IMPLEMENTATION OF FACEBOOK IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Technology is more and more integrated into society's norms. It is well-known that social networking tools have become a way of life for people of all ages. Educators are realizing that, if used properly as course tools, they may bridge the generation gap between their students and themselves. Besides, they can easily be used as alternative media for traditional course requirements. A few years ago, the social media platform, Facebook, that has been used mostly for entertainment purposes, was integrated into my classroom. Having created Facebook groups for both English and German courses, some great results were yielded. Communication between the students and myself as a teacher has greatly improved. Not only that some course material has been included, but my students were also encouraged to find Facebook pages and groups regarding various field of agriculture (horticulture, agricultural machinery, fruit and grape growing, animal production, apiculture, ecology, agricultural economics, gardening, etc.). In this way, students' interest and participation have been enhanced. Finally, they discovered a new source of information regarding their field of professional interest. Three generations of students of the Faculty of Agriculture Osijek were given a simple on-line questionnaire for the purpose of gathering first hand information on their views regarding the implementation of social media into the classroom in their post-secondary education. Eventually, the results may also be used as guidelines for future use of Facebook or other social media platforms in other courses at the Faculty of Agriculture Osijek.