TECHNOLOGY İN ENGLİSH CLASSES WITH SOCIAL MEDİA

PREFACE

We live in a world where rapid developments in technology

and communication have made the communication through

the internet essential part of our lives. Undoubtedly, the internet

provides the fastest and easiest way to achieve information.

Millions of people and therefore groups which are constantly

growing and developing are connected to each other through

the internet. Since more and more people have access to the

internet, more and more people have started use the social

media. In this respect, it has become inevitable for educators

and researchers to investigate the possible contributions of

social media in the context of educational technology including

language education. With people’s using social media to stay in

touch, get social support, get information based on cooperation

and share it, create content and form it by bringing it together,

social media sites have started to be considered with their

potential to support teaching and learning activities in English

classes. Yet, according to the latest statistics, Facebook is still the

most popular social media tool today which enables fast and

efficient communication and it is believed that primary focus

of Facebook is to provide social interaction. Therefore, in the

context of educational technology in English classes, this study

is a search for the impacts of social media use in English classes,

Facebook in particular, on students’ social presence, satisfaction

and success.

This work has been produced based on the foundations of

my PhD dissertation. I would like to thank my advisor Prof. Şirin

Karadeniz for her invaluable insight, patience and guidance

throughout the whole work. I would also like to thank Assoc.

Prof. Mustafa Otrar and Prof. Dr. İlhan Varank for their for

his continuous encouragement and support all through my educational journey. It would have been impossible to finish this work without my friends Funda Aydoğan, Kevser Yıldırım, Selda Kayak and Esin Karataş so more than thanks are needed. I also owe special thanks and gratitude to Özgür Doğan for his patience and understanding. Last but not least, my thanks go to my husband Akın Eray Elverici who always supported me during the whole process. I hope this study works well in the education world for those who try to do best for their students.

Dr. Sibel ERGÜN ELVERİCİ