Arab Educational Information Network

This study aims to investigate and clarify the role of social networking sites in influencing the educational process, and to show the importance of the current trend towards virtual learning and the extent to which students accept and engage with this type of education despite its advantages and disadvantages, in addition to clarifying the ability of social networking sites to direct the educational behavior of university students. The study concluded that social networking sites have played a pivotal role in challenging cultures and traditions, as well as challenging student's minds. Therefore, we find that universities have taken an interest in virtual learning and linked it to their realities. Students’ attitudes towards virtual or classroom learning depend on their personality traits. Introverts prefer virtual education, whereas extroverted prefer interaction in a live face-to-face environment. The study also confirmed that virtual education negatively impacts student’s ethics, behavior, health and more. Moreover, it does not provide direct; face-to-face; social experiences which traditional classroom education provides. It is without no doubt that social networking sites have played an influential role in most sectors, especially the educational sector, thus it is necessary to adapt and utilize it while carefully managing and improving the negative impact. The study also concluded the importance of blending both face-to-face and virtual education. (Published abstract)