Abstract:

Recent developments experienced in the field of information and communication technologies have enabled emergence of changes in lives and life styles of individuals. These changes also affect learning environments too. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites. “With over 500 million users, Facebook is now used by 1 in every 13 people on earth” (Facebook statistics, 2011).

The main aim of this study is to assess the educational use of social networking site such as facebook from different perspectives according to students’ opinions. In the study, the “ITEC447 Web Projects” course, which was offered during the fall semester 2010–2011 academic year has been selected as the vehicle for this study. The population of the study consisted of a total of 46 students who enrolled the course.

The study is designed as a qualitative research and focus group interviews were used as the tool for collecting data. Focus group interviews held in the study were carried out deploying “a semi-structured interview form” approach. Data gathered as a result of the study was dissolved with descriptive analysis. The findings in the study are offered correspondingly with the accompanying research questions. According to the findings, discussions and suggestions are provided at the end of the study.

Keywords:

Social networking, Facebook, Educational use of facebook.