Electronic Social Media in Teaching: Usages, Benefits, and Barriers as Viewed by Sudanese Faculty Members

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current use of social media and its benefits in teaching and learning as well as the perception of barriers by Sudanese university faculty members. The study surveyed a sample of 65 faculty members (educators and non-educators) through the use of a questionnaire. The results indicated that educators, both male and female, across academic ranks are using social media tools and agree to the benefits and barriers of social media usage. Also, the study found that there was a significant difference in the scores for educator and non-educator faculty members regarding social media usage in teaching, with the former demonstrating greater use. Moreover, the results found no significant effect of age and rank on faculty members’ use of social media in teaching. Therefore, the study recommends that future research on usage of social media sites in teaching could be extended to include a wider demographic base to further explore the extent to which the findings are generalizable. The study provided valuable information that may help administrators, professors, and decision makers to recognize the extent to which university faculty members’ use social media in teaching.