Title: Perceived usefulness of Facebook for teaching and learning: the student teacher's perspective

Authors: Qiyun Wang; Huay Lit Woo; Choon Lang Quek

Addresses: Learning Sciences and Technologies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore ' Learning Sciences and Technologies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore ' Learning Sciences and Technologies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, 637616, Singapore

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived usefulness of Facebook in education and possible ways of using Facebook for teaching and learning from the perspective of student teachers. One hundred seventy-three student teachers participated in this study. They were tasked to explore various components of Facebook and write reflections on the potential usefulness of Facebook for their subject teaching. Their reflections were analysed by following a qualitative research method. Results showed that the most useful components of Facebook for teaching and learning included educational applications, games, and certain features like the wall and group page. The participants also felt that Facebook could be potentially used for learning assessment, self-directed learning, collaborative learning, and as a learning management system. This paper describes the perceived useful components of Facebook and its possible ways for teaching and learning. Issues emerged from this study are discussed at the end of the paper.

Keywords: Facebook; perceived usefulness; social networking; informal learning; online communities; web based communities; virtual communities; student teachers; teaching and learning; learning assessment; self-directed learning; collaborative learning; learning management systems; LMS; educational technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2013.053247

International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2013 Vol.9 No.2, pp.243 - 255

Published online: 30 Jan 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article