Facebook Goes to College; Recent Research on Educational Uses of Social Networks

Abstract

The number of courses offered partially or entirely online continues to grow, offering students many different ways to access academic content.  Educational institutions largely use course management systems to deliver academic content, collect assignments and conduct discussions.  Traditional CMS systems, however, are often underutilized and almost always require login protocols tied to students’ institutional email accounts.

The ubiquity of the social networking site Facebook, demonstrates that students are willing to use online environments to exchange information and, naturally, many academics have been eager to use the networking site in their classes.  The following essay examines some of these attempts in order to gain a clearer picture of some of the advantages and pitfalls of using Facebook as a CMS.