University of Malta student use of YouTube educational activities

Abstract

This dissertation sets out to examine the extent and range of YouTube usage amongst students of the University of Malta. It focuses in particular on issues such as frequency and type of usage, as well as on motivational elements. Quantitative and qualitative surveys hve been created to investigate the browsing habits of students between the ages of 18 and 30. The outcome of the two focus groups and the online questionnaire was an indication that women use YouTube for educational purposes more extensively than men and a significant percentage of male participants showed a preference for using YouTube exclusively for leisure purposes. Of those respondents who found YouTube educationally useful, all stated that YouTube was helpful for exam revision, in particular as an aid to memory. However, none of the respondents stated that YouTube encourages them to think, analyse and structure their work. Furthermore, most preferred YouTube as a visual and non-textual source of information rather than traditional text-based journals and books. Finally, it was noted that students from the Media faculty seemed to be more video-literate than those from other faculties because of their familiarity with this medium in their day to day studies.