Facebook used for Fostering Student Academic Engagement and Higher-order Thinking Skills

Abstract

                 The integration of technology in education is essential for increasing students’ learning experiences. There have been many studies about using Facebook in education, but few have reported on using it for fostering the higher-order thinking skills seen in Bloom’s Taxonomy.       This study aims to investigate the potential of Facebook in supporting student academic engagement and in encouraging the development of higher-order thinking skills. The students’ perceptions on the problems of Facebook usage are reported, and some tips for using a course Facebook group in education are proposed. The results indicate that students think positively about using Facebook as a learning tool. In addition, student discussions conducted on Facebook demonstrate their higher-order thinking skills, especially their analytical and evaluation skills.