RESEARCH PAPER

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in EDLE & CUIN
EDUC 5324: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO EDUCATION
Name: Vildan Kucukbasol

Date: 9/20/15

Topic Selected:
What are the Educational uses of Facebook or other social media (e.g. twitter)? (K-12 or
higher education)
1. LITERATURE REVIEW:
What does the literature/research say about this issue/topic? By using NAU
Library or Online Search engines, conduct a literature review.

You need to include 5 different sources (book, journal article, web article
etc.) in your review. Try to use current sources as much as possible.

You need to summarize and synthesize your sources by discussing a

common theme or issue.

You don't need to critique your sources

You don't need to evaluate your sources (if the sources are trustworthy,
whether the author has a bias or not)

You need to provide background information such as history and

definitions

Brief Literature Review:

The 21st century has brought a new lifestyle for many people that include plenty
of use of technology in every aspect of life, one of which is the field of education
for sure. The Internet usage is getting more and more common every day and
the educators are trying to find ways to adapt it to the classroom environment.
Social media is a very popular area and one website that is highly prominent
among the students is the Facebook. Facebook, launched on February 2004, is
an online social networking service located in California. Although many people
use it for communication purposes, there have been many studies suggesting
that Facebook has a significant effect on student performance (Madge, Meek,
Wellens & Hooley, 2009; Mazman & Usluel, 2009; Selwyn, 2009; Arteaga
Snchez et all, 2014).
The students often think that the teachers are not contemporary, meaning that
their interests are much more diverse than the teachers and there is a
generation gap between them. In a study by Mazer, Murphy, and Simonds
(2009), researchers found that teachers may enhance their credibility if they use
Facebook, showing they care about their students and understand contemporary
student interests (p. 177). Others are more cautious about this endeavor,
cautioning college faculty and staff from invading a social space where theyre
not wanted (Madge et al., 2009). In a study conducted by Hunter-Brown (2012),

students were asked how they felt about teachers using Facebook as an
instructional tool and many showed liking stating that it is easier to contact their
teacher and the other students in the class. Students reported that it is more
engaging, fun, and they respect teachers who utilize Facebook to help with
classroom instruction.
The fact that students from all age groups spend a lot of time on Facebook, has
led the teachers to move some activities onto Facebook pages in order to reach
or draw attention of the students. In a study by Mourlam (2013), a social studies
teacher tried to post homework assignments on Facebook by creating a group as
s/he could not get the students complete their homework. At the end of the study
approximately, 67% of students indicated they wanted to have more interactions
using Facebook. In particular, students mentioned that they wanted to have all
their assignments for the course posted to the Facebook Group and more
reminders about due dates sent to them, in addition to the event reminder that
appeared on the Facebook home page. (Mourlam, 2013)
According to the results of a study conducted by Gettman and Cortijo (2015),
54% of students have engaged in student initiated use of Facebook in at least
one class, with the primary purpose being an organizational/communication tool
for group projects. Further, 13% of the students had a professor use Facebook
for a college class. The purposes for professors using Facebook ranged much
more broadly, including communication of class related logistical information
(e.g., posting of assignments, notices, updates, reminders, etc.), dissemination of
information for class discussion, class discussion itself, dispersal of topically
relevant information (e.g., fun clips, news related to class, etc.), for students to
receive extra help related to the course, posting information of interest to
students not related to class (e.g., career information). (Gettman and Cortijo,
2015)
2. REFLECTION:

What is your personal opinion on this issue? Do you agree with the
research? If you agree or disagree, please explain why?
Provide examples/experiences regarding this issue from school
perspective or If you are not working in a school, from your profession. Be
specific with your examples. You can mention software/hardware names,
specific methods that you plan to use, etc.
How would you implement this research in your career? (At least 1
paragraph)

Reflection:
I agree that Social Media (SM) and especially Facebook have an effect on the
academic success of the students. However, these media are mostly used for
communication purposes and mostly related to topics other than academic
issues. On one hand, I personally do not favor using Facebook for teaching
school subjects as learning them requires focus and motivation. I believe
Facebook (and some other social media websites) may be too distracting as many
things may pop up while studying. On the other hand Facebook might be used for
educational videos. Instead of watching many irrelevant videos that everybody
else posts, I think students can watch videos on personal development and
building self-esteem. For example some videos about which college to attend to,

what major to study might be beneficial for the students. With reference to the
study by Gettman and Cortijo (2015) students typically do not like the idea of
using Facebook for academic purposes, and that their resistance is based on it
being a social not academic medium, and a general discomfort about interacting
with professors on Facebook (e.g., it would be weird to see their professor on
Facebook).
This research has broadened my horizon about the possible uses of social media
in classroom. I had not thought about using Facebook for educational purposes
or posting homework on a group page. I will definitely search more about this
subject and will try to find the best method of application of SM.
3. REFERENCES:

Cite at least 5 References in APA.

You may use http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-journal for citing
your sources in APA style.

References:
Arteaga Snchez, R., Cortijo, V., & Javed, U. (2014). Students perceptions of
Facebook for academic purposes. Computers & Education, 70, 138-149.

Gettman, Hilary J. and Cortijo, Virginia (2015) "Leave Me and My Facebook

Alone! Understanding College Students Relationship with Facebook and its Use
for Academic Purposes," International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning: Vol. 9: No. 1, Article 8.
Hunter-Brown, Stephanie R. (2012) Facebook as an instructional tool in the
secondary classroom: A case study. Retrieved from:
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1634&context=doctoral
on 9/20/15.
Madge, C., Meek, J., Wellens, J., Hooley, T., Facebook, social integration and
informal learning at university: 'It is more for socialising and talking to friends about
work than for actually doing work'. Learning, Media and Technology, 2009, 34 (2),
pp. 141-155.
Mazer, J., Murphy, R., & Simonds, C. (2009). The effects of teacher self-closure via
Facebook on teacher credibility. Learning, Media, and Technology, 34(2), 175- 183.
Mazman, S. G., & Usluel, Y. K. (2010). Modeling educational usage of Facebook.
Computers & Education, 55 (2), 444-453.
Mourlam, D. (2013). Social Media and Education: Perceptions and Need for Support. Imanagers Journal on School Educational Technology, 9(3), 23-28.
Selwyn, N. (2009). Faceworking: exploring students education-related use of Facebook.
Learning, Media and Technology, 34 (2), 157-174.