used for academic purposes, ubiquitous laptop usage may
negatively affect students’ achievement (Kraushaar and Novak 2010) and satisfac-
tion with their education (Wurst et al. 2008).
Wood et al. (2012) have examined the impact of multitasking with digital
technologies while attempting to learn from real-time classroom lectures in a
university setting. Four digitally-based multi-tasking activities (texting using a
cell phone, emailing, MSN messaging and Facebook) were compared to three
control groups (paper-and-pencil note-taking, word-processing note-taking and a
case of academic use of technology condition) over three consecutive lectures.
Comparisons indicated that participants in the Facebook and MSN conditions
performed more poorly than those in the paper-and-pencil use control. Follow-up
analyses indicated that participants who did not use any technologies in the lectures
outperformed students who used some form of technology. In a similar vein, Juncoa
and Cotten (2012) examined how the use of Facebook and other ICT tools, while
trying to complete schoolwork, was associated with college students’ grade point
averages (GPA). Students reported frequently searching for content not related to
courses, using Facebook, emailing, talking on their cell phones, and texting while
doing schoolwork. Regression analyses revealed that these behaviors were
negatively associated with overall college GPA. The researchers concluded that
engaging in social media tools while trying to complete schoolwork, may ‘‘tax
students’ capacity for cognitive processing and preclude deeper learning’’ (p. 505).
However, it should be noted that experimental designs are susceptible to bias due to
incompletely controlled conditions, such as environmental (Seltman 2015).
Fear of missing out and social media engagement
Increased social media use among university students has recently raised
awareness about a new phenomenon termed fear of missing out (FoMO) (Alt
2015). This phenomenon has been defined as an anxiety, whereby one is
compulsively concerned that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction,
a rewarding experience, profitable investment or other satisfying events (Anderson
390 D. Alt
123
2011; Kellner 2013). FoMO is characterized by the desire to stay continually
connected with what others are doing and is especially associated with social
media technologies which provide constant opportunity for comparison of one’s
status (Przybylski et al. 2013).
Przybylski et al. (2013) have associated FoMO with deficits in psychological
needs. Their study’s results indicated that individuals who evidenced less
satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for competence (efficacy), autonomy
(meaningful choice), and relatedness (connectedness to others) also reported
higher levels of FoMO and increased behavioral engagement with social media. A
recent study (Alt 2015) assessed the assumption that low levels of basic need
satisfaction may relate to FoMO and SME. Data were gathered from undergrad-
uate students. Path analysis results have confirmed the assumption that extrinsi-
cally and a-motivated students would be more likely to use social media tools
available in the classroom. However, when those links were mediated by the
FoMO variable, insignificant direct relations between the above academic
motivations and SME were shown. Thus, both motivational variables were
positively associated with FoMO, which in turn led to increased levels of SME in
the classroom. The author maintains that these findings illustrate the robust
mediating role of FoMO in explaining SME. FoMO and SME were also assessed
with relation to college students well-being constructs (Alt 2016). The study was
aimed at assessing the assumption that maladjustment to college could lead some
toward excessive SME during class. Moreover, the mediating role of FoMO in
linking maladjustment to college life to SME was examined for the first time. Path
analysis results showed that the maladjustment to college variable is linked to
social media use only insofar as it is linked to FoMO. This study lends credence
to previous work by showing the robust mediating role of FoMO in explaining
social media use during lectures.
With relation to student characteristics, both studies showed a positive link
between the non-Jewish student group and FoMO, which in turn led to an excessive
use of social media tools during class time. In those studies, the non-Jewish group
reported having an increased level of a-motivation for learning and low
socioeconomic status. The suggested explanation for those findings was focused
on the precursor of FoMO, namely a-motivation for learning. Parental pressure,
related to the economic burden placed on minority parents who support their
children through their bachelor’s degree, was raised as a possible explanation for
a-motivation for learning. The author’s main premise was that students’ excessive
concern for parental financial support might impact their well-being, personal
involvement in and responsibility for learning. Another explanation provided by the
author was related to the collectivist orientation of the Arab society (Alt and Geiger
2012). This structure may impact the individual desire to stay continually connected
with what his or her relatives are doing. It is noteworthy that the above-mentioned
inferences, based on familial and social aspects, were not supported by qualitative
data. Moreover, other explanations that might be linked to the class level were
overlooked, despite the context in which FoMO and SME were investigated—
higher education learning environments.
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 391
123
In this context, it is worthwhile to understand the academic challenges minority
students encounter upon accessing higher education. It should be noted that the
transition to college for minority students living in the periphery of Israel, such as
Palestinian-Arabs, was accompanied by scant research on how those students
experience this process, and the challenges it might encompass for non-Hebrew
speakers. For minority students, Hebrew is usually the third language following
Spoken Arabic (spoken at home and in the Arab public education system in Israel)
and Literary Arabic (studied in Arab schools) (Hai 2012). These challenges, which
might lead to insufficient academic skills (Choi and Ziegler 2015), are not limited to
minorities living in Israel. With the growing attention paid to international
migration, issues of integration and adaptation of foreigners have emerged as being
crucial for the immigrants and the host society (Dixon and Wu 2014). Linguistic
integration and mastery of literacy skills in the language(s) of the host country are
considered a key element among many success factors in integration. Without
adequate levels of literacy (i.e., the ability to communicate, read and write in the
language(s) of the country of destination), it is very hard to receive further education
(Choi and Ziegler 2015). Academic studies are perceived to be a primary means of
social mobility and a key element in the development of each population group, and
of economies and the social cohesion of nations. Therefore, delving deeper into
newly discovered psychological and behavioral phenomena that might illuminate
aspects related to academic skills of those population groups might provide useful
tools for faculty to enhance those students’ chances to excel in academia.
This study
Based on the above studies, the present research seeks to measure the relative
impact of the FoMO psychological factor on students’ SME during class. The
examined factors will be regressed on several student personal characteristic
variables in order to assess how these variables may contribute the measured
factors. The research presented in this article is focused on the following
hypothesis: (H1) FoMO is characterized by the desire to stay continually connected
with what others are doing and is especially associated with social media
technologies (Alt 2015; Przybylski et al. 2013), therefore, the FoMO factor is
expected to be positively connected to SME during class.
Moreover, given the exploratory nature of this study, a sequential explanatory
strategy was used (Creswell 2003). Quantitative data were collected and analyzed
followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data. Thus, the results of the
quantitative data analysis were used to inform the subsequent qualitative phase. The
rationale for this approach is that the quantitative results reveal a general picture of
the phenomenon under research; qualitative data are therefore needed to refine and
interpret the general picture. This mixed-method study builds upon the synergy that
exists between the qualitative/quantitative research continuum thus allowing to
expand the understanding of a newly explored phenomenon. Creswell (2002)
emphasized the superiority of mixed-method research designs in exploratory
research: ‘‘investigators could improve their inquiries by collecting and converging
(or integrating) different kinds of data bearing on the same phenomenon. This
392 D. Alt
123
improvement will come from blending the strength of one type of method and
neutralizing the weaknesses of the other’’ (p. 561). The strength of this design is that
it combines the advantages of each method, quantitative data allow for general-
izability whereas qualitative data offer information about the context.
Based on the quantitative data analysis, the main aim of the qualitative research
was to understand the robust connection between the minority student group and the
SME factors via the FoMO variable. A secondary aim was to reveal further
explanations to SME for personal reasons during lectures among all participants.
Method
Quantitative research
Participants
Data were gathered from 279 undergraduate students (17% males and 83% females)
from one major college located in Israel. The distribution regarding ethnicity was:
65.3% Jewish students, 24.8% Muslim students, 8.4% Christian students, and 1.5%
Druze students, with a mean age of 24.3 (SD = 4.27) years. The distribution
regarding the year of study was: 17.4% first-year students, 52.9% second-year
students and 29.7% third-year students. The participants’ faculty enrollment
breakdown was as follows: Education—37.2%, Criminology—16%, Sociology—
9.5%, Management—17.9%, Economics—8.4%, Engineering—7.3%, Behavioral
Science—3.7%.
Differences between the Jewish and non-Jewish students were found with
relation to the following variables:
1. Age (t(275) = 8.56; p\ .001), non-Jewish students were found significantly
younger (M = 21.96, SD = 2.69) than the Jewish students (M = 25.61,
SD = 4.43).
2. Current education achievements (GPA) (t(277) = 7.19; p\ .001), non-Jewish
students were found significantly lower (M = 4.78, SD = 1.18) than the Jewish
students (M = 5.87, SD = 1.22).
3. Students’ mothers’ educational attainment (t(277) = 3.94; p\ .001), non-Jewish
students were found significantly lower (M = 2.08, SD = .94) than the Jewish
students (M = 2.53, SD = .91).
Data analysis
Structural equation modeling and principal component analysis were employed to
empirically test the structural validity of the current research scales. Data used for
the SEM were analyzed with the maximum likelihood method. Three fit indices
were computed in order to evaluate model fit: v2(df) (p[ .05), the Comparative Fit
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 393
123
Index (CFI should be [.90), the Root-Mean-Square Error of Approximation
(RMSEA should be\.08) (Bentler 2006).
Instrumentation
Student characteristics
Data were gathered using a questionnaire aimed at measuring the student’s cultural
group, gender, age, socioeconomic status (SES), year of study, and current
education achievements. SES was assessed by the student’s father’s educational
attainment (FEA) and mother’s educational attainment (MEA), both defined on a
six-level scale from 0 = lack of education, to 5 = doctoral degree. Another SES
factor was the participants’ report on their current economic condition (EC), defined
on a six-level scale from 1 = extremely difficult to 6 = comfortable, no financial
worries. Finally, students’ current education achievements were measured by their
self-reported grade point average (GPA).
Social media engagement (SME) questionnaire
This 10-item scale (Alt 2015) was designed to measure the extent to which students
used social media in the classroom. The scale includes three sub-factors:
1. Social engagement—refers to sharing individual or social information with the
close social environment, such as family and friends, using social media sites
(e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram).
2. News information engagement—includes activities with relation to news, for
example, responding to alerts or getting updates via social media sites.
3. Commercial information engagement—pertains to activities, such as getting or
sharing updates (e.g. current discounts/sales, available coupons) via social
media sites.
Table 1 shows the factors and item descriptions. All items were scored on a
Likert-type score ranging from 1 = never to 5 = always. Students were asked: ‘to
what extent do you do the following activities by using your laptop computer or
mobile phone during class’. Students were also asked whether the above activities
were used during class for learning purposes. It should be noted that as reported by
the students, none of the activities was requested for these purposes.
All items were subjected to principal component analysis followed by Varimax
rotation with eigenvalue[1.00 as a criterion for determining the number of factors.
The analysis resulted in the above-indicated three factors, which accounted for
78.07% of the variance (item loadings[.40). Item loading results are provided in
Table 2. Item SME5 was omitted due to a low item loading result (\.40) on the
news information engagement factor. (Cronbach’s alpha ranged from .86 to .89).
394 D. Alt
123
Fear of missing out scale (FoMOs)
This 18-item scale (Alt 2015; Przybylski et al. 2013) was designed to measure the
extent to which people feared missing out on rewarding experiences, activities, and
methods of discourse, with regard to three factors: (1) social activities (ten items),
for example: ‘I get worried when I find out my friends are having fun without me’;
(2) news information (four items) measures the extent to which people feared
Table 1 The SME questionnaire: factors and item descriptions
Factor Item
Social engagement 1 Reading updates about what is happening with others (e.g., your friends
or family members) by using social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter,
Whatsapp, Instagram)
2 Updating personal information on social media sites
3 Responding to social or personal updates of others (e.g., your friends or
family members) on social media sites
4 Holding conversations (chats) with others (e.g., your friends or family
members) on social media sites
News information
engagement
5 Reading news updates via social media sites (was omitted)
6 Responding to news information (e.g. by talkbacks) via social media sites
7 Sharing news alerts via social media sites
Commercial information
engagement
8 Buying ‘‘on sale’’ products via social media sites
9 Sharing commercial updates via social media sites
10 Reading commercial updates (e.g. current discounts/sales, available
coupons) via social media sites
Table 2 Item loading results of the principal component analysis for the SME questionnaire
Social engagement News information engagement Commercial information engagement
SME1 .859
SME4 .858
SME3 .847
SME2 .687 .481
SME5 .635
SME8 .875
SME9 .818
SME10 .651 .435
SME6 .869
SME7 .813
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 395
123
missing out news information, for example: ‘it bothers me when my friends know
what’s happening on the news ahead of me’; (3) commercial information (four
items) assesses the extent to which people feared missing out commercial
information, for example: ‘when I go on vacation, it is important to me to continue
following commercial information (e.g. current discounts/sales, available coupons)’
(Cronbach’s alpha ranged from .71 to .88). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to
verify the scale structure, yielding sufficient fit results (v2 = 194.126, df = 70,
p = .000; CFI = .936; RMSEA = .079). The overall scale included 14 items (four
items were removed from the scale due to a low item loading result [\.40]), scored
on a five-point Likert scale from 1 = not at all true of me to 5 = extremely true of
me.
Procedure
The scales were administered to the participants at the end of their courses. The
students were told that the purpose of the study was to examine their activities
during lectures. Prior to obtaining participants’ consent, it was specified that the
questionnaires were anonymous and that no pressure would be applied should they
choose to return the questionnaire unfilled or incomplete. Finally, participants were
assured that no specific identifying information about the courses would be
processed.
Qualitative research
Qualitative data were gathered by individual semi-structured interviews in order to
reveal student’s subjective experiences and attitudes (Perakyla 2008). Ethical
principles regarding research with human participants were implemented. The
interviews were conducted with each student. The students were asked the following
open-ended questions: ‘‘are you using social media tools during lectures’’; ‘‘can you
explain your behavior’’. The following process involved examining the gathered
data and generating themes from the data (Creswell 2002). Common themes were
inductively drawn from the interviews. Participants were extensively quoted to
support the validity of the inductively drawn themes and the reliability of the
findings (Patton 2002).
Participants
Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10% of the research
participants in order to explore the quantitative research results and expand our
understanding of the data. Students interviewed were 10 minority students and 16
Jewish students.
396 D. Alt
123
Results
Quantitative results
According to the descriptive statistics of the research factors provided in Table 3,
the highest mean results were shown for social related activities in both FoMO and
SME scales and relatively lower mean results were indicated for news information
and commercial information related factors of the scales.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the connections
between the factors, in line with the theoretical model and the hypothesis of this
study.
Model 1 (Fig. 1) includes the FoMO factor with its three sub-factors, and the
SME latent factor accompanied by its three observed variables. Further, in order to
measure how several personal characteristic variables intersect and may contribute
the assessed factors the cultural group variable (Jewish students = 1, minority
students = 2) was entered into the model. The cultural group dummy variable was
created due to insignificant differences between the non-Jewish groups (Muslim,
Christian, and Druze) on the dependent variables. This variable was entered into the
analysis based on regression analyses, in which the FoMO and SME factors were
separately entered as dependent variables, and the following student characteristic
variables were entered into the analyses as independent variables: cultural group,
gender, age, year of study, FEA, MEA, EC, and GPA (a summary of stepwise
regression analyses is provided in Table 4). According to the analyses, merely the
cultural group variable was found significant in explaining the dependent variables,
therefore was entered into Model 1. Sufficient fit results were shown for Model 1
(v2 = 583.742, df = 239, p = .000; CFI = .912; RMSEA = .072). It can be
learned from the results that the cultural group variable (minority students) was
found positively connected to FoMO (b = .51, p\ .001), whereas insignificant
coefficient was found between the cultural group and SME variables. According to
the bootstrapping result, the indirect effect between the cultural group and SME
factors through FoMO was significant (p = .001). The results indicated a positive
Table 3 Descriptive statistics of the research factors
Research variable Mean SD Range
SME1 2.65 1.01 4.00
SME2 1.90 .95 4.00
SME3 1.81 .89 4.00
FO1 2.68 .65 3.78
FO2 2.21 .77 3.67
FO3 2.01 .90 4.00
SME1 = Social engagement; SME2 = News information engagement; SME3 = Commercial informa-
tion engagement; FO1 = FoMO social events; FO2 = FoMO news; FO3 = FoMO
commercial information
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 397
123
moderate connection between FoMO and SME (b = .56, p\ .001). The FoMO
factor explained 31% of the SME variance.
Qualitative results
The purpose of this stage was to explain the findings of the quantitative data.
Qualitative data were needed to interpret the minority group variable connection to
SME via FoMO, as indicated by the empirical model. Moreover, the quantitative
results revealed that students use social media tools during lectures, mostly for
social reasons, and that the FoMO factor explained only 31% of the SME variance.
Based on these results, an interesting question that warranted attention was: what
Table 4 Summary of stepwise regression analyses
Model Independent variables B SE. B b F R2 Dependent
variables
1 Cultural group (minority students) .57 .08 .424*** 56.38*** .18 FoMO
2 Cultural group (minority students) .43 .10 .254** 17.75*** .07 SME
p\ .01**; p\ .001***
Fig. 1 Model 1 with standardized parameter estimates (N = 279)
398 D. Alt
123
other explanations for using social media tools during lectures may arise from
students’ reports. Analysis of semi-structured interviews revealed three main
themes: Instructional activities (lecture-based setting), language barriers, and
FoMO. Moreover, ineffective classroom management, and learning disabilities have
also emerged by the interviewees as precursors of their SME in the classroom.
Instructional activities (lecture-based setting)
The lecture-based setting emerged as a recurrent theme in the students’ interviews,
minority and non-minority alike. This setting was perceived by the participants as
‘‘boring’’ and ‘‘unchallenging’’. Practices associated with the student-centered
approach such as class discussions, active participations of the students, questions
and answers, seem to be neglected in these learning environments:
When there are in-class discussions and students are more active, I hardly surf
the Internet, but when I passively sit in a boring lesson in which I am not
required to take part, I would look at the Facebook and other social sites to
catch up. (Minority male student, second year)
The material is usually uploaded to the course portal on PowerPoint presentations
from which the teacher often reads during the lesson. Students are required to attend
those classes wherein they passively absorb the information. The students do not
expect to learn from the lecturers, they rather later learn the material by themselves
at home. This course type leads some toward searching for something more
interesting than what they are doing by using social media tools. In the words of the
interviewees:
I use Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram. To tell you the truth, before entering
college, I did not use these tools; I had negative thoughts about these tools. But
then I had experienced a very boring lesson. Some were playing Candy Crash;
others were on the Facebook—communicating with other classmates. I had no
choice, I wanted to get involved in what they are doing and ‘kill the time’.
There are many courses like these in which attendance is required, so there is
no choice, you have to attend these classes. During these lessons, the teacher
reads from the PowerPoint slides and speaks in a monotone voice which is far
from being interesting. The presentations used during classes are eventually
uploaded to the course portal, so it doesn’t worth bothering. During those
lectures, I do many other things as well, I surely use class time efficiently, I
work on my seminars duties for example. I am definitely not in the class.
(Jewish female student, third year)
The following argument indicates that students show interest mainly in classes
they find interesting or relevant to their major:
There are some lessons during which I do not use social media; these are the
important courses, the challenging and interesting ones. The teacher makes it
interesting; it is easy to stay focused. At other courses, I surely use social
media tools. I am fully aware of the fact that this behavior deflects my
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 399
123
attention away from learning. I think that the main reason for using these tools
is boredom. At times, there are courses that are less relevant to my major or
courses including material I am already familiar with, in these cases I learn the
material by myself, at home, it is very easy to understand by myself what has
been taught in class. (Jewish female student, second year)
Based on the traditional approach, it seems that the lecturers fail to ascertain their
students’ prior knowledge and teach accordingly. They do not strive to understand
the student’s mental structures, thus unable to clarify incomplete or erroneous prior
knowledge. Students with less prior knowledge might ask more questions and need
scaffoldings during the learning process. However, the teacher acts as a knowledge
conduit and encourages rote learning, rather than guiding students to reflect on their
own learning processes, as can be learned from the following descriptions:
I frequently use social media during lectures. I think that it is linked to the
lecture design. There are some teachers who do not make a special effort in
explaining the material. They assume that I have a relevant prior knowledge.
Others give you the impression that they are not specialized in the realm of
content. I have once asked the teacher to explain a certain difficult sentence I
did not understand, and the teacher slowly repeated the sentence from the
slide. I realized that I have no one to turn to in order to understand the material
taught, finally, I have lost interest in the lesson, I can read the presentation by
myself. (Jewish female student, third year)
When there are no discussions, I would use the smartphone for those purposes
[SME]. I expect the teacher to develop the lecture and use the format of
questions and answers; I do not need someone to read me the text. When the
lecture is engaging, I would tend to refrain from using social networks, unless
I had a message from my family, in such cases, I have to be available. (Jewish
female student, first year)
The following example reflects the superiority of summative assessment
methodologies used, designed primarily to serve the purposes of accountability or
ranking. The students are encouraged to use unreflective approaches to learning,
they are not required to elaborated on facts, nor do they asked to interact with
content or ideas. They are directed to simply reproduce ideas and pass the exams.
Therefore, the students concentrate only on what is required for assessment, use rote
learning, and have extrinsic motivation for learning:
Lots of teachers actually read the material from the slides, so basically you can
learn the material by yourself, without the teacher. I regret to say, but we study
to pass the exams. My main goal is to have a degree. M.A. studies require high
scores, nobody is interested in what you really know, so if this is the case, why
do I need to bother? I just need to pass the exams with a high score. (Jewish
female student, third year)
400 D. Alt
123
Language barriers
The above-described traditional-based learning environment seems to impose
greater challenges for minority students as they grapple with a host of language
barriers. The lack of proficiency in Hebrew was a consideration weighing heavily in
the minority students’ accounts for using social media tools during lectures.
According to the students’ reports, social media tools were often used to receive
assistance from classmates in order to enhance their ability to understand the
material or for social support, as described by the participants:
The most important obstacle or barrier that stands between me and a full
concentration during lectures is language. The official language used in
colleges is Hebrew. Most teachers use an academic language, much more
complicated than the Hebrew I use and understand. (Minority female student
second year)
During the lesson I fail tracking the teacher; I cannot listen to the lecture and
keep notes at the same time. The language is very difficult for me to
understand, moreover, it is hard to stay in focus for such a long period. That is
why I enter the Facebook for a few minutes; it feels like taking a break during
the lesson. (Minority female student second year)
Others reported feeling uncomfortable or ‘‘ashamed’’ to ask for the teacher’s
help. They felt that by doing so they interrupt or halt the flow of the lesson. To
overcome this obstacle they seek for other students’ assistance during the lecture via
social media tools. In the words of the interviewees:
It is my second year of studies. It is a bit easier for me this year. But during the
first year, it was extremely difficult. All the teachers were speaking extremely
fast and I did not understand almost a word of what they were saying. So many
words I did not recognize. I had to ask students to help me out. All around
were new students, so I felt ashamed to ask for help. Sometimes I tried to ask
for the teachers’ help, they had complied but I often felt that they were angry
with me. One teacher told me once that ‘‘you should read more respectful
newspapers’’ to elaborate my vocabulary. I felt really uncomfortable. So, I tell
you frankly, this year I use Facebook and WhatsApp when I’m in lectures to
communicate with my friends during the lesson. I know that many of them are
having problems in understanding the material, so we help each other and
sometimes encourage each other and laugh about it. I am lucky to have some
Jewish friends this year who gladly help me. But yet, they cannot help me all
the time, face-to-face, during lessons, so I send them messages via the
WhatsApp, but it is still very difficult for me, not all of them respond on time.
I do everything possible to succeed, I really try, but it is hard to follow the
teacher speaking so fast. At times, I ask for the lesson summary from one of
my classmates, so I can quit following the teacher and use the Facebook
during the lectures. I think that it is also good for the teachers, I do not bother
them with my inappropriate questions to clarify words I do not understand.
(Minority female student second year)
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 401
123
Minority students seem to lack sufficient literacy skills, which enable students to
read, write and think independently. These skills are essential for students’ success.
Those students find the off-class learning strategies more useful, and use class time
for SME practices:
I am in the Facebook during most of the lessons because the language spoken
is not my mother tongue; I have difficulties with the Hebrew spoken by the
teacher. I have to attend those lessons, that is the reason I am here. When I
listen to the teacher, I cannot write down a thing, because I cannot understand
new materials taught and summarize the lectures at the same time in Hebrew. I
believe that next year I will be more able to do so. Some teachers upload the
lectures, and other materials needed for the exams, to the MOODLE. There
are some Jewish friends who take notes during the lessons, and they later
email me the lecture summaries by the end of the course. (Minority female
student first year)
Fear of missing out
In their desire to never miss out on anything that might be relevant to them, some
students, mainly non-minority, end up unable to ignore what’s going on with their
family and friends, or on the news. The following interviewees’ descriptions
exemplify this theme:
I have to admit that I am a very active user of social media. As a member of
multiple social groups, I instinctively look for updates as soon as I see the red
on-screen alert. During lessons, my friends have the possibility to commu-
nicate, and out of curiosity, I need to pay attention to what’s going on as a
member of the group. (Jewish male student, second year)
I need to stay in touch with my family and get information from my
workplace, cannot miss that. (Jewish male student, second year)
I am a mother to three children, working and studying for a degree, and during
class, I can catch up with what is going on outside the classroom. (Jewish
female student, second year)
The lecture may be perceived by students experiencing FoMO as highly
interesting; however, the desire to stay continually connected with what others are
doing distracts them from focusing their attention on learning during class time.
They describe their social engagement as a ‘force of habit’:
I have to admit that even during a highly interesting lecture I cannot quit
getting information from those sites. Maybe I am doing it from force of habit.
During most of the day, my friends communicate with me via those tools. As
for the lectures, most of the material is available on the portal, I can also get it
from a friend, that is why I do not feel stressed by the fact that I might miss a
few lectures, one can always catch up. (Jewish female student, second year)
There are some highly interesting lectures, and even when the teacher dictates
in a rapid pace that does not spare me too much time to get lost in the network,
I still find the time to catch up. (Jewish male student, second year)
402 D. Alt
123
I get updates in every lesson, it can be the most interesting lecture, I glimpse at
least once at my cell phone, and frequently get into my Facebook account, surf
the internet and search for sports news; I don’t want to miss a thing. (Minority
male student third year)
When the group sees that you are available and online, everybody starts
chatting, when this happens ‘‘the sky is the limit’’. Chats linger, and before
you notice the lesson ends up. (Jewish female student, first year)
The following two themes have also emerged from the interviews. In line with
the secondary aim of the qualitative phase, the following themes will be briefly
presented, as they might reveal further explanations for SME for personal reasons
during lectures among the participants.
Ineffective classroom management
This theme pertains to insufficient classroom conduct management. According to
the interviewees, some teachers lack the set of skills teachers should employ when
addressing discipline problems in the classroom. The students stressed that conduct
management is essential for creating an orderly environment in which they can
concentrate on the learning material:
Sometimes the class is getting noisy, for example, students talk to each other,
and then I might lose focus. In such cases, I would turn to social media. But,
when order is maintained in the classroom, I can stay focused throughout the
whole lesson. (Minority female student, third year)
An important aspect of classroom management deals with the problems that can
come with large classes which make it hard for teachers to manage the classroom
and guide students’ learning. These classes also upset students who struggle to keep
up and concentrate in class. In this case, the physical conditions might reduce their
ability to focus their attention on primary tasks:
The number of students per class is extremely high, it takes a lot of effort to
concentrate, so I usually take the back seat, and get updates from social media
sites, catch up with what’s going on there, and upload information. (Minority
female student, second year)
Some instructors do not appropriately address discipline problems and fail to
effectively deal with students’ misbehavior during lectures, which often interferes
with the ability of others to stay focused. In such cases, some students would prefer
‘‘wandering the Web and social networks’’ than struggling to pay attention to the
teacher. In the words of the interviewees:
I tend to use social media tools during classes when the noise is unbearable. I
usually sit in the front row, because noise affects my concentration.
Unfortunately, at some classes, the lecturer is unable or unwilling to stop
the noise. In addition, courses taught at late hours affect my ability to stay in
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 403
123
the loop. In summary, it depends on the lecturer and the learning environment.
If there is no learning atmosphere and the lecturer is not interesting, or
disciplinarian, it may lead toward wandering the Web and social networks.
(Jewish female student, third year)
Learning disabilities
Learning disabilities and attention problems were additional themes emerging from
the students’ interviews. According to the reports, some students struggle to pay
attention, stay focused and deeply understand the material during lectures. However,
due to their learning disabilities, such as attention dispersion or concentration
problems, they tend to give up and talk to their classmates, or use ‘‘the most
available object to play with’’. In the words of some of the students:
I avoid looking at my cell phone during the lesson; I might look at newly
received messages, but would not reply. I love being a student and appreciate
the opportunity given to me. Yet, I have several learning disabilities and I
strive to deeply understand the material rather than memorizing it. Therefore, I
realize my weaknesses and do not bring my laptop to classes, so I wound not
be tempted to enter social media sites. I have to admit that I fail to stay alerted
during some lessons, there are teachers who are boring. It takes a special effort
not to glimpse at the screen of the cell phone, yet in these cases I’d rather talk
to a classmate instead. (Jewish female student, third year).
Due to learning disabilities and attention dispersion, I have a desire to do
something else during lectures; the most available object to play with is the
cell phone. (Minority female student, third year)
Discussion
This mixed-method research measured the relative impact of the FoMO psycho-
logical factor on students’ SME during class. Both factors were regressed on several
student personal characteristic variables in order to assess their impact on the
measured factors. Qualitative data were used to assist in explaining the findings of
the quantitative phase. Quantitative data results showed a positive moderate
connection between FoMO and SME, meaning that in university traditional
classroom environments the interaction with others, by using social media utilities,
is enhanced by FoMO to some extent (the FoMO variable explained merely 31% of
the SME variance in the SEM model).
With regard to personal characteristic variables, the minority group of non-
Jewish students was found positively connected to FoMO. According to the
bootstrapping result, a significant indirect effect was found between this group and
SME through increased FoMO. In line with the results, it can be inferred that FoMO
plays a mediating role in explaining SME of minority students, in accordance with
previous findings (Alt 2015). However, it is equally plausible to assume that the
cultural group factor plays a moderating role in the empirical model. Thus the
404 D. Alt
123
relationship between FoMO and SME is not constant but depends on the values of
the moderator variable.
Two main questions have been propounded following the quantitative research
results, first, is there an explanation for the minority group variable significant
indirect connection to SME via FoMO, as indicated by the empirical model. Second,
what other explanations for using social media tools during lectures may exist. The
results foregrounded five categories explaining SME during class as described by
students. Three categories were associated with the first question: Instructional
activities (lecture-based setting), language barriers, and FoMO. Two additional
themes were related to the second question: Ineffective classroom management, and
learning disabilities.
The lecture-based setting emerged as a recurrent theme in the students’
interviews, minority and non-minority alike. This setting was perceived by the
participants as ‘‘boring’’ and ‘‘unchallenging’’. The material is usually uploaded to
the course portal on PowerPoint presentations from which the teacher often reads
during the lesson. This approach seems to fail ascertaining students’ prior
knowledge and teaching accordingly and favors summative assessment method-
ologies. A lecture type course is designed to expedite the transmission of knowledge
to large numbers of students. The teacher speaks to the students most of the time
(Kiraly 2014). This type of learning environment is associated with the traditional
instruction, or back-to-basics, which means following traditional teacher-centered
methods. This ‘‘boring’’ and ‘‘unchallenging’’ instructional approach leads some
students, according to their reports, to increased use of social media tools available
in order to ‘‘use class time efficiently’’ or to ‘‘kill the time’’. According to their
reports, students prefer studying the material taught in class on their own and
perceive this lecture-based setting, in which the lecturer reads off the material from
PowerPoint presentations, as a waste of time.
The content analysis revealed that lack of proficiency in Hebrew was a recurrent
explanation of minority students for using social media tools to receive assistance
from classmates in order to enhance their ability to understand the material. The
traditional-based learning environment thus seems to impose greater challenges for
minority students as they grapple with a host of language barriers. Faced with the
learners’ diversity, teachers seem to fail to employ in-class strategies that cater for
their students’ diverse needs. Minority students encounter difficulties as they are
streamed into higher ability groups of Hebrew speakers. For those students, Hebrew
is usually the third language following Spoken Arabic and Literary Arabic (Hai
2012). It may be inferred that some minority students use social media networks to
obtain social and academic support. This can also explain their increased level of
FoMO apparent in the quantitative data results. It may be implied that some
minority students are unable to ignore what’s going on with their friends during
lectures and might feel compelled to help them or seek for assistance. In such cases,
students might fear missing out the opportunity to assist other students by using
social media tools or to get help from others, and this may lead to an excessive use
of social media tools during class.
FoMO also emerged from the qualitative analysis as an account for technology-
enabled behavior during lectures. Their desire to never miss out on anything that
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 405
123
may be relevant to them, led some students to stay continually connected with what
others are doing, regardless of their level of interest in the lecture. This account was
more frequently used by the non-minority interviewees. It may be plausible to infer
that FoMO and SME are differently interpreted by students with different academic
needs. Minority students’ desire to never miss out on anything that may be relevant
to their success in the classroom, namely, assistance that might increase their ability
to understand the lecturer. This desire may lead them to stay continually connected
with classmates that may provide an immediate help. However, for other students,
especially non-minority, the desire to stay continually connected with what others
are doing distracts them from focusing their attention on learning during class time.
They described their social engagement as a ‘force of habit’, and emphasized that
they would keep communicating by using social media devices regardless of the
teaching approaches used. It is also plausible to infer that those students may more
easily catch up with the material taught during a lecture, after class time, and might
have more confidence in doing so, thus might ‘‘risk’’ deviating from the primary
learning tasks. However, for minority students, such self-directed learning
approaches might be more challenging, although few mentioned using them to
some extent.
The following two themes: Classroom management and learning disabilities have
also emerged from the interviews. However, going into greater detail concerning
these issues would be beyond the scope of this paper, therefore, in line with the
secondary aim of the qualitative phase, they will be briefly discussed, as they might
reveal further explanations for SME during lectures. These explanations for using
social media for personal reasons during class might be connected to the traditional
learning environment. Classroom management is the process of organizing and
conducting the classroom. It involves the maintenance of the classroom environ-
ment so that educational goals can be accomplished (Garrett 2014; Savage and
Savage 2010). Effective classroom managers create orderly learning environments
where students feel valued and comfortable. However, students reported that during
lectures some teachers fail to effectively create a learning atmosphere. When the
lecturer is not using effective discipline strategies and order is not being kept, some
would prefer ‘‘wandering the Web’’. It may be implied that teachers who fail to
prevent management problems, may also fail to engage students in lessons geared to
meet their needs, and consequently, may lead some to an additional type of
distractive behavior - enabled by technology. Moreover, for students with learning
disabilities and attention problems, lecture-based environments pose an even greater
challenge. It seems, according to the students’ reports, that this approach, which
encourages students to passively receive information from the instructor, is
ineffective. Although struggling to pay attention during lectures, due to their
learning disabilities, those students tend to give up and use social media tools
available instead.
406 D. Alt
123
Conclusions limitations and future directions
This study main inference is that traditional instructional activities, based on the
‘banking’ view of one-way traffic instruction, are very vulnerable to distraction, in
accordance with past work (Sana et al. 2013). This research adds to previous studies
by revealing several precursors to contemporary technology-enabled distractive
behaviors during class: Ineffective classroom management, learning disabilities,
language barriers among minority students, and FoMO. Based on the current study,
a comprehensive model presented in Fig. 2 is suggested. It might be worthwhile to
use quantitative data in future work to validate this model as well as adding several
academic outcomes associated with multitasking during lectures such as students’
achievement and satisfaction with their education (Kraushaar and Novak 2010;
Wood et al. 2012; Wurst et al. 2008).
Because most educators still focus on the traditional teaching pattern, which
typically means conveying information (Licklider 2009), this study may have some
implications for this teaching approach in diverse classrooms. An effective
classroom management may support positive behavior among students. Several
strategies for enacting culturally responsive classroom management, provided by
Weinstein et al. (2003), might be useful for lecture-based environments. For
example, involving students in developing and committing to behavior standards
that promote normative behavior and help support a calm, safe learning
environment, creating a positive classroom climate by establishing affirmative
teacher–student and peer relationships.
Moreover, breaking up the lecture and give the students the opportunity to
engage in social media activity might work for several groups of students. For those
with learning disabilities such as concentration problems - breaks could provide the
Fig. 2 A proposed theoretical model
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 407
123
opportunity to start fresh again; minority students might be able to receive
assistance from others, and students who desire to never miss out on anything that
may be relevant to them will be provided with a legitimate opportunity to catch up
with what others are doing.
Above all, this study mainly highlights the question of how new learning
environments, alternative to the lecture-based setting, can reduce SME for personal
reasons during class, by leveraging technology to facilitate a transformative change
of existing learning settings. Students attending college today are described as
having a focus on social media interaction and preferring group-based approaches to
study and social activities (McMahon and Pospisil 2005), they are more likely to
collaboratively work with their peers to enhance their own learning, and ought to
greatly benefit from active learning opportunities (Alt 2014; McHenry 2011;
Wandel 2008). Teachers can create a more adaptive, collaborative and commu-
nicative learning environment for students by providing opportunities for discus-
sions and interactions with their peers (Heafner and Friedman 2008; Jackson 2011).
By encouraging engagement with social media, students may develop connections
with peers, establish a virtual community of learners and ultimately increase their
overall learning skills (Lin et al. 2013). For minority students, experiencing
language difficulties, such communities might provide psychological, social, and
academic support. Future studies thus should explore how social media can be
incorporated into current pedagogical applications and processes.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
References
Acquisti, A., & Gross, R. (2006). Imagined communities: Awareness, information sharing, and privacy on
the Facebook. In Proceedings from privacy enhancing technologies workshop, 28–30 June 2006 (pp.
1–22). Retrieved from http://people.cs.pitt.edu/*chang/265/proj10/zim/imaginedcom.pdf.
Alt, D. (2014). The construction and validation of a new scale for measuring features of constructivist
learning environments in higher education. Frontline Learning Research, 2(3). doi:10.14786/flr.
v2i2.68.
Alt, D. (2015). College students’ academic motivation, media engagement and fear of missing out.
Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 111–119.
Alt, D. (2016). Students’ wellbeing, fear of missing out, and social media engagement for leisure in
higher education learning environments. Current Psychology. doi:10.1007/s12144-016-9496-1.
Alt, D., & Geiger, B. (2012). Goal orientations and tendency to neutralize academic cheating: An
ecological perspective. Psychological Studies, 57(4), 404–416.
Anderson, H. (2011). Never heard of fomo? You’re so missing out. The observer. Retrieved from http://
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/17/hephzibah-anderson-fomo-new-acronym.
Arnold, N., & Paulus, T. (2010). Using a social networking site for experiential learning: Appropriating,
lurking, modeling and community building. Internet and Higher Education, 13, 188–196.
Bentler, P. M. (2006). EQS 6 structural equations program manual. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software
Inc.
Choi, J., & Ziegler, G. (2015). Literacy education for low-educated second language learning adults in
multilingual contexts: The case of luxembourg. Multilingual Education, 5(1), 1–21.
Creswell, J. W. (2002). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and
qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
408 D. Alt
123
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Dixon, L. Q., & Wu, S. (2014). Home language and literacy practices among immigrant second-language
learners. Language Teaching, 47(4), 414–449.
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook ‘‘friends’’: Social capital and
college students use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,
12, 1143–1168.
Galagan, P. (2010). Burp, chatter, tweet: New sounds in the classroom. T ? D, 64(7), 26–29.
Garrett, T. (2014). Effective classroom management: The essentials. New York, NY: Teachers College
Press.
Gemmill, E., & Peterson, M. (2006). Technology use among college students: Implications for student
affairs professionals. NASPA Journal, 43(2), 280–300.
Hai, A. (2012). Higher education for Arab citizens of Israel realities, challenges and new opportunities.
Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues.
Heafner, T. L., & Friedman, A. M. (2008). Wikis and constructivism in secondary social studies:
Fostering a deeper understanding. Computers in the Schools, 25, 288–302.
Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great generation. New York, NY: Vintage
Books.
Jackson, C. (2011). Your students love social media… and so can you. Teaching Tolerance, 39, 38–41.
Jones, N., Blackey, H., Fitzgibbon, K., & Chew, E. (2010). Get out of MySpace! Computers & Education,
54, 776–782.
Juncoa, R., & Cotten, S. R. (2012). No A 4 U: The relationship between multitasking and academic
performance. Computers & Education, 59(2), 505–514.
Kellner, S. (2013). Is FoMO depriving us of our ability to exist in the present and take pleasure in the here
and now? The independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/is-fomo-
depriving-us-of-our-ability-to-exist-in-the-present-and-take-pleasure-in-the-here-and-now-8449677.
html.
Kiraly, D. (2014). A social constructivist approach to translator education: Empowerment from theory to
practice. London and New York: Routledge.
Kraushaar, J. M., & Novak, D. C. (2010). Examining the effects of student multitasking with laptops
during the lecture. Journal of Information Systems Education, 21, 241–251.
Licklider, B. L. (2009) ‘On teaching and learning: Putting the principles and practices of dialogue
education into action’ in Review of Higher Education, 33(1), Fall, 129–130.
Lin, P. C., Hou, H. T., Wang, S. M., & Chang, K. E. (2013). Analyzing knowledge dimensions and
cognitive process of a project-based online discussion instructional activity using Facebook in an
adult and continuing education course. Computers & Education, 60, 110–121.
Lindorth, T., & Bergquist, M. (2010). Laptopers in an educational practice: promoting the personal
learning situation. Computers & Education, 54, 311–320.
McHenry, R. (2011). The new digital shoreline: How Web 2.0 and Millennials are revolutionalizing
higher education. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
McMahon, M., & Pospisil, R. (2005). Laptops for a digital lifestyle: Millennial students and wireless
mobile technologies. In Proceedings of the 22nd ASCILITE conference, 4–7 December 2005 (pp.
421–431). Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/brisbane05/blogs/proceedings/49_
McMahon%20&%20Pospisil.pdf.
Ophira, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. In Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 18 February 2009 (pp. 15583–15587). Retrieved from http://dx.doi.
org/10.1073/pnas.0903620106.
Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Perakyla, A. (2008). Analyzing talk and text. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and
interpreting qualitative materials (3rd ed., pp. 351–374). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and
behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 1841–1848.
Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N. J. (2013). Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both
users and nearby peers. Computers & Education, 62, 24–31.
Savage, T. V., & Savage, M. K. (2010). Successful classroom management and discipline: Teaching self-
control and responsibility (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Students’ social media engagement and fear of missing… 409
123
Seltman, H. J. (2015). Experimental design and analysis. Retrieved from http://www.stat.cmu.edu/
*hseltman/309/Book/Book.pdf.
Top, E. (2012). Blogging as a social medium in undergraduate courses: Sense of community best
predictor of perceived learning. Internet and Higher Education, 15, 24–28.
Wandel, T. L. (2008). Colleges and universities want to be your friend: Communicating via online social
networking. Planning for Higher Education, 37(1), 35–48.
Weinstein, C., Curran, M., & Tomlinson-Clarke, S. (2003). Culturally responsive classroom management:
Awareness into action. Theory into Practice, 42(4), 269–276.
Wood, E., Zivcakova, L., Gentile, P., Archer, K., De Pasquale, D., & Nosko, A. (2012). Examining the
impact of off-task multi-tasking with technology on real-time classroom learning. Computers &
Education, 58, 365–374.
Wurst, C., Smarkola, C., & Gaffney, M. A. (2008). Ubiquitous laptop usage in higher education: Effects
on student achievement, student satisfaction, and constructivist measures in honors and traditional
classrooms. Computers & Education, 51, 1766–1783.
Dr. Dorit Alt is a Senior Lecturer, Head of the Education and Community Department at the Kinneret
College on the Sea of Galilee. He is specialized in the field of constructivist learning environments in the
information era. Her work includes research on digital and media literacy skills, assessment of different
aspects of constructivist learning environments, and their connections to psychological, behavioral,
cultural, social, and ethical aspects.
410 D. Alt
123