Virtual Communities of Practice for generations Z and Alpha: a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal education

The use of social networking sites (SNSs) in teaching is of increasing importance, for it puts into question how what we have, until the digital revolution, understood formal education to be. The earliest social media came about and were developed parallel to generations Z and Alpha. This review ana...

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Main Author: Castiglione Alessio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2025-06-01
Series:Reports on Geodesy and Geoinformatics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/rem-2025-0004
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author Castiglione Alessio
author_facet Castiglione Alessio
author_sort Castiglione Alessio
collection DOAJ
description The use of social networking sites (SNSs) in teaching is of increasing importance, for it puts into question how what we have, until the digital revolution, understood formal education to be. The earliest social media came about and were developed parallel to generations Z and Alpha. This review analyzed at least 8 articles published between 2019 and 2023, found on the databases Web of Science and Scopus, and sorted into four categories of research cases focused on the main SNSs used in formal education. The selected studies show that Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok can have a positive impact on student and teacher motivation, collaboration, and the reaching of learning objectives. Further, this paper brings to light the advantages that SNSs can bring to faculty’s professional development and to learning, in addition to their value as motivating resources and community-forming structures.
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spelling doaj-art-ca8f62fb070840c8ab8b5196d9f7f3482025-08-20T03:47:20ZengSciendoReports on Geodesy and Geoinformatics2391-81522025-06-01171284110.2478/rem-2025-0004Virtual Communities of Practice for generations Z and Alpha: a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal educationCastiglione Alessio01University of Palermo, ItalyThe use of social networking sites (SNSs) in teaching is of increasing importance, for it puts into question how what we have, until the digital revolution, understood formal education to be. The earliest social media came about and were developed parallel to generations Z and Alpha. This review analyzed at least 8 articles published between 2019 and 2023, found on the databases Web of Science and Scopus, and sorted into four categories of research cases focused on the main SNSs used in formal education. The selected studies show that Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok can have a positive impact on student and teacher motivation, collaboration, and the reaching of learning objectives. Further, this paper brings to light the advantages that SNSs can bring to faculty’s professional development and to learning, in addition to their value as motivating resources and community-forming structures.https://doi.org/10.2478/rem-2025-0004systematic reviewsocial mediaformal educationvirtual community of practicessocial learning network
spellingShingle Castiglione Alessio
Virtual Communities of Practice for generations Z and Alpha: a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal education
Reports on Geodesy and Geoinformatics
systematic review
social media
formal education
virtual community of practices
social learning network
title Virtual Communities of Practice for generations Z and Alpha: a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal education
title_full Virtual Communities of Practice for generations Z and Alpha: a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal education
title_fullStr Virtual Communities of Practice for generations Z and Alpha: a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal education
title_full_unstemmed Virtual Communities of Practice for generations Z and Alpha: a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal education
title_short Virtual Communities of Practice for generations Z and Alpha: a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal education
title_sort virtual communities of practice for generations z and alpha a systematic review of the main social networking sites used in formal education
topic systematic review
social media
formal education
virtual community of practices
social learning network
url https://doi.org/10.2478/rem-2025-0004
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