Antecedents and consequences of the use of Facebook in learning contexts: a proposed framework

Abstract

Over the last decade business schools have increasingly changed their methods to deliver management and accounting courses. In particular, accounting education research is more and more devoted to the analysis of the use of technology, in particular social media, in educational settings. Nonetheless, there is a need for future research focussing on antecedents of the use of Facebook (FB) as a learning tool. Following an inductive approach, this exploratory study extends the literature on accounting education research. We used a participatory action research methodology and developed an online social network group for the students attending a management accounting class. From the empirical findings of this study, we identify the main determinants for the use of a course’s FB group in a learning context, classifying them according to their role played in supporting social or learning processes. Finally, we suggest a preliminary model that is an educational adaptation of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model.