Using social media applications for educational outcomes in college teaching: A structural equation analysis

Abstract As more and more faculty members jump on the wagon of social media, an increasing number of publications began to investigate the adoption of social media applications and its motivators in and out of the classrooms. However, little research has paid close attention to the educational outcomes of social media utilization in college teaching. Thus, this study focused on the educational outcomes and examined a research model of antecedents and consequences of social media use. It analyzed the quantitative responses of 168 faculty members using social media in their teaching. A partial least squares ( PLS ) analysis indicates that (1) perceived usefulness, external pressure and compatibility of task‐technology have positive effects on social media use; (2) the higher the perceived risk of using social media utilization, the less likely faculty will use the technology to support in‐class instructions frequently; and (3) social media use has a positive effect on student's learning outcomes and their satisfaction. The proposed model provides educators with a depiction of how social media educational use delivers higher performance in the classroom.