Selection of Social Media Applications for Ubiquitous Learning using Fuzzy TOPSIS

Abstract

The exponential advancements in Information and Communications Technology has led to its prevalence in education, especially with the arrival of COVID-19. Ubiquitous learning (u-learning) is everyday learning that happens irrespective of time and place and it is enabled by m-learning, elearning, and social computing such as social media. Due to its popularity, there has been an expansion of social media applications for u-learning. The aim of this research paper was to establish the most relevant social media applications for u-learning in schools. Data was collected from 260 respondents, which comprised learners, and instructors in high schools who were asked to rank 14 of the top social media applications for ubiquitous learning. Fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) was the method employed for the ranking of the 14 of the most popular social media applications using 15 education requirements, 15 technology criteria, and 260 decision makers. The simulation was implemented on MATLAB R2020a. The results showed that YouTube was the most likely social media application to be selected for u-learning with a closeness coefficient of 0.9188 and that Viber was the least likely selected social media application with a closeness coefficient of 0.0165. The inferences of this research study will advise researchers in the intelligent decision support systems field to reduce the time and effort made by instructors and learners to select the most beneficial social media application for u-learning.