The Effects of Project-based Learning Environments on Social Networking Site Usage: A Case Study

Traditionally, the social aspect of project-based learning was mainly in the form of face-to-face communication and supplemented by online media such as email and discussion boards. With the emergence of Web 2.0, social networking sites, which are renowned for their strong social element, appear to be another useful tool to further support the social aspects of project-based learning. An exploratory case study approach was used to investigate how participants involved in two different project-based learning environments used social networking sites. Preliminary findings show that learners in “intense” project-based learning environments tend to use social networking sites for quick access to resources whilst learners in less intense environments use them for both asynchronous learning and communication. All participants found the social networking sites to be easy-to-use and useful for sharing information. Social networking sites were found to be useful and convenient, but not essential for project-based learning environments.