experiences of librarians regarding the use of social media applications and social ... would like to thank all dedicated librarians at Queens Public Library who ...
LIBRARIANS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARD USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO DELIVER TUTORING SERVICES TO TEENAGERS: AN EXPLORATORY CASE STUDY
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by Hesham Mohamed
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Copyright 2015
A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Management and Organizational Leadership with a Specialization in Information Systems and Technology
University of Phoenix
ProQuest Number: 10102375
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ProQuest 10102375
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ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of librarians regarding the use of social media applications and social networking websites to deliver tutoring services in library branches. The focus of the study was on librarians working in the Queens Library that serves the residents of Queens Borough, New York City. The study followed the exploratory case study approach to explore the librarians’ perceptions regarding delivering homework assistance services to
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teenage students using HomeworkNYC social applications and social networks in library branches. The central research question that guided this exploratory case study was How
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do librarians’ perceive the use of social media applications such as DialATeacher, SearchIt, ListIt, and AttendIt to deliver tutoring services to teenagers? Twenty young
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adult librarians were selected to participate in the study. Data were collected from the study participants through answering open-ended questions, semistructured interviews. The collected data from audio-recorded interviews were transcribed to a textual format using Microsofet Word computer program application. The collected data were analyzed using NVivo 10.0 computer software to identify themes and patterns. The study’s data analysis concluded five core themes that answered the study’s central research question. The core themes are: (a) capability to communicate and share knowledge, (b) inability to communicate with teenage patrons, (c) responsibility toward delivering social educational service, (d) motivation toward educational role, and (e) pressure due to lack in staffing and in technological support.
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DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to the soul of my father Hassan Mostafa Mohamed who I wish could be here to celebrate its completion with me. My father who was my great mentor in life and who taught me that strength always comes from weakness. To the soul of my mother who loved, prayed, and supported me all of her life to be the man I am now. I also dedicate this dissertation to the love of my life, my daughter Mirna Hesham Hassan for her love, support, and understanding. Finally, I dedicated this dissertation to
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all librarians and educators around the globe who are working tirelessly to spread
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knowledge to make the universe a better place in which to live.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to extend my appreciation to Dr. Julia Bao for her encouragement, and tireless support that guided me through the process of completing this dissertation. Her dedication, knowledge, and prompt support greatly contributed to my success. I would like to extend my appreciation also to my dissertation committee members, Dr. Miriam Pardo and Dr. Pearl Smith, who provided me with encouragement and support throughout the process.
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I would like to extend my appreciation to Ms. Bridget Quinn-Carey, Interim President and CEO of Queen Public Library, New York, for her encouragement and
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unlimited support that greatly contributed to the completion of this dissertation. Finally, I would like to thank all dedicated librarians at Queens Public Library who inspired me to
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conduct this study.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents
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List of Tables..........................................................................................................xi Chapter 1: Introduction ...........................................................................................1 Background of the Problem .........................................................................2 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................8 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................9
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Significance of the Problem .......................................................................11 Significance of the Study ...............................................................11
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Significance of the Study to Leadership ........................................11 Research Questions ....................................................................................12
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Nature of the Study ....................................................................................13 Conceptual Framework ..............................................................................16 Student Engagement ......................................................................17 Social Capital .................................................................................18
Definition of Terms....................................................................................19 Assumptions...............................................................................................20 Scope, Limitations, and Delimitations .......................................................21 Summary ....................................................................................................22 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature.......................................................................24 Title Searches, Articles, Research Documents, and Journals ....................24 Conceptual Framework ..............................................................................25 Student Engagement ......................................................................25 vi
Social Capital .................................................................................28 Socialization and Social Interaction...........................................................31 Socialization and the Looking Glass Self-Theory .....................................32 Social Networking: Historical Overview ...................................................34 Social Networking Websites and Web 2.0 ....................................35 Socialization and Social Networking .........................................................41 Social Networking and Social Media Applications (Apps) .......................43
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Public Libraries and Web 2.0 Technologies ..............................................45 Really Simple Syndication (RSS) ..................................................48
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Teenagers and Social Networking .............................................................51 Social Networking and Privacy .................................................................52
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Public Libraries and Privacy Laws and Regulations .....................54 Teens’ and Librarians’ Use of Social Networks in Libraries ....................59 Social Media in Education .........................................................................61 Gap in the Research Literature ..................................................................63 Conclusion .................................................................................................65 Summary ....................................................................................................66 Chapter 3: Method .................................................................................................67 Research Questions ....................................................................................67 Research Method and Design Appropriateness .........................................68 Research Method Appropriateness ................................................68 Research Design Appropriateness .................................................69 Population ..................................................................................................70 vii
Sampling Frame .........................................................................................71 Informed Consent.......................................................................................74 Confidentiality ...........................................................................................75 Geographic Location ..................................................................................76 Instrumentation ..........................................................................................77 Interviews .......................................................................................77 Pilot Study......................................................................................79
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Participant observation...................................................................80 Documentation. ..............................................................................81
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Data Collection ..........................................................................................81 Interviews .......................................................................................81
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Participant observation...................................................................83 Documentation. ..............................................................................84
Credibility, Dependability, and Transferability .........................................84 Credibility ......................................................................................84 Dependability .................................................................................85 Transferability ................................................................................85
Data Analysis .............................................................................................86 Summary ....................................................................................................87 Chapter 4: Analysis and Results ............................................................................89 Pilot Study..................................................................................................90 Demographic Data .....................................................................................91 Data Collection Procedure .........................................................................92 viii
Research Questions ....................................................................................94 Data Analysis .............................................................................................96 Interview Question 1 ......................................................................96 Interview Question 2 ......................................................................98 Interview Question 3 ....................................................................100 Interview Question 4 ....................................................................102 Interview Question 5 ....................................................................103
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Interview Question 6 ....................................................................105 Interview Question 7 ....................................................................107
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Interview Question 8 ....................................................................109 Core Themes ................................................................................111
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Core Themes: Relationship to the Central Research Question ................112 Theme 1: Capability to Communicate and Share Knowledge .....113 Theme 2: Inability to Communicate with Teenage Patrons.........114 Theme 3: Responsibility Toward Delivering Social Educational Service..........................................................................................115 Theme 4: Motivation Toward Educational Role .........................116 Theme 5: Pressure Due to Lack of Staffing and Technological Support .........................................................................................117 Sub-theme 5: Pressure due to lack of technological support..............................................................................117 Sub-theme 5: Pressure due to lack of staffing. ................119 Summary ..................................................................................................119 ix
Chapter 5: Findings and Recommendations ........................................................121 Findings....................................................................................................121 Core Themes of the Study............................................................123 Capability to communicate and share knowledge ...........123 Inability to communicate with teenage patrons ...............125 Responsibility toward delivering social educational service ..............................................................................127
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Motivation toward educational role .................................127 Pressure due to lack of staffing and technological
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support..............................................................................129 Summary of the Findings .........................................................................131
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Implications for Leaders ........................................................................1352 Recommendations for Leaders ................................................................135 Significance of the Study to Leadership ..................................................137 Limitations of the Study...........................................................................138 Suggestions for Future Research .............................................................138 Summary ..................................................................................................139 References ................................................................................................141 Appendix A: Permission to Use Premises ...........................................................159 Appendix B: Informed Consent Letter ...............................................................160 Appendix C: Interview Questions ........................................................................162
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LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Length of Employment in Current Position........................................................ 91 Table 2: Themes from Interview Question 1 .................................................................... 98 Table 3: Themes from Interview Question 2 .................................................................. 100 Table 4: Themes from Interview Question 3 .................................................................. 101 Table 5: Themes from Interview Question 4 .................................................................. 103 Table 6: Themes from Interview Question 5 .................................................................. 105
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Table 7: Themes from Interview Questions 6................................................................. 107 Table 8: Themes from Interview Question 7 .................................................................. 109
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Table 9: Themes from Interview Question 8 .................................................................. 111
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Table 10: Core Themes from the Interviews .................................................................. 112
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Chapter 1: Introduction Public libraries participate with an important role in promoting educational growth and development (Peowski, 2010). Librarians provide users with access to a variety of academic resources and offer specialized, personal assistance to individuals seeking specific information (Peowski, 2010). Students who visit local libraries benefit most from the assistance services offered by librarians. Students can access information
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by themselves or with help from librarians in difficult areas, such as locating the most relevant resources needed to complete homework assignments (Florida Library
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Association, 2011).
Queens Public Library serves students in the Queens borough, New York City, by
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providing imprint and electronic educational resources. Further, Queens Public Library provides students aged 6 to 14 with one-to-one homework assistance at all Queens Library branches (Queens Library Foundation, 2011). New York City’s budget reduction toward public services is negatively affecting public schools, public libraries, and other neighborhood programs that assisted school age children with their school homework (English, 2011; Marritz, 2011; New York Community Trust, 2012; Tankus, 2013). For students ages 15 to 18, Queens Public Library provides one-to-one free homework assistance in only two library branches out of the 63 library branches that serve Queens Borough, New York City. New York Public Libraries, funded by Institute of Museum and Library Services, developed social applications that allow students to obtain homework assistance through social networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace. The developed applications provide students with real-time homework 1
assistance from New York City teachers. Further, the applications allow students to communicate with librarians to obtain educational materials needed for their homework assignments (Braun, 2010). Queens Library expanded the use of the social media applications as a service approach to deliver homework assistance in all library branches. Librarians participate with a vital role in the process of implementing the use of social media applications to deliver homework assistance. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was
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to explore the librarians’ perceptions and lived experiences regarding their role in the process of delivering homework assistance to teenage students ages 15 to 18 in library
homework assistance to teens.
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branches using HomeworkNYC Apps and social networks to supplement the lack of free
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Chapter 1 contains the background information about public library services provided by Queens Library, the scope of the study, the problem statement, and the purpose of the study. The significance of the current study is underscored in this chapter as the research is distinguished from past studies, and the use of social media to deliver homework assistance services to teenagers is discussed. Chapter 1 also includes the nature of study, the conceptual framework, and the assumptions, limitations, and delimitations of the study. Background of the Problem The five boroughs of New York City (NYC) are served by three public library systems: New York Public Library, serving the residents of the boroughs of Staten Island, Manhattan, and Bronx; Brooklyn Public Library, serving the residents of the borough of Brooklyn; and the Queens Public Library, serving the residents of the borough of Queens. 2
Collectively, the three library systems operate 209 branches with a total collection of 63 million items (Fieldhouse, 2011). Queens Public Library is the largest public library in the nation (New York Community Trust, 2012) serving a population of 2,278,860 people in Queens Borough, 6.2% of whom are in the age group 15 to 18, in which this particular study takes interest (New Americans Program Queens Library, 2012). New York City’s populations are facing the most devastating affects because of the recent recession (Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, 2012). According
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to Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York’s analysis in 2012, the number of New York City residents who are living under the federal poverty level increased significantly
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from 120,000 in 2008 to 1.6 million residents in 2010. The rate of children living in poverty also increased from 25% of all of New York City’s children in 2008, to 33.3% in
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2010, with a total number of 522,955 children (Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, 2012).
In Queens Borough, New York City, the poverty rate is 15%, with 21.8% of children (99,291) living under the federal poverty level (Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, 2012). Accordingly, with the indicated increased rate of poverty among Queens Borough’s residents, they become relying on the city’s and libraries’ free services, especially for their children’s education (New York Community Trust, 2012). Queens Library serves the Queens Borough’s residents through 63 public libraries such as the Briarwood, Glendale, Elmhurst, Baisley Park, Flushing, and Hollis Community Libraries among others (Queens Library, 2012). In addition to offering services to patrons who frequent the libraries’ widespread branches, Queens Library also provides over the phone and online services to respond to patrons’ questions (Queens 3
Library, 2011). The library offers services in English and Spanish to diverse groups of people and operates a website where users can chat and exchange ideas. Queens Public Library provides access to catalogs, subscription databases, online collections, and respective library information concerning free events, computer classes, and English lessons for non-native speakers (New York State Library, 2013). To fulfill the library mission of providing services meeting the educational needs (Queens Library, 2014d), Queens Library offers Best Out Of School Time (BOOST)
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program to provide students aged 6 to 14 with one-to-one homework assistance every weekday at Queens Library branches (Calas, 2010). The BOOST program is funded by
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New York Life Foundation with $240,500 grants and enabled Queens Library to hire 20 paid high school teens to assist students aged 6 to 14 with their daily homework and
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promoted the use of library resources. The grant allowed the Queens Library to provide free valuable academic support to low-income families who cannot afford paid tutoring to their children. Initially, the BOOST program served almost 2,000 children in Queens Library branches after-school each weekday (New York Life Foundation, 2010). Other neighborhood programs were also providing Queens Borough’s children and teenagers with free homework help service (New York Community Trust, 2012). Many of these programs, however, were closed because of the lack of funding, which increased the demand on Queens Library to provide the homework help service to children and teenagers (New York Community Trust, 2012). In concert with the increased quest for educational needs and homework help, Queens Library obtained a $130,000 grant from New York Community Trust Foundation and expand the BOOST program by hiring 15 BOOST assistants to serve 226 more children increasing the total of 4
children aged 6 to 14 obtaining homework help to 2,500 children (New York Community Trust, 2012). For students ages 15 to 18, however, and because of the budget reductions (Marritz, 2011; Tankus, 2013), Queens Library provides free one-to-one homework assistance by professional tutors in only two library branches out of the 63 libraries in Queens Borough, New York City (Queens Library, 2014a; Urban Libraries Council, 2014): the teen centers at the central library in Jamaica, Queens (Queens Library, 2014a) and Far Rockaway, Queens. The two branches provide students ages 15 to 18 with
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homework assistance (Urban Libraries Council, 2014). In the other 61 Queens Library branches, young adult librarians perform their
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duties serving teenage patrons as required by their job description defined by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association
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(Young Adult Library Services Association, 2014). The young adult librarians in each library provide teenage patrons with technology and computer assistance and select educational materials purchased and added to the library collection. Further, young adult librarians develop educational activities for teenage patrons such as developing instruction classes for teens to learn how to search the library resources and obtain the educational materials needed for their homework assignments (Young Adult Library Services Association, 2014). In 2005, administrators in the three public library systems in New York City (New York, Brooklyn, and Queens), with the lead of the New York Library, developed the HomeworkNYC.org website (Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2010). The HomeworkNYC.org website allowed teenage students in the New York City area to obtain real-time homework assistance from professional teachers. Further, the website 5
allowed teenage students to obtain educational materials needed by accessing the educational resources of the three libraries of New York, Brooklyn, and Queens (Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2010). In 2006, the HomeworkNYC team conducted a usability test to assess the usefulness of using HomeworkNYC.org to deliver homework assistance to New York City’s teenage students. The usability test findings indicated that the website was difficult to use because of (a) the website’s crowded design and (b) complications in
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navigating the library catalog to locate educational resources needed for their homework assignments (Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2010). Further, teachers did not
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realize the abilities of the HomeworkNYC.org website to be used as an educational platform to deliver homework assistance (Institute of Museum and Library Services,
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2010).
In 2007, to explore a better approach to deliver homework assistance to teenagers, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) provided the three library systems, New York, Brooklyn, and Queens, with a grant of $30,000 to evaluate the online habits of young people. The project included a committee from the New York Public Library as a leader and collaborated with Brooklyn and Queens Public Libraries (Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2010). The committee members interviewed more than 90 students aged 10 to 18 who participated in focus groups conducted in public libraries within New York City’s five boroughs. The project’s findings indicated that teenagers do not think of public libraries as sources of homework help physically or virtually. Physically, teenagers think of the public library as a source of books to read and participation in activities. Virtually, they 6
depend on the web resources, such as Google and Wikipedia for their homework assignments (Braun, 2010; Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2010). Introducing websites that provide homework assistance to students had no affect on teenagers’ searching behavior. The study findings highlighted that young people spend long periods on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace (Braun, 2010). The focus group indicated that 90% of teenage participants prefer to receive the homework assistance at their favorite social networking websites such as Facebook and
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MySpace (Braun, 2010). To implement the focus group’s idea, New York City public libraries received a $378,000 grant from IMLS for 3 years to develop homework social
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applications (apps) to be implemented within social networks such as Facebook and MySpace (Braun, 2010). During the 3-year development period, HomeworkNYC.org
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developed tools to educate librarians, teachers, and parents about using digital resources and social media applications to enhance learning (Braun, 2010). Leaders at HomeworkNYC developed (a) the DialATeacher app that allows students to communicate with NYC teachers live to obtain homework assistance, (b) the SearchIt app that allows students to locate information using recommendation engine, (c) the ListIt app that allows students to share lists of books, games, and music with their peers and friends on social network websites, and (d) the AttendIt app that allows students to search public libraries events by topic or by borough via social network websites (Braun, 2010). In 2010, the New York Library team launched a new HomeworkNYC.org website and developed the new social media applications: DialATeacher, SerachIt, ListIt, and AttendIt Apps (Braun, 2010). The New York City’s
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public libraries including Queens Library were advised to expand the use of the new social approach of HomeworkNYC (Braun, 2010). Queens Library staff members are using social media tools and social networking websites to promote library services including HomeworkNYC Apps and programs, share ideas with patrons, and create online space for library patrons to communicate with library staff and other patrons (Queens Library, 2014c). Young adult librarians provide the teenage patrons with instructional workshops to teach them how to use social network
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websites and how to protect their identity online (Houghton-Jan, 2010). Some young adult librarians use social networking for outreach to teenage patrons by developing book
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clubs and library activities using a social networking website as a discussion platform and to participate in the activities (Agosto & Abbas, 2011). To deliver adequate homework
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assistance service to students aged 15 to 18 in Queens Borough, New York City, Queens Library administrators expanded the use of HomeworkNYC Apps to deliver homework assistance service at every library branch of the 63 library branches in Queens Borough, New York City.
Statement of the Problem
The general problem was due to lack of funding, administrators closed many free neighborhood programs that provided after school homework assistance to teenage students in Queens Borough, New York City (New York Community Trust, 2012). Consequently, the demands on receiving free homework assistance services by teenage students in Queens Library branches increased (New York Community Trust, 2012). The specific problem was, due to lack of funding, the Queens Library branches offers insufficient free homework assistance to teenage students ages 15 to 18 for the entire 8
borough of Queens, New York City (Marritz, 2011; Queens Library, 2014a; Tankus, 2013; Urban Libraries Council, 2014). HomeworkNYC social applications (Apps) were developed by New York Public libraries including Queens Library to deliver free homework assistance to teens and tweens who live in New York City area (Braun, 2010). HomeworkNYC apps allow students to communicate with professional teachers, peers, and librarians to obtain realtime homework assistance and library educational resources needed for their homework assignments (Braun, 2010). Implementing the HomeworkNYC Apps as an approach to
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involvement in the process (Braun, 2010).
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deliver homework assistance in Queens Library branches entailed the librarians’
A qualitative study was needed to assess the perceptions of librarians toward
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using HomeworkNYC Apps as an educational service approach to deliver homework assistance to students aged 15 to 18 in all Queens Library branches. The data needed for the study were collected in the form of verbal responses to interview questions. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Further, more data were collected through the participant-observation, and documents. Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore the perceptions of librarians in Queens Library toward using HomeworkNYC apps to deliver homework assistance to students ages 15 to 18 in all Queens Library branches to supplement the lack of free homework assistance to teens. A purposeful sample of 20 librarians who currently work in Queens Library branches under the rank of young adult librarians for at least 5 years participated in the study (Merriam, 2009). The study 9
participants provide teenage patrons with educational assistance through selecting and locating educational materials needed for their homework assignments as major part of their daily working experience (Walter & Mediavilla, 2005; Young Adult Library Services Association, 2014). The study participants use social networking websites as communication platforms to promote library services and resources to patrons (Queens Library, 2014c). Implementing the use of HomeworkNYC Apps as a consistent educational service to
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deliver homework assistance to teenage students in Queens Library branches entailed young adult librarians to be responsible for (a) promoting the use of HomeworkNYC
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Apps to teenage patrons, (b) guiding the teenage patrons through the process of installing the Apps on their favorite social networking website such as Facebook and MySpace, and
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(c) educating the teens on how to use the Apps to search the library resources to obtain educational materials needed for their homework assignments (Agosto & Abbas, 2011; Braun, 2010; Houghton-Jan, 2010; Michaelson, 2009). Thus, exploring the participants’ thoughts, feelings, and experiences toward delivering educational services to teenage patrons was needed to determine the effectiveness of using the social media applications as an educational approach to deliver homework assistance in Queens Library branches (Mohsenzadeh & Isfandyari-Moghaddam, 2011; Packard, 2010). The participants answered semistructured open-ended interview questions to provide qualitative data in the form of verbal responses. The collected data were analyzed using NVivo 10.0 qualitative computer software application to identify themes related to the phenomenon under study.
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Significance of the Problem Significance of the Study This study is important to the body of knowledge of the role of social media tools in education from a different perspective than previous research studies and may bring about a new understanding. Whereas there is popular and professional interest on the influence of social networking on academic performance, only a few researchers have attempted to explore the relationship between social networking and learners’ access to
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educational resources, particularly resources that offered by public libraries (Abramson, 2011; Kamenetz, 2011). Thus, the current study is unique, as the focus was on the use of
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social media applications, specifically HomeworkNYC apps to connect students with teachers to obtain homework assistance. Further, the applications connect the students to
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the library educational resources needed for their homework assignments using social network websites such as Facebook and MySpace. The focus of the study was to explore how librarians in Queens Library perceive their role in the process of using the HomeworkNYC Apps in the library as an educational service approach. Significance of the Study to Leadership
The study findings may be particularly relevant to leaders as the main thesis provides a concrete framework of managing library resources using innovative tools, such as social media, among other web 2.0 applications (Evans & McKee, 2010). With the strategy for increasing the involvement of teenagers with public library services, public library management will thrive and serve the students citywide regardless of budget reductions. Library management entails a fearless investment in the use of technology in promoting services, as well as using library resources (Smallwood, 2011). 11
Smallwood (2011) emphasized the importance of technology, particularly social media tools, such as social media applications and social networking websites, in disseminating information as a key aspect for any library manager or leader. Further, Packard (2010) asserted that in human service organizations, investigating staff perceptions toward human services they deliver is imperative to evaluate the service effectiveness, and consequently, the overall organization’s performance. Exploring the librarians’ perceptions toward their role in providing services was essential for the library
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leaders to identify their perspectives regarding the services to solve problems encountered by librarians that disrupt the service. Accordingly, librarians may contribute
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more effectively and actively in the process of delivering the service, which will increase the competence in public services delivered by librarians (Mohsenzadeh & Isfandyari-
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Moghaddam, 2011).
Research Questions
The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of librarians in Queens Library toward using HomeworkNYC apps to deliver homework assistance to students aged 15 to 18 in all Queens Library branches to supplement the lack of free homework assistance to teens. The central research question that guided this exploratory case study was, How do librarians perceive the use of social media applications such as DialATeacher, SearchIt, ListIt, and AttendIt to deliver homework assistance services to teenagers in Queens Library branches (Braun, 2010)? The research question guided this case study through the process of gathering the librarians’ experiences, thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. To explore the librarians’ perceptions further, the data gathered from this study were used to answer two subquestions: 12
