Students’ Perception of the Importance of Using Facebook for Academic Purposes / Percepcije studenata o važnosti upotrebe Facebooka za akademske svrhe
Abstract
Abstract
Facebook as the most popular social network, has found great application among students, who, in addition to entertainment and communication use it for the exchange of relevant information regarding their study. Considering Facebook is the most used social network among the student population, the aims of this research were to analyse the key factors that motivate students to use Facebook, identify reasons for using Facebook as well as the potential of its use for academic purposes. The basic research instrument is a structured questionnaire. The survey was conducted at the Belgrade Banking Academy for the purposes of this study. There were 159 participants – students from all years of primary and master studies in September 2016. The results were analysed using the following methods: t-test, correlation coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis. The obtained results show that students mostly use Facebook for social purposes. Regarding the use for educational purposes, Facebook is the most respected platform for exchange of materials and information from lectures, communication with colleagues and creating academic groups. In recent years, there has been the growing popularity of social networks among students, who have the potential to become an important source of support for educational communications and cooperation with faculty.
Key words: educational use; Facebook; social networks; student; tertiary education.
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Sažetak
Facebook, kao najpopularnija društvena mreža, pronašla je veliku primjenu među studentima koji se njom, osim za zabavu i komunikaciju, koriste i za razmjenu relevantnih informacija o svojim studijima. Facebook je najčešće upotrebljavana društvena mreža među studentskom populacijom. Cilj ovog istraživanja jest ispitati ključne čimbenike koji motiviraju studente da se koriste Facebookom, utvrditi razloge upotrebe Facebooka i potencijal za njegovu upotrebu u akademske svrhe. Osnovni istraživački instrument strukturirani je upitnik. U rujnu 2016. godine intervjuirano je 159 studenata svih godina preddiplomskih i diplomskih studija. U analizi dobivenih podataka koristile su se sljedeće metode: t-test, koeficijent korelacije i analiza faktorske potvrde. Rezultati pokazuju da se studenti uglavnom koriste Facebookom za društvene svrhe. Što se tiče upotrebe u obrazovne svrhe, Facebook je najvrednija platforma za dijeljenje materijala i informacija s predavanja, komunikaciju s kolegama i stvaranje akademskih skupina. Posljednjih godina sve veća popularnost društvenih mreža među studentima ima potencijal da postane važan izvor podrške obrazovnoj komunikaciji i suradnji s fakultetom.
Ključne riječi: društvene mreže; Facebook; obrazovna upotreba; student; visoko obrazovanje.
Facebook as the most popular social network, has found great application among students, who, in addition to entertainment and communication use it for the exchange of relevant information regarding their study. Considering Facebook is the most used social network among the student population, the aims of this research were to analyse the key factors that motivate students to use Facebook, identify reasons for using Facebook as well as the potential of its use for academic purposes. The basic research instrument is a structured questionnaire. The survey was conducted at the Belgrade Banking Academy for the purposes of this study. There were 159 participants – students from all years of primary and master studies in September 2016. The results were analysed using the following methods: t-test, correlation coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis. The obtained results show that students mostly use Facebook for social purposes. Regarding the use for educational purposes, Facebook is the most respected platform for exchange of materials and information from lectures, communication with colleagues and creating academic groups. In recent years, there has been the growing popularity of social networks among students, who have the potential to become an important source of support for educational communications and cooperation with faculty.
Key words: educational use; Facebook; social networks; student; tertiary education.
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Sažetak
Facebook, kao najpopularnija društvena mreža, pronašla je veliku primjenu među studentima koji se njom, osim za zabavu i komunikaciju, koriste i za razmjenu relevantnih informacija o svojim studijima. Facebook je najčešće upotrebljavana društvena mreža među studentskom populacijom. Cilj ovog istraživanja jest ispitati ključne čimbenike koji motiviraju studente da se koriste Facebookom, utvrditi razloge upotrebe Facebooka i potencijal za njegovu upotrebu u akademske svrhe. Osnovni istraživački instrument strukturirani je upitnik. U rujnu 2016. godine intervjuirano je 159 studenata svih godina preddiplomskih i diplomskih studija. U analizi dobivenih podataka koristile su se sljedeće metode: t-test, koeficijent korelacije i analiza faktorske potvrde. Rezultati pokazuju da se studenti uglavnom koriste Facebookom za društvene svrhe. Što se tiče upotrebe u obrazovne svrhe, Facebook je najvrednija platforma za dijeljenje materijala i informacija s predavanja, komunikaciju s kolegama i stvaranje akademskih skupina. Posljednjih godina sve veća popularnost društvenih mreža među studentima ima potencijal da postane važan izvor podrške obrazovnoj komunikaciji i suradnji s fakultetom.
Ključne riječi: društvene mreže; Facebook; obrazovna upotreba; student; visoko obrazovanje.
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PDFDOI: https://doi.org/10.15516/cje.v20i4.3058
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