More than a social network: Facebook as a catalyst for an online educational community of practice

Abstract

This article describes the use of Facebook as an educational community of practice by online doctoral students to achieve their common goals. The analysis of participants’ interactions in the social network revealed that participants shared knowledge, resources, advice, and insights. They collaborated and communicated with each other to provide feedback, supported each other, and essentially, learned in and as a community. The results are discussed within a social constructivist learning perspective of the building of community among adult practitioners in a higher education setting.