Social Media as a Pedagogical Tool: Investigating Faculty Perceptions, Practices, and Institutional Challenges in Moroccan Higher Education

Résumé

Fifteen years ago, the use of social media (SM) as a pedagogical tool was largely unforeseen. The emergence of a scholarly discourse on its integration into teaching and learning (T&L) practices was equally unexpected. Today, however, universities globally have since shifted their focus toward integrating SM into educational environments. This shift reflects a growing recognition of SM’s potential as a resource for both teaching and learning (Menkhoff et al., 2014; Liburd and Christensen, 2013; Hartley et al., 2020). Yet, such adoption in Morocco remains in its early stages, at times, met with resistance from educators. This study investigates the perceptions, adoption patterns, and challenges associated with SM integration among English teachers at Mohammed I University. Specifically, it examines the factors influencing faculty members’ decisions to incorporate (or reject) SM in their teaching practices, the barriers they encounter, and the role of institutional policies in shaping these choices. In contrast to research that presupposes the benefits of SM in education, this study adopts a neutral perspective, that is, it analyzes the perspectives of both proponents and opponents to provide a balanced assessment of its impact on higher education. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design, informed by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989), Pedagogical Belief Systems (Ertmer, 2005), and Institutional Theory (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983), is employed. The findings of this research have implications for the development of targeted policies and professional training programs designed to facilitate the effective and contextually appropriate integration of SM into higher education pedagogy.