The number of internet users in our country and world
and the time they spend on the internet are increasing rapidly. Increased use
of the internet is a big influence of social networks. In the "Internet
and Social Media User Statistics" report which was prepared by "We
Are Social" in 2016, it is stated that Facebook is the most used social
networking environment in the world. Among the most used social networks in
Turkey, the first rank is Facebook with 32% (Ayvaz, 2016). Rapid developments
in technology have caused changes in the field of education as well as in every
area. By becoming a world interacting with Web 2.0, collaborating through social
networks enables to share information among producers (universities) and enable
production (Strathdee, 2007) and it is used as a supportive tool in education.
When Facebook's educational use is examined, a group
is set up on Facebook and the manager is the learner. Through this group, pages
on which materials such as lecture notes, videos, photos are shared are used
intensely to support formal education. It has been seen that in the course
discussions on Facebook, the student gives feedback without hesitation and
provides the participation to the lesson. The collaborative nature of Facebook
provides teacher - student interaction, content - student interaction, student
- student interaction at a high level.
As social networks evolve, people are increasingly
dependent on social networks. Facebook is frequently used in everyday life,
people constantly have the desire to enter Facebook. This situation can cause
negative behaviors such as not doing the needs of the people, disrupting the
necessary work. Constantly entering Facebook, sharing, commenting, liking,
follow-up situations are increasing with time and people become addictive.
The purpose of this research is to determine the
relationship between the degree of Facebook dependency of university students
and the level of Facebook use for educational purposes. In addition, it has
been examined whether there is a significant difference in Facebook dependency
levels and Facebook usage levels for educational purposes in terms of variables
such as gender, department, possessing smartphone and having personal computer
status.
The importance of this research has increased the
importance of Facebook social network because the usage rate of our country,
age range of use in education, and Facebook usage time is very long and it can
be used for training, information sharing and communication.
Descriptive scanning model was used in the study. The
sample of the research consists of 272 students studying at Afyon Kocatepe University
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Faculty of Education,
Engineering Faculty and Vocational School (Vocational School). Personal
Information Form, Facebook Educational Use Scale and Facebook Dependency Scale
were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, Mann Whitney U
test, Kruscall Wallis test and Spearman Brown Rank Differential Coefficient
tests were used.
Research findings showed that students' opinions on
Facebook addiction and use of Facebook for educational purposes had a low level
of positive correlation in the positive direction. As the level of students'
Facebook dependency increases, it can be said that the level of usage of
Facebook for educational purposes increases. It has been observed that
university students' educational use levels of Facebook social network differ
significantly in favor of female students compared to gender, female students
use Facebook social network more educationally than male students. It is seen
that there is no difference according to the possession of the smart phone, it
does not differ when it is examined according to personal computer ownership,
and it is seen that it is significantly different according to the faculty
variable. It was observed that Facebook dependency levels of university
students did not significantly differ according to gender variable. However,
although there is no significant difference, male students are more dependent
on Facebook social network than female students. It has been observed that
there is no difference according to having a smart phone, it is different in
favor of those who do not have a personal computer according to ownership of
personal computer, and does not significantly differ according to the faculty
variable.
It is concluded that there is a meaningful
relationship between the usage level of Facebook social network for educational
purposes by university students and gender change. It was found that female
students use the Facebook social network for educational purposes higher than
male students. When we view the educational use of Facebook for smartphones, it
is observed that there is no difference. It can be said that students who have
a smartphone use Facebook more educationally than students who do not have a
smartphone. There seems to be no difference when we consider the educational
use of Facebook according to the status of the students' personal computer
ownership. Differences were observed when university students' use of Facebook
for educational purposes was examined according to the faculties. It can be
said that the students who study at the Faculty of Education use Facebook more
educationally than the students at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative
Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Vocational School. According to the gender
variable, male students are more dependent on female students than female
students when the Facebook dependency levels of university students are
examined. It seems that the level of Facebook dependency of the students does
not change according to the status of having a smartphone. When university
students' level of Facebook dependency is examined according to personal
computer ownership, it can be said that students who do not have a personal
computer are more Facebook addicted than students who have a personal computer.
When the level of Facebook dependency according to the faculty variable is
examined, it can be said that the students of Faculty of Economics and
Administrative Sciences and Faculty of Education have higher dependency
according to other faculties.
A survey of the relationship between Facebook addicted
students and Facebook use for educational purposes can be used in a survey of
students at addictive level towards educational use of Facebook with
educational activities and positive changes in achievement levels.
