How Content and Network analysis aid in Evaluating the use of social media in learning and teaching .

  Learners are already frequent users of social media , they seek it nowadays as an additional means of acquisition and information sources, building knowledge and for community support . Since learners have been seeking lately social media for information from individuals,researchers have been exploring and addressing questions on the benefits of participating in those learning networks. Content and Network analysis has been used to to understand how social media supports the learning experience.

 When we talk about analysis, what we look into is the who is talking and what are they sharing and with whom.Social analysis addresses the structure of the network, while content analysis looks into nature of the tie among the network. Content analysis is usually performed by examining the patterns of the text and language . Coding categories are usually used which enables researchers to understand and explore the focus of attention among shared texts. This was found very helpful in identifying markers of interaction and work collaboration throughout the online learning discussions. It provides insights to researchers as well as instructors  on the concepts that were central in the discussion and the nature of exchanges that occurred.

In regards to social network analysis, it provides the knowledge on how and why learners in that particular network are connected, how learners seek one another, how their configuration patterns support knowledge and content sharing . By network analysis, researchers can understand what knowledge or sources of information has the learner been exposed to,  what are the norms of the network and how is the learning process occurring across the entire network.