Connectivism and E-Collaborative learning: A Framework for Enhancing Digital Self-Efficacy in Higher Education through Big Data Organization

Background/purpose. The current study aimed to investigate the extent to which collaborative educational applications based on connectivism theory are used to organize big data and their impact on university students' digital self-efficacy.

Materials/methods. The researcher adopted a descriptive survey approach to examine the effectiveness of the independent variable (collaborative educational applications) on the dependent variables (big data organization and digital self-efficacy). The study used two main tools: a questionnaire to measure the extent of the use of collaborative educational applications in big data organizations, and a digital self-efficacy scale for university students. The study sample included 424 students from public and private universities in Jordan. The sample was obtained via a random selection method in which the two tools were sent via a link.

Results. The study found that collaborative educational applications grounded in connectivism theory were being widely used in big data organizations. There were noteworthy discrepancies in students' responses to the questionnaire, favoring students in scientific fields and postgraduate students, with no differences attributed to the type of university attended. It was also found that students demonstrated a high level of digital self-efficacy with significant differences in favor of students from scientific disciplines and postgraduate students, and no differences by university type. The last finding was that there was a significant correlational relationship between the level of big data organizational collaborative educational applications and digital self-efficacy.

Conclusion. Collaborative connectivist educational apps are widely used for big data organization and are strongly linked to higher digital self-efficacy among university students (especially science and postgraduate students). Therefore, universities should integrate these apps more often.

Keywords: E-Collaborative Educational Applications, Big Data, Digital Self-Efficacy, Connectivism Theory, Jordanian Universities

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