@MISC{10facebook’spotential, author = {}, title = {FACEBOOK’S POTENTIAL IN THE CLASSROOM 1 FACEBOOK’S POTENTIAL IN THE CLASSROOM}, year = {2010} }
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Abstract
Few websites have become as instantly and universally popular as Facebook. After being in operation for only six years, the social networking site is heavily utilized in business, politics, music, and more. It is especially popular among teenagers and college students, who find no end of joy in posting pictures, updating family and friends about their daily lives, and harvesting their virtual crops on FarmVille. But in an education setting, Facebook is seen by many instructors and educators as a frivolous, time-wasting distraction from schoolwork, and it is not uncommon to have Facebook banned at junior high or high school computer labs (Barack, 2009). But why not, some educators are asking, integrate Facebook into the learning experience? Many have found success doing so, saying Facebook can increase a sense of belonging, build bonds between classmates, and increase the bond between students and instructors as well as create a structure for students to support one another, it can foster student-teacher interaction, and enhance motivation (Educators Using Facebook, 2009; Muñoz & Towner, 2009). The positive effects Facebook can have in education have to do with the concept