College Students' Use and Understanding of an Electronic Social Network for Academics, Academic Help Seeking, and Academic Advising.

摘要

The arrival of a new generation of students, known as the Net Generation (Junco, 2010), into colleges and universities has demanded changes to the traditional administrative and support services provided on campuses across the nation. In times of ever-changing technological advances, colleges and universities have begun to utilize new and expanding forms of technological communication to interact with students regarding their academics. During the 2009--2010 academic year, one college, within a university located in the western United States, implemented an academic advising program through Facebook to proactively interact and advise students using the electronic social network. A case study involving six participants was conducted to determine how these students used and understood the use of Facebook for academics, academic help seeking, and academic advising. Results indicated that participants used the electronic social network site to validate their academically-related emotions and actions, build a community of academic support, and to seek help for prescriptive academic advising. Results from the study implied that postsecondary institutions should consider the implementation of similar electronic advising programs; the participants valued the use of Facebook for academic advising and considered the process beneficial for their educational progression and success.