Article: Social media platforms and technology education: Facebook on the way to graduate school Journal: International Journal of Technology Management (IJTM) 2014 Vol.66 No.4 pp.358 - 370 Abstract: It is impossible to deny the role social media plays in the lives of our students. University systems for communication among faculty and with students, such as Moodle and Blackboard, have a hard time keeping up in student appeal and ease of operations, and thus, it is appropriate to review how these new methods of connecting affect education. Social media clearly adds new methodologies to the way we interact, in quality, quantity and speed. In this review of the use of Facebook in several small (20-40 students) classes at a leading management school in New Zealand, we assess the level of technology use and specifically the use of Facebook for communication and tests. A total of 169 students provided feedback on how they perceived the value of Facebook as part of their graduate school education in management. They voted Facebook over all other available electronic media as suitable for online quizzes. We conclude that using Facebook for some teaching applications is more promising than some of the other university-based intranet services. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Social media platforms and technology education: Facebook on the way to graduate school

Authors: Jens Mueller; Maria Rosaria Della Peruta; Manlio Del Giudice

Addresses: Waikato Management School, The University of Waikato, P.O. Box 3100, Greerton/Tauranga 3142, New Zealand ' Department of Economics, Second University of Naples, Corso Granpriorato di Malta, 1, 81043 Capua (CE), Italy ' ESG Management School, 25 rue St Ambroise, 75011 Paris, France

Abstract: It is impossible to deny the role social media plays in the lives of our students. University systems for communication among faculty and with students, such as Moodle and Blackboard, have a hard time keeping up in student appeal and ease of operations, and thus, it is appropriate to review how these new methods of connecting affect education. Social media clearly adds new methodologies to the way we interact, in quality, quantity and speed. In this review of the use of Facebook in several small (20-40 students) classes at a leading management school in New Zealand, we assess the level of technology use and specifically the use of Facebook for communication and tests. A total of 169 students provided feedback on how they perceived the value of Facebook as part of their graduate school education in management. They voted Facebook over all other available electronic media as suitable for online quizzes. We conclude that using Facebook for some teaching applications is more promising than some of the other university-based intranet services.

Keywords: social media; innovation; technology education; technology platforms; Facebook; New Zealand; management education; higher education; student communication; student tests; graduate schools; online quizzes; e-learning; electronic learning; online learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2014.065005

International Journal of Technology Management, 2014 Vol.66 No.4, pp.358 - 370

Accepted: 14 Feb 2014
Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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Title: Social media platforms and technology education: Facebook on the way to graduate school

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