Social Networking Sites in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study

Edalatifard, Homa and Abbas, Merza (2011) Social Networking Sites in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study. INTI Journal: Special Issue on Teaching and Learning. pp. 19-27. ISSN 1675-0284

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Abstract

The spark of using social networking technologies in education becomes a flame white numbers and figures demonstrate a remarkable growth of social networking users. Regarding to the mass numbers of users who are registered in social networking sites, It Indicates the changing of lite, hobbies and Interests. While several studies have used social networking directly in education, this study alms to examine the students’ perception of using social networking sites. Moreover, it considers how and to what extent social networking helps students. BarterTermsl as a social networking website which focuses on peer learning, was chosen for this study. Purposive sampling was selected as the research sampling. Semi-structured Interviews and students’ feedback on the website are the research Instrument for this qualitative study. The main process of examination and analysis of study was divided into 15 weeks. The first week was allocated for meeting participants and Introducing the website. During week 2 to 14 the online users’ views and comments were considered. Interviews were conducted in week 15. Findings of ths study show that learners use the BarterTerms! Website to find new Information. Meanwhile the most important factor which has attracted the attention of learners Is the sharing of Information. Moreover, through decision, they are able to express their ideas and also Influence other peers’ thoughts. They also can improve their knowledge by correcting their misunderstandings. Finally, they really enjoy having discussions with their peers.

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