Facebook as an Educational Tool – Student Perspectives
Facebook is a social networking tool that allows users to communicate, collaborate, and build relationships through various modes of media.  Due to its unique affordances, Facebook has rapidly grown into the most popular social networking site in the world.  The majority of American online adults are Facebook users.  Facebook is extremely popular among college students.  Most college students access Facebook on daily basis.  Studies show that students most often use Facebook for personal purposes rather than for academic gains.  As a social networking tool, Facebook has the potential to engage students in building online learning communities for knowledge construction.  Research was conducted to explore the educational value of Facebook.  These studies yielded mixed results.  Controversial arguments were raised as to the benefits of Facebook as an educational tool.  It is well acknowledged that student perception constitutes an important aspect in their learning.  Ultimately, students are the ones who will be using Facebook as an academic tool.  It is imperative to investigate student perceptions in assessing the academic value of Facebook. This presentation reports a study exploring student perspectives on using Facebook as an educational tool.  Details of design and results of the study will be presented.