How social media improve university students’ employability?----Tina

Abstract: Social media has penetrated into the modern students' learning, life and work. Studies have indicated that the superb use of social media technologies can help students in internships and employment. This topic will explore how to use social media to enhance the student's employment competence by conducting a questionnaire survey and interviews among Hong Kong University undergraduates and masters while revealing why the masterful use of social media skills can help students improve their employability and competitiveness.

Keyword: social media; university student; employability; competitiveness;

Introduction  

With the improvement of living standards, students can easily own a mobile phone, ipad laptops and other mobile terminal equipment. Because of the increasing investment in education , many universities have advanced technology equipment and network technology used in the classroom , teaching management. Students  are easily to use computers and other technology products on campus. As the rapid development of internet technology ( especially web2.0) as well as the significantly increasing use of internet, blog, forum, Facebook, Twitter and other social media gradually penetrate into people's daily life and work in various fields. In such an environment, the phenomenon of using a variety of frequently using social media for communication, work, learning is quite common. Dr. William Ward of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications said, "Students with social media certification are getting better jobs and internships.Those who harness social communications are in high demand and have an advantage." It means excellent social media skills can improve students’ employability and competitiveness. 

So, how to use social media to improve students' employability and competitiveness of the reason behind are the very issue to be explored.

    Conception of social media: Refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks (Ahlqvist, 2008) .Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content"(Kaplan Andreas M, 2010) .Furthermore, social media depends on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content. It introduces substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals(H. Kietzmann, 2011).

Literature review

Social media is changing the parameters of how people and organisations interact and operate. Some articles indicate that students need to know how to use it not just for jobs, but also to shape their online presence and convey the skills they have with ease. And some graduates have already seen the benefits of social media education in the job market. While there are few relevant academic research and articles focus on this study field.

But there are a lot of literature about social media and education.Most of them agree that social media can improve higher education and help students build self-directed learning.It can be seen that there is a more and more closing bound between social media and education.

Research method

Object: HKU students including undergraduates and masters

Method: survey, interview and literature research

Number:  survey around 100; interview around 10

Expectation result

1 through literature research, from the market demand, resource supply, university courses, vocational training, social media's influence on the commercial side to find such superb social media skills to improve student employability reasons behind;

2 through questionnaires and related data analysis to understand the students use social media the frequency and extent of the employment situation and practice the relationship between the (proportional);

3 through interviews find and summarize success stories behind the general law.

Reference

“Using social media to boost student employability” http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2012/jun/18/social-media-to-boost-student-employability

“Student Employability: Using Social Media to Enhance Careers” http://blog.into-corporate.com/student-employability/

Ahlqvist, Toni; Bäck, A., Halonen, M., Heinonen, S (2008). December 2012 "Social media road maps exploring the futures triggered by social media". VTT Tiedotteita - Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus (2454): 13. Retrieved  9.

Kaplan Andreas M., Haenlein Michael (2010). "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media". Business Horizons 53 (1). p. 61.

H. Kietzmann, Jan; Kristopher Hermkens (2011). "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media". Business Horizons 54: 241–251.

Blankenship, Mark. "How Social Media Can and Should Impact Higher Education." Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review 76.7 (2011): 39-42. Print.

Pata, Kai. "Modeling Spaces for Self-Directed Learning at University Courses." Educational Technology & Society 12.3 (2009): 23-43. Print.

Rambe, Patient. "Constructive Disruptions for Effective Collaborative Learning: Navigating the Affordances of Social Media for Meaningful Engagement." Electronic Journal of e-Learning 10.1 (2012): 132-46. Print.

Rios-Aguilar, Cecilia, and University Claremont Graduate. Getting Connected: Harnessing the Power of Social Media to Enhance Community College Student Success. The Claremont Letter. Volume 6, Issue 3: Claremont Graduate University, 2012. Print.

Tay, Elaine, and Matthew Allen. "Designing Social Media into University Learning: Technology of Collaboration or Collaboration for Technology?" Educational Media International 48.3 (2011): 151-63. Print.

Younger, Dylinda W., Jan E. Duncan, and LaToya M. Hart. Tuning into Youtube in the Classroom: Improving Assessment Scores through Social Media: Online Submission, 2013. Print.

Survey

research field including:

1.frequency of using social media by students

2.skills of using social media

3.the relevance between social media using and employability