An Analysis of Students' Attitudes Towards Twitter Use for Academic Purposes: A Case of Saudi Undergreate Female Students

Social media has increasingly been used in higher education classrooms as educators lean on technology to mediate and enhance their teaching and learning process. This study aims to explore students' perceptions and attitudes towards the use of social media as an effective academic tool. 149 Undergraduate Saudi female students, enrolled in four courses at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, were surveyed about their attitude towards the use of Twitter in classroom interactions, as well as, their perceptions regarding the use of social media in teaching practice. Findings indicate that, in general, students have positive attitudes toward using Twitter for academic purposes. Additionally, students favorably perceive that Twitter facilitates knowledge sharing, collaborations, and interactions in the classroom but to a lesser extent enhancing their sense of learning. This study sheds light on the potential opportunities of the use of Twitter in the classroom, and what benefits could it bring to the teaching and learning process in higher education that may affect the quality of the students' learning experience.