Students Perception Towards Social Networking Sites
Students’ perceptions, experiences and beliefs about Facebook in subjects at an Australian University
Lynda Andrews
School of AMPR, Queensland University of Technology
l.andrews@qut.edu.au
and
Judy Drennan
School of AMPR, Queensland University of Technology
j.drennan@qut.edu.au
Abstract
This paper reports on students’ perceptions, experiences and beliefs about the voluntary use of Facebook in Advertising, Law, Nursing and Creative Industries’ subjects at an Australian University. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with students and the transcriptions were analysed using the constant comparison method. This resulted in a number of emergent themes, of which six are explored in this paper. The findings suggest that students are quite divergent in their responses to academics using Facebook in their subjects. They do not always see its relevance to the subject and are somewhat ambivalent about how it facilitates peer-to-peer relationships or a better relationship with the lecturer. The study also identifies themes relating to cynicism and intrusion into social spaces.
Page 1 of 7 ANZMAC 20091
Students’ perceptions, experiences and beliefs about the use of Facebook in subjects at an Australian University
Background to the Study
In many universities, academics are strategically encouraged to incorporate new media technologies into their subjects with a view to engaging students and enhancing their learning experiences. This is a response to changes in student expectations about learning environments and questions about whether existing teaching practices and models meet their needs (Berge, 2008). Thus, we can expect that a majority of our undergraduate students (or at least those born after 1982) are part of the Millennial Generation (Wood, Solomon and Allan,
2008). This cohort has been raised with interactive communication technologies (ICTs) such as the Web, and email, and now with the advent
Lynda Andrews
School of AMPR, Queensland University of Technology
l.andrews@qut.edu.au
and
Judy Drennan
School of AMPR, Queensland University of Technology
j.drennan@qut.edu.au
Abstract
This paper reports on students’ perceptions, experiences and beliefs about the voluntary use of Facebook in Advertising, Law, Nursing and Creative Industries’ subjects at an Australian University. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with students and the transcriptions were analysed using the constant comparison method. This resulted in a number of emergent themes, of which six are explored in this paper. The findings suggest that students are quite divergent in their responses to academics using Facebook in their subjects. They do not always see its relevance to the subject and are somewhat ambivalent about how it facilitates peer-to-peer relationships or a better relationship with the lecturer. The study also identifies themes relating to cynicism and intrusion into social spaces.
Page 1 of 7 ANZMAC 20091
Students’ perceptions, experiences and beliefs about the use of Facebook in subjects at an Australian University
Background to the Study
In many universities, academics are strategically encouraged to incorporate new media technologies into their subjects with a view to engaging students and enhancing their learning experiences. This is a response to changes in student expectations about learning environments and questions about whether existing teaching practices and models meet their needs (Berge, 2008). Thus, we can expect that a majority of our undergraduate students (or at least those born after 1982) are part of the Millennial Generation (Wood, Solomon and Allan,
2008). This cohort has been raised with interactive communication technologies (ICTs) such as the Web, and email, and now with the advent
References: Services Quarterly 13 (1), 69-85. Daniels Lee, P., 2009 Hargittai, E., 2008. Whose space? Differences among users and non-users of social network sites Kramer, N.C., Winter, S., 2008. Impression management 2.0: The relationship of self-esteem, extraversion, self-efficacy and self-presentation within social networking sites Media Psychology 20 (3), 106-116. Kvale, S., 1996 Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. Orr, E.S., Sisic, M., Ross, C., Simmering, M.G., Arseneault, J.M., Orr, R.R., 2009 Strauss, A., Corbin, J., 1990. Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory, Procedures and Techniques, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA Tong, S.T., Van Der Heide, B., Longwell, L., 2008. Too much of a good thing? The relationship between number of friends and interpersonal impressions on Facebook of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (3), 531-549. Wood, N.T., Solomon, M.R., Allan, D., 2008