Title: Facebook research from educational technology perspective: analysis of doctoral dissertations in US universities

Authors: Myint Swe Khine

Addresses: Assessment and Evaluation Centre, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abstract: Facebook has been growing exponentially as a dominant social networking site among users including students, teachers and administrators in the schools to faculty and administrative staff members in the universities. In recent years, the use of Facebook as an educational technology tool ignites frequent discussion among educators and researchers alike in academia. This study analyses doctoral dissertations on Facebook research submitted to the universities in the USA. It identifies major categories and topics, describes trends and discusses gaps in the research area from educational technology perspectives. The study selects 15 doctoral dissertations and analyses their research aims, methodologies and findings. The study proposes four overlapping categories namely, Facebook as a tool, Facebook effects, Facebook usage and privacy and disclosure. The analysis reveals that Facebook research in educational technology is still largely exploratory, using diverse theories.

Keywords: Facebook effects; Facebook usage; privacy; disclosure; review; educational technology; social networks; university research; higher education; doctoral dissertations; USA; United States; social networking sites; SNS.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMILE.2015.070761

International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 2015 Vol.3 No.2, pp.100 - 116

Received: 17 Jul 2014
Accepted: 25 Jul 2014
Published online: 24 Jul 2015 *

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