Examination of the social network sites usage patterns of pre-service teachers

Facebook is an important instructional and communicational media for students.Students prefer to use social media to get in touch with the instructors.It is found social media has the potential to improve instructional quality.Uncontrolled use of social media can steal the time allocated for academic activities. There are quite number of studies exploring effect of social media on academic achievement and performance. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the pattern of social network use of pre-service teachers in order to understand whether it is a "threat" on their academic achievement or the way of using social media can change this negative effect into positive. 412 pre-service teachers were asked to complete a survey with additional open-ended questions about their daily social network use. Results showed that the way of using social networks defines the benefits or harms on the academic achievement. It is also found that students are comfortable with social media when it is used as a communication tool among students and instructors.

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