Social Media in History Learning: Findings from a Project Involving Active Engagement

Abstract

This paper reports on an experimental study involving active social media engagement to explore its potential for increasing efficiency in history teaching and learning. To this end, a two-stage work program was implemented. In the first stage, a series of videos were created by blending three traditional forms: historical documentary, drama, and educational video. These videos were shot at various locations, including Göbeklitepe, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The videos were then published on YouTube and their links were shared on Facebook. In the second stage, the impact of the videos was measured based on viewer interactions such as watching, liking, expressing emotions, re-sharing, and commenting on both platforms. The Göbeklitepe series, consisting of 11 videos published over 11 weeks, received more than 255,000 views on YouTube. Analysis of user interaction data showed that 82,19% of the users who went beyond just viewing found the work successful. The overall conclusion is that social media can be a useful tool for increasing the efficiency in history teaching and learning, provided that care is given to conceptual design as well as to content quality. This study is expected to lead to further research using the same model to improve these results.