Evaluating TikTok’s Educational Impact: An Analysis of Student Perspectives

This study investigated the perceived effectiveness of using the TikTok application in learning activities among university students. A quantitative survey was conducted with a sample of 101 students from four Malaysian universities. The study aimed to examine how students perceive the usefulness of TikTok videos in supporting learning, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using TikTok for educational purposes. The findings revealed that most respondents (95%) have a TikTok account and primarily use it for entertainment (86%). However, they also perceived TikTok as a useful tool for learning, with mean scores indicating agreement that TikTok is better than traditional methods. Its features help teaching and learning, are easy to use, and effectively convey learning objectives and input. Regarding advantages, respondents agreed that TikTok attracts students’ attention to learning activities and is more interactive and engaging than other social media platforms. However, they also acknowledged disadvantages, such as the need for existing features to be a reason not to use TikTok for learning and the platform prioritising entertainment over education. The study concludes that while TikTok has the potential to be an effective learning tool, improvements are needed to make it more education-friendly. Recommendations include developing new features to help educators create engaging educational content and establishing official TikTok accounts for each subject to provide students with a dedicated space for accessing educational videos.