Facebook Usage
International journal of computer science & information Technology (IJCSIT) Vol.2, No.4, August 2010
AN APPLIED STUDY ON EDUCATIONAL USE OF FACEBOOK AS A WEB 2.0 TOOL: THE SAMPLE LESSON OF COMPUTER NETWORKS AND COMMUNICATION
Murat Kayri1 and Özlem Çakır2
1
Department of Computer and Instructional Technology, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey
2
mkayri@yyu.edu.tr
Department of Computer and Instructional Technology, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey ocakir@education.ankara.edu.tr
ABSTRACT
The main aim of the research was to examine educational use of Facebook. The Computer Networks and Communication lesson was taken as the sample and the attitudes of the students included in the study group towards Facebook were measured in a semi-experimental setup. The students on Facebook platform were examined for about three months and they continued their education interactively in that virtual environment. After the-three-month-education period, observations for the students were reported and the attitudes of the students towards Facebook were measured by three different measurement tools. As a result, the attitudes of the students towards educational use of Facebook and their views were heterogeneous. When the average values of the group were examined, it was reported that the attitudes towards educational use of Facebook was above a moderate level. Therefore, it might be suggested that social networks in virtual environments provide continuity in life long learning.
KEYWORDS
Social networks, Facebook, Web 2.0 tools, Education
1. INTRODUCTION
Means of communication change together with improving technology. Today, the number of social networks, where communication is established, is rapidly increasing. As a part of daily life, mostly teenagers and adults use social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Weblogs, Xanga, Friendster, Orkut, Bebo and Wiki to take advantage of opening their world to friends and introduce themselves to others. At
AN APPLIED STUDY ON EDUCATIONAL USE OF FACEBOOK AS A WEB 2.0 TOOL: THE SAMPLE LESSON OF COMPUTER NETWORKS AND COMMUNICATION
Murat Kayri1 and Özlem Çakır2
1
Department of Computer and Instructional Technology, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey
2
mkayri@yyu.edu.tr
Department of Computer and Instructional Technology, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey ocakir@education.ankara.edu.tr
ABSTRACT
The main aim of the research was to examine educational use of Facebook. The Computer Networks and Communication lesson was taken as the sample and the attitudes of the students included in the study group towards Facebook were measured in a semi-experimental setup. The students on Facebook platform were examined for about three months and they continued their education interactively in that virtual environment. After the-three-month-education period, observations for the students were reported and the attitudes of the students towards Facebook were measured by three different measurement tools. As a result, the attitudes of the students towards educational use of Facebook and their views were heterogeneous. When the average values of the group were examined, it was reported that the attitudes towards educational use of Facebook was above a moderate level. Therefore, it might be suggested that social networks in virtual environments provide continuity in life long learning.
KEYWORDS
Social networks, Facebook, Web 2.0 tools, Education
1. INTRODUCTION
Means of communication change together with improving technology. Today, the number of social networks, where communication is established, is rapidly increasing. As a part of daily life, mostly teenagers and adults use social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Weblogs, Xanga, Friendster, Orkut, Bebo and Wiki to take advantage of opening their world to friends and introduce themselves to others. At