Use of social networking sites: Facebook group as a learning management system

Md Abul Kalam Siddike ,Md Shiful Islam ,Hasanul Banna

doi:10.34105/j.kmel.2015.07.015

Md Abul Kalam Siddike , Md Shiful Islam + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2015.07.015

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Abstract

Social networking sites (SNSs) are becoming popular day by day in academia as well as in business organizations around the world. Facebook as the largest and fastest networking sites, is one of the important SNSs that can play an important role in different academic disciplines. The aim of this study is to investigate the use of SNSs by the undergraduate students of International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM). The specific objectives are: (i) to explore the frequency of using SNSs by the undergraduates; (ii) to identify the purpose of using SNSs; (iii) to examine the perceptions of undergraduates for using SNSs as an academic tool; and (iv) finally, to propose Facebook group as a learning management system (LMS) of IIUM. A structured survey questionnaire was distributed among 500 undergraduate students of IIUM and 351 responses were received. The results report that Facebook and Google+ are preferred SNSs. Sharing information with friends, getting connected with people for different level, making new friends, and passing time are the main reasons for using SNSs. This study also proposes a six-step procedure for using Facebook group as a LMS.

Highlights

With the rise of online communities, communication has shifted from face-to-face models of interaction to a more digital approach for maintaining and establishing relationships (Moorman & Bowker, 2011)
To bridge the gap in the literature, this study focuses on how undergraduate students of Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) use Social networking sites (SNSs) as an academic tool and how Facebook group can be used as a learning management system (LMS) in IIUM
The aim of the study was to explore the use of SNSs by the undergraduate students of IIUM

Summary

Introduction

With the rise of online communities, communication has shifted from face-to-face models of interaction to a more digital approach for maintaining and establishing relationships (Moorman & Bowker, 2011). Social networking sites (SNSs) are the websites that allow users to maintain social relationship by viewing, visiting, and sharing their list of social connections with other members (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). SNSs are made possible by web 2.0 applications, that mainly deliver software as continuallychanged services, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an ‘architecture of participation’, to deliver rich user experiences (O’Reily, 2006). According to Al-Daihani (2010), SNSs provide usercreated content platform applications allowing the users to contribute their knowledge in different formats like text, data, video, and audio. Special SNSs have emerged targeting specific user groups, especially professionals (Vascellaro, 2007)

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