Abstract

In recent years, TikTok, a video-based application, has become immensely popular, especially among young social media users. During the COVID-19 pandemic, TikTok also proved to be useful in remote learning. The present study examines the use of TikTok videos among university students in Egypt, with a specific focus on how these videos enhance student online engagement in virtual classrooms. We also evaluate the moderating effect of gender, age, and academic major on the relationship between the adoption and educational use of TikTok and student online engagement. The results of a survey conducted among a total of 250 students at Cairo University from different age groups, gender, and majors revealed statistically significant and positive correlations between the adoption of TikTok (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and social influence), educational use of TikTok (via facilitating access to information and sharing material), and online student engagement. The results also showed two significant moderations based on gender and age. First, we found that access to information via TikTok contributed more to the online engagement of male students as compared to their female counterparts. Second, with increasing age, sharing information and materials with the help of TikTok was found to have a greater effect on online student engagement. While it remains to be established whether these findings can be generalized to other universities and educational institutes in Egypt, the adoption and educational use of TikTok can be considered to be a promising way to facilitate online education.