This Bachelor’s thesis was commissioned by the Degree Programme in Business Information Technology in HAMK University of Applied Sciences. The aim of the study was to find out what kind of services of social media and multimedia software students are using. The purpose of this study was to survey whether some services or software could be included in the studies of Business Information Technology to a wider extent or as entirely new elements. These results were affected by the use and familiarity of social media services and multimedia software during the students’ spare time.

In the thesis the services of social media were divided into different categories which meant that the survey included a wide variety of options for the students to answer. The answers were gathered by a web-based questionnaire which was sent to all the students in the Degree Programme in Business Information Technology in HAMK University of Applied Sciences. The findings were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The findings indicate that the students in the Degree Programme in Business Information Technology are using a lot of different social media, and these could be dealt with in a more versatile way in studying. The students are also using multimedia software a lot but the dispersion is larger than in the case of the services of social media. In addition, the availability of virtual teaching and distance learning is important for the students because they want a possibility to study elsewhere than in the school.

The findings of the survey prove clearly that the students are active users of different services and software. If the teachers could include these unfamiliar services and software in their study programme, the students would gain even a wider variety of know-how. This implies that planning the courses requires real time knowledge and the courses have to be modified along with technology development.