English Academic Purpose II
Australian journal of
educational technology
Students’ Perception of
Using facebook as an Interactive Learning Resource at University by Michael
Leveritt
The propose of blended
learning through web tools such as email, blog, facebook to offer an
environment that helps to engage students and enrich the quality of the student
experience through interactive learning activities. Facebook is an online
communication tool allowing users to construct a public or private profile in
order to connect and interact with people who are part of their extended social
network (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). A recent study by Wise at al (2011) found
that the students spent an average of one hour a day on the site to engage in social
interaction and only small proportion of the students use facebook in academic
engagement so in this paper will discuss the students’ perceptions of using
facebook to support both their academic and social goals.
After evaluating the
students’ perceptions the researcher conclude that the use of facebook page had
been integrated into several university courses which students appear to be
receptive to use facebook for educational purpose because they could receive
academic information on Facebook, it also was something they were accessing
frequently and didn’t have to log in to an additional university based web page
to receive that information. Institution based learning management systems
often require students to navigate to the university website, insert a password
and then navigate to the correct course page before being able to receive
announcements or information. Students may see this process as problematic.
Facebook on the other hand, appears to be a site that students are interacting
with frequently, particularly given that applications are available for tablet
and smart phone devices. This provides a convenient environment in which
academic information can be integrated into a space that students are already
using.
To sum up, the findings
from this study indicate that students are receptive to incorporating Facebook
into their academic lives and perceive benefits through enhanced communication,
interaction, and flexibility in course content delivery. [1]
[1] Students’
perceptions of using Facebook as an interactive learning resource at university
Christopher Irwin, Lauren Ball and Ben
Desbrow Griffith University Michael Leveritt The University of Queensland