TikTok as a learning tool in higher education: Validation of a scale

Abstract

In our increasingly digitalized society, social media have emerged prominently within the educational landscape, fostering the creation of online and blended teaching-learning environments. Among these platforms, TikTok, renowned for its short dynamic videos featuring effects and music, stands out. Despite its growing popularity among youth and initial explorations of its pedagogical use by university educators, the educational benefits of TikTok remain largely unexplored. This gap is partly due to the absence of validated research tools to assess its potential educational impact. This study addresses this gap by adapting and validating a new scale, “TikTok-SportEdu”, with a sample of 250 Spanish sport sciences university students (M = 22.56; SD = 3.55). The TikTok-SportEdu scale, comprising 15 items across three dimensions—1) TikTok as a university teaching-learning tool, 2) TikTok as a professional profile development tool, and 3) TikTok as a tool for interaction and staying informed about sport industry developments—demonstrates robust psychometric properties. The TikTok-SportEdu scale will enable educators, educational institutions, policymakers, and industry professionals to better understand the strategic use of TikTok in higher education, providing a reliable instrument for future research.