ERIC Number: EJ1157597
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1927-2677
EISSN: N/A
The Educational Use of Social Media Sites by Pharmacy Students
St. Onge, Erin L.; Hoehn, Katie
Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, v4 n1 p114-121 2015
Social media sites are widely used among professional students and may offer an alternative means of communication for professors to utilize within their courses. Social media site usage has been characterized within healthcare education, however, data is lacking on its use within pharmacy programs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate social media use among pharmacy students at distance campus sites in order to determine student preferences and ways in which social media could be used within the pharmacy curriculum. A 12-item survey questionnaire was administered to first, second and third year students at three distance campus sites at the University of Florida college of pharmacy. Pharmacy students surveyed most commonly reported using the social media site Facebook® for school purposes, followed by Google+®. The majority of students from each class year reported using social media primarily to connect with fellow students or classmates. First and second year students most commonly use social media to keep up to date with events around campus, while third year students most commonly use social media sites to collaborate about a class or case. A common advantage to incorporating social media sites into pharmacy education was identified as keeping up to date with important dates and campus events, while the biggest disadvantage identified was that social media sites can be too distracting and time consuming. Social media sites may be used within pharmacy education as an alternative teaching modality.
Descriptors: Social Media, Pharmaceutical Education, Distance Education, Computer Uses in Education, Student Attitudes, Preferences, Student Surveys, College Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A