Influence of COVID on the Educational Use of Social Media by Students of Teaching Degrees

Abstract

The situation caused by SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in the intensive use of technology in all fields, including education and interactions between students. This research seeks to identify changes in the way social media have been used for educational purposes by students of teaching degrees both before and after lockdown. Based on an online survey administered to a sample of 524 students from different Spanish universities in which it has been observed how their use has generally been very similar, although significant differences have been detected according to the kind of university. In this capacity, the use of social media for academic purposes has increased in universities offering traditional classroom based courses, while it has remained the same in virtual universities which, due to their particular idiosyncrasies, have not been directly affected.