Presentation "Using Social Networking Sites in Accounting Education: Results of an Experience in the Bologna Context" at the British Accounting Association – Accounting Education SIG, Annual Conference, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland, 26-28 May 2010.

1. Using Social Networking Sites in
accounting education: results of
an experience in the Bologna
context
José Luis Arquero
University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
arquero@us.es
Esteban Romero-Frías
University of Granada, Granada, Spain
erf@ugr.es
BAA SIG
Dublin 2010

2. Social media technologies such as blogs, microblogs, digital
videos, podcasts, wikis and social networks, have seen a
dramatic increase in adoption rates, especially among new
generations.
The so called Web 2.0 services are remarkably effective in
connecting people and in facilitating the exchange of
information.
These tools are described as social media technologies or
social software, underlining their ability to facilitate the
establishment of relationships and the development of
networks.
BACKGROUND

3. “the reality is that students are already using social
networking sites (SNS) and the educators have the choice to
work with or against them. The advantage of the former
strategy is that it is possible to openly address concerns over
Internet safety or time spent online, attempting to provide
guidance in such areas”
Pegrum (2009, p. 27-28)
Social software characteristics and SNS in particular fit well
the requirements of a social constructivist approach to
education.
Social network sites (SNS), such as Facebook or
MySpace, have proved to be extremely popular among
students.
BACKGROUND

4. 4
INSTITUTIONAL
CONTEXT
Bologna
Process
Digital
Society
Impacts
→ transversal and non technical skills
→ lifelong learning scenario
→ digital networked learning context

5. 5
Personal skills:

self-management

self learning

professional skepticism
IFAC: Objectives of education
International Education Standards (IES 3)
[previous research: Arquero et al. (2001), Hassall at al. (2005),
Milner and Hill (2007), etc.]
Interpersonal and communication skills:

work in teams

present, discuss, report and defend views through
different types of communication

listen and read effectively
ACCOUNTING EDUCATION

6. 6
Which teaching methodologies could educators
use? (IFAC, Intro to IES, par. 37)

“(c) adapting instructional methods and materials
to the ever-changing environment in which the
professional accountant works”

“(e) using technology creatively and quality issues
for e-learning”

“(f) encouraging students to be active participants
in the learning process”
ACCOUNTING EDUCATION

7. 7
Non technical skills
Multiple teaching
methodologies
Digital context
Lifelong learning
Collaborative
learning
WEB 2.0 tools
Social Network(ing) Sites

8. 8
The Project
→ Objective: developing skills using a SNS to
extend the physical class (social constructivist
perspective)
→ Tool: a private SNS in the platform Ning
→ Participants: more than 140 students
adscribed to 2 groups on International
Accounting
→ When: February-July 2009
→ Where: University of Granada (Spain) and
wherever you can get online

9. 9
SNS - Homepage

10. 10
SNS – Network visualization
- Contact with members
- Sense of community

11. 11
SNS – RSS feeds
- Automatically updated International
Accounting news

12. 12
SNS – Discussion Forum
- Main instrument to drive the class:
materials, tasks, questions, etc.

13. 13
SNS – Chat
- Synchronous
communication tool

14. 14
SNS – Groups
- Private space for members of the group

15. 15
SNS – Blogs
- Free expression of the
interests of the members
(not subject related)
- Comments

16. 16
SNS – My personal page
- Digital Identity

17. 17
Html widgets and contents
- Google Docs and Spreadsheets
- Youtube videos
- Google calendar, etc.

18. 18
TASKS in the SNS
→ Digital literacy: creating contents,
commenting, adding friends, embeding
videos, etc.
→ Searching online accounting resources
and analysing them critically.
→ Discussing publicly a professional article in
the forum.
→ Elaborating a practical case to show how
to apply a particular IAS/IFRS (individual
assignment but group presentation).

19. 19
Research Questions

Can SNSs contribute significantly to an
active engagement of the students on
their own learning process?

Can SNSs facilitate the integration of
students into work teams and to
collaborative learning under a social
constructivist pedagogy?

Can SNSs contribute to a better
achievement of the academic objectives
of the subject?

20. 20
Data collection
→ Questionnaire: May – June 2009
→ Interviews: June 2009
→ Exploratory discussions in the forum:
April 2009
→ Google Analytics: February - July 2009
Other sources of informationOther sources of information
→ Quantitative data about user behaviour:
February - July 2009
→ Grades database: Feb-June 2009

21. 21
Results

105 responses to online questionnaire (145
in SNS & 160 in the course)

Sex: 68% female.

Age: from 19 to 32 (mean of 22).

86% registered in a SNS previously

only 12% rated their ability to use internet
tools as “low”

87% are online at least once a day

82% at home & 12% at university

71% use laptop vs 29% desk computers

22. Table 4. Active role of students
Mean
Std.
Dev.
%
agreem.
%
disagreem.
The use of the SNS makes me feel more
involved in the subject than a classic
scheme.
4,18 0,653 88,35% 0,97%
The use of the SNS allows me to know and
use tools that are useful to keep my
professional knowledge up to date in the
future.
4,03 0,675 82,69% 1,92%
The use of the SNS allows me to learn on my
own by gathering additional information,
consulting other resources, etc.
3,93 0,683 82,86% 4,76%
The SNS allow students to approach the
teaching staff more easily (to ask
questions, doubts etc.).
4,65 0,537 99,03% 0,97%
The use of the SNS allows students to
manage their own time and prepare the
contents of the subject in a more flexible
way.
4,20 0,546 93,27% 0,00%

23. Table 5. Collaborative aspects of the learning process
Mean
Std.
Dev.
%
agreem.
%
disagree
m.
The use of the SNS allows all members to
benefit from the contributions published by their
peers.
4,34 0,536 97,06% 0,00%
The use of the SNS encourages that other
students help solving questions and difficulties
of their peers.
4,21 0,635 92,16% 1,96%
The use of the SNS fosters the diffusion of the
own ideas and points of view and influence in
others´ point of view.
4,08 0,621 90,29% 2,91%
The use of the SNS helps to learn from and
consider other students´ points of view on
problems and cases.
3,99 0,649 84,47% 2,91%
SNS provides helpful tools to facilitate team
working. 3,95 0,705 76,84% 2,11%
The SNS allows the coordination of joint actions with
peer students for other activities out of the subject
(e.g. to prepare assignments of other subjects).
3,93 0,849 75,00% 7,29%

24. Table 6. Promoting critical view
Mea
n
Std.
Dev.
%
agreem.
%
disagree
m.
The use of the SNS allows me to better develop a
critical and reflective attitude towards the contents
and materials of the subject.
3,89 0,615 81,19% 2,97%
The use of the SNS allows me to better develop a critical
and reflective attitude towards the contents accessible via
Internet.
3,79 0,635 71,57% 1,96%
The use of the SNS allows me to better develop a critical
and reflective attitude towards the opinions of other
students.
3,78 0,607 74,51% 2,94%
The use of the SNS allows me to express my opinions
and views more freely than in a classroom. 3,88 1,003 67,33% 8,91%

25. Table 7. Content learning
Mean
Std.
Dev.
%
agreem.
%
disagreem.
The use of the SNS has been useful for the
learning of the contents of the subject. 4,25 0,537 95,15% 0,00%
The use of the SNS motivated me to work harder in
the subject. 3,74 0,816 58,25% 3,88%
The use of the SNS increased my interest in
accounting. 3,53 0,750 52,88% 7,69%

26. Table 8. General assessment of the activity
Mean
Std.
Dev.
%
agreem.
%
disagreem
.
I’d recommend to other students to enrol in the
subject 4,39 0,603 95,92% 1,02%
I think that the generalisation of these initiatives
could improve significantly the quality of learning
at university level.
4,28 0,709 91,09% 2,97%
An integrated SNS for all the subjects, or similar
subjects, could be a good learning tool. 4,26 0,722 93,88% 5,10%
The difficulties to use the SNS de-motivate me to use
it. 1,71 0,903 6,80% 86,41%

27. Table 9. General assessment by previous experience with SNSs
N Mean
Std.
Dev.
t-test sig.
I think that the generalisation of these
initiatives could improve significantly the
quality of learning at university level.
No 13 3,54 ,967
.000
Yes 86 4,38 ,597
An integrated SNS for all the subjects, or
similar subjects, could be a good learning
tool.
No 12 3,75 ,866
.000
Yes 84 4,36 ,633

28. Relationship participation – gradeRelationship participation – grade
the vast majority of students did enrol in the experience.... the comparison of
the academic performance between students enrolled – not enrolled in the
innovation is not feasible
Two clusters were defined:
Cluster 1: low participation (n: 75)
Cluster 2: high participation (n: 27)
Comparison group 1 vs group 2
No differences were found in grades obtained in previous courses on
Accounting (proxy for a priori performance)

29. Cluster N Mean Std. Deviation t-test si
Exam 1 low 70 5,7129 1,49953 n
2 high 27 6,0519 1,74810
Task (essay) 1 low 69 ,7504 ,68079 .0
2 high 27 1,2428 ,52301
Class 1 low 75 ,2500 ,11442 .0
2 high 27 ,3241 ,13091
Final grade 1 low 75 6,2724 2,22778 .0
Table 8: Grades by level of participation
Positive impact on ongoing evaluation measures, which, combined had a
relevant impact on final grade

30. 30
Final conclusions
• Good results in terms of:
• General assessment
• Collaborative learning
• Critical view
• Content learning
• Improving Digital Literacy.
• Better communication
• student-teacher
• Among colleagues

31. 31
Final conclusions
• Digital literacy (digital divide issue)
• Influence on participation
• Opinion on the usefulness of the new
technologies.
• Educational purposes over social interaction (for
fun → Facebook).
• Using the SNS for other courses